Farther down that article it says this:
"Apart from that brief mention of becoming a contender, the only talk was of competitiveness, which is a conveniently wishy-washy word. How do you judge if a team is “competitive” or not? Do the results matter, if all you desire is for the team to be competitive? Does winning matter?
Have the Canucks been competitive this season? Benning thinks so.
“I feel like we made real strides this year,” said Benning. “I think with injuries, that played into it, but we play a fast style of game now, our guys have worked hard and been competitive. I think we’re heading in the right direction, I really do.”
I will rephrase your quote as to what he meant..The bottom line is (we want) to win enough games to be a (future) competitive playoff team..It does not say.".We're going for the playoffs"..