My comprehensive Benning criticism

settinguptheplay

Classless Canuck Fan
Apr 3, 2008
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Awesome. We needed another Benning hate thread on these forums. This marks the 50th thread on the first page. Talk about beating a dead horse.
 
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settinguptheplay

Classless Canuck Fan
Apr 3, 2008
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I can think of a way, other than harping on the OP, to drastically reduce the number such threads .....

Oh I agree. But sadly we here of HFBoards are powerless to do much about that. That said there is no guarantee new management would do any better. Every year teams switch management/coaches only to remain static.
 

valkynax

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Oh I agree. But sadly we here of HFBoards are powerless to do much about that. That said there is no guarantee new management would do any better. Every year teams switch management/coaches only to remain static.

Would be quite difficult to do worse than the supreme leader.

Only two people I can think of who are definitively worse are Dorion and Chiarelli.
 

RebuildinVan

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Jun 25, 2017
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Would be quite difficult to do worse than the supreme leader.

Only two people I can think of who are definitively worse are Dorion and Chiarelli.
Its a draw with Dorion, he made some bone headed moves but at least got a 1st and a high end prospect back. Benning seems allergic to that
 

valkynax

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Its a draw with Dorion, he made some bone headed moves but at least got a 1st and a high end prospect back. Benning seems allergic to that

I would add Bergivin on that list but a lot of his moves worked out better than I thought they would.

But yeah, like I said before, it will take a Herculean effort to out do the lunacies of our glorious supreme leader.

As the North Koreans would say: 영원한 지도자 베닝!!!!!
 

RebuildinVan

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Jun 25, 2017
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I would add Bergivin on that list but a lot of his moves worked out better than I thought they would.

But yeah, like I said before, it will take a Herculean effort to out do the lunacies of our glorious supreme leader.

As the North Koreans would say: 영원한 지도자 베닝!!!!!
My fear is July 1, when Benning approaches Chiarelli level idiocy
 

Ita

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Mar 11, 2019
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Great summary. Someone should forward this to Aqualini and remind him all the things that have transpired since Benning was hired.
 

Ita

Registered User
Mar 11, 2019
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Awesome. We needed another Benning hate thread on these forums. This marks the 50th thread on the first page. Talk about beating a dead horse.
How is this a “hate” thread when it is merely objectively documenting what has happened? Are you equating a negative assessment with “hate”?
 

RobertKron

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Sep 1, 2007
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Oh I agree. But sadly we here of HFBoards are powerless to do much about that. That said there is no guarantee new management would do any better. Every year teams switch management/coaches only to remain static.

BETTER NOT TRY ANYTHING THEN
 

PuckMunchkin

Very Nice, Very Evil!
Dec 13, 2006
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Oh I agree. But sadly we here of HFBoards are powerless to do much about that. That said there is no guarantee new management would do any better. Every year teams switch management/coaches only to remain static.

I tought Java meant not replying, and bumping up, said threads.
 

I am toxic

. . . even in small doses
Oct 24, 2014
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Oh so many ways that Jim Benning is not the man for this job. The examples never cease to present themselves. The latest being his "audit" of the situation in Utica. Clearly closer attention needs to be given to Utica with highly drafted prospects not developing and others wanting out. So after Benning did not visit Utica once all season to see first hand he talked about how he was going there after the season to do an audit. He spent half a day with Trent Cull, then left and declared everything fine with the farm team LOL...cited Luke Schenn as a development example LOL


Some players fall by the wayside!


It happens!
 

MarkMM

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Jan 30, 2010
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Why do people want to see benning gone or at least....supervised? This is my take for what it’s worth.

Hindsight is 20/20. No one bats a thousand. That is certainly true and the defenders of this management will tell you that and are quick to point out the faults of previous regimes or others around the league.

On his trade record, it’s true that there have been wins: Shinkaruk for Granlund, Gudbranson for Pearson, Carcone for Leivo, Hansen for Goldobin and a 4th, Burrows for Dahlen. They are undoubtedly trades that Benning won, but how impactful have those moves been when Dahlen has since been moved while Goldobin and Granlund may be on their way out? Leivo and Pearson do appear to be reasonable middle 6 winger options going forward. Meanwhile here are the list of Benning’s trade transgressions:

2nd round pick (2014) for Linden Vey
Gustav Forsling for Adam Clendening
2nd round pick (2015) for Sven Baertschi
Nicklas Jensen, 6th round pick (2017) for Emerson Etem
5th round pick (2017) for Philip Larsen
Jared McCann, 2nd round pick (2017), 4th round pick (2017) for Erik Gudbranson, 5th round pick (2017)
4th round pick (2018) for Derrick Pouliot
7th round pick (2020) for Marek Mazanec

In all, that’s 7 picks (2 2nd’s, 2 4th’s, 1 5th, 1 6th, 1 7th), a 22 year old Center who went 19-16-35 in 78 games this year and a depth defenseman that turned into Sven Baertschi, Tanner Pearson and a 5th (Cole Candella). Adding to the list of trades that shouldn’t have been made are the trades that weren’t made. It was undeniable incompetence that led to Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata not being moved in 2016 which also could’ve brought in picks or prospects.

Players that went within 30 picks of the ones traded away include Rasmus Andersson (was the pick), Alex Debrincat, Brayden Point, Brandon Montour, Carter Hart, Victor Mete, Samuel Girard, Jordan Kyrou, Ryan Donato, Christian Dvorak, Warren Foegele and Jesper Bratt. That also doesn’t take into consideration the prospects that may distinguish themselves from the 2018 draft. This only becomes harder to stomach when this management’s strength seems to be at the draft table.

As for Free Agency, this is where even the most staunch supporters will admit that they wish Jim would have his phone disconnected on July 1st. Perhaps the only meaningful success on this front is the Bo Horvat extension. Without dredging up contracts that have since expired, let’s focus on those that are signed through 2019-20:

Loui Eriksson, $6.0m x 6 years, expiry 2022-23
Brandon Sutter, $4.375m x 4 years, expiry 2020-21
Sam Gagner -> Ryan Spooner, $3.1m, expiry 2019-20
Jay Beagle, $3.0m x 4 years, expiry 2022-23
Tim Schaller, $1.9m x 2 years, expiry 2019-20
Total, $18.375m for next season

Assuming that the club extends Boeser, Edler, Hutton, Leivo, Demko, Motte, Granlund, Goldobin, and Schenn, this should eat up roughly $22-25m of the available $27.1m under the current salary cap. A $2-3m increase to the cap as anticipated and the $18.375m of dead money taken up by those contracts equates to between $22.5m to $26.5m of cap space that the Canucks could and should have had.

Looking at the depth chart that was possible without all of these mistakes, you can start to understand the frustration of most Canucks fans:

Forwards: Horvat, Pettersson, Boeser, McCann, Virtanen, Gaudette, Roussel, Leivo, Motte, Granlund, Goldobin

Defense: Edler, Tanev, Stecher, Hutton, Hughes, Forsling, Biega, Sautner, Brisebois, Juolevi, Schenn

Goalies: Markstrom, Demko

It’s not that this roster is impressive. It’s that it largely looks the same as it does now and there’s the potential that a couple of really good young players mentioned above could’ve been here and that there should be upwards of $20m that could have been committed over the last 2-3 free agent crops to bolster this group.

For all the talk about this management’s drafting, they have undeniably missed on 2 out of their 4 top 10 picks. Virtanen and Juolevi being any of Nylander, Ehlers, Tuch, Larkin, Tkachuk, Keller, or Sergachev makes the Canucks a significantly better team.
Last but not least, player development gaffes such as Nikita Tryamkin and Jonathan Dahlen along with some serious questions about the program in Utica blunt the effectiveness of the argument that this regime drafts well.

This, combined with glaring deficiencies in the trade record and free agency, paints a pretty clear picture; Jim Benning should not be permitted to continue unchecked in his role as General Manager.

Good summary, in terms of fails by Benning I'd add the Kassian & pick for Prust (younger, healthier, cheaper, more skilled player for someone Benning sold as a culture carrier who then had to be let go because of attitude issues, and on top of that we someone ADDED a pick), and the Sbisa contract (who was RFA and we could have just qualified him, or even given his play even tried to get him at a reduced salary, but instead Benning gave him a significant raise AND term, the only reason we're not suffering from that is because Las Vegas rescued us from that mistake).

In terms of overall with Benning, I didn't have a huge problem with the plan to rebuild on the fly, if he hadn't wasted value in trades I think we could have turned things around faster, so it was the execution more than the plan. But once the execution was blown and it was clear the plan wasn't working, the dishonesty of Benning saying at the start of the season that we were going to be a playoff team, and then when we miss the playoffs saying that the plan all along was to focus on long-term building, and his inane reasoning (not trading away picks because the draft is hosted in Vancouver, instead of because trading away picks is just stupid, the crowd noise being an issue that gets to the team in Calgary, etc) just belies the man's sheer stupidity.
 

digger18

Registered User
Feb 23, 2009
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If your team is not in the playoffs, the bare minimum you should do as a GM is:

- sell your excess at the deadline for picks/prospects

-draft more players with those extra draft picks

-restock those open roster spots with either said prospects that have developed or short-term free agents that can be put back into this cycle

There are about 100 mistakes Benning has made since he's been here, but not doing this simple process is the reason I personally have wanted him fired for quite some time.
Yeah exactly. When you’re rebuilding there is no excuse for trading away as many picks as Benning has. There is no excuse!
 

rypper

21-12-05 it's finally over.
Dec 22, 2006
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Benning's dislike of receiving draft picks as a trade return, because of how long he believes they take to make an impact for the team, is enough of a reason for me to hate him.
 
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valkynax

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And for those who uses the pathetic "hindsight" defense...

These are just the ones I could pick out by just recalling for 20 seconds.

- at the JV draft, VERY few thought he's worth a pick.
- at the OJ draft, most people didn't even consider him to be on the radar at all.
- at the time of Eriksson's acquisition, quite a few pointed out how idiotic the deal was.
- when Sbisa was signed, everyone thought it was a joke.

These are not opinions either, they are facts. Quite a few of Dim Jim's moves were called out for being incredibly stupid at the time of if not before the move was made.
 

Grub

First Line Troll
Jun 30, 2008
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Forget keeping his job with someone to "check his work." Benning should be fired. Simple as that. Someone that incompetent should never be allowed to manage a taco stand, let alone a professional hockey team.

Reading your post feels like 2016... but then you stop and realize this is now 2019. We have been in a circular cluster ****. When will this nightmare end.
 

Canucks1096

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Feb 13, 2016
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And for those who uses the pathetic "hindsight" defense...

These are just the ones I could pick out by just recalling for 20 seconds.

- at the JV draft, VERY few thought he's worth a pick.
- at the OJ draft, most people didn't even consider him to be on the radar at all.
- at the time of Eriksson's acquisition, quite a few pointed out how idiotic the deal was.
- when Sbisa was signed, everyone thought it was a joke.

These are not opinions either, they are facts. Quite a few of Dim Jim's moves were called out for being incredibly stupid at the time of if not before the move was made.

Confirmed with Link: - Canucks sign RW Loui Eriksson to 6-year, $36m deal ($6m AAV w/ NMC)

A lot of people actually liked the Eriksson signing. A lot of Canucks fans are like this. Okay with a trade/signing when it happens. Once it becomes a bust, people start acting like they are experts and act like they knew it was a bust all along. Kudos to those people that knew some of move were a bust since day 1.
 

valkynax

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Confirmed with Link: - Canucks sign RW Loui Eriksson to 6-year, $36m deal ($6m AAV w/ NMC)

A lot of people actually liked the Eriksson signing. A lot of Canucks fans are like this. Okay with a trade/signing when it happens. Once it becomes a bust, people start acting like they are experts and act like they knew it was a bust all along. Kudos to those people that knew some of move were a bust since day 1.

If you check the posts around the hf board, you'll notice how many people hated the deal before it was signed.

Even if some people didn't think it was that bad at the time, this is no excuse for a colossal f*** up - Benning screwed up BIG time, period.

Sugar coat it however you like, fact is, this is a horrendous contract for an awful player.
 

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