THE All Encompassing Jim Benning Thread

[The Stig]

http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm...id=DL|VAN|home
Confirmed as GM of the VANCOUVER CANUCKS



Link to Benning Presser thread: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1676801&page=12

Link to previous Benning thread: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1675057

Continue ALL Benning talk here. All hail Benning.

Click to read more...

 

[David71]

I wonder if he'll let go of a couple of people in the "scouting department" AHEM" ron delorme. he has more lives than a cat does. with the way he evaluate players Plus none of the guys he supposedly scouted even played in the NHL Ever. patrick white... list goes on. could have had brendan gallgaher/milan lucics of the worlds this teams prospect pool would have not been shattered had nonis/burke traded 2nd rounders and 3rd rounders for washed up players. luckily last year the canucks somewhat improved in the draft. according to JIM he likes what the nucks did in 2013 draft. im sure with his scouting prowresses he'll help in the drafting departmant. claude giroux/williams/gallgaher would look good in a nuck uniform now.

 

[RandV]

Time for change though man, if Kesler is staying our core really needs a mini shakeup, Burrows can be replaced by Kassian who is ready for a breakout season imo, especially if he gets a coach who believes in him and lets him create chemistry with the Sedins.

Did Kassian have a short stint with the Sedins two years ago where he scored a bunch of goals? I can't quite remember.

Otherwise, typically if a player is going to mesh with the Sedins they tend to do it right away even if the player is underdeveloped. Regardless of his talents I'm not sure if Kassian is that guy, he'd probably be better utilized on the second line to spread the talent around a bit. If you want a young guy in place of Burrows with the Sedins then Jensen could be a better fit.

 

[Peen]

gilling

bennis

#firejb

 

[skyo]

Did Kassian have a short stint with the Sedins two years ago where he scored a bunch of goals? I can't quite remember.

Otherwise, typically if a player is going to mesh with the Sedins they tend to do it right away even if the player is underdeveloped. Regardless of his talents I'm not sure if Kassian is that guy, he'd probably be better utilized on the second line to spread the talent around a bit. If you want a young guy in place of Burrows with the Sedins then Jensen could be a better fit.

Yeah Kassian scored five goals in the first seven games of last season playing with the twins.

Enter Torts this season saying Kassian wasn't great defensively so Torts ended that - holding him back...much like Kreider, Haglin etc etc in NY.

I'd say Kassian could be ready for a breakout season soon he'll be 24 midseason 14/15 getting close of age when power forwards come around.

Kass is indeed a good passer so all he needs is some time and a bit of patience from the coach to get this line going, if it does it could be a pretty killer line!

 

[F A N]

For some reason this has been swept under the rug, but while Ron Delorme has kept his title, Gillis had given the reigns to Eric Crawford. My understanding is that Delorme has been reporting to Crawford the past year.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Smells like new GM in this thread.

 

[The Optimist]

With all this talk of an improved 4th line I do have to wonder where that leaves guys like Archibald and Lain. Are the Canucks going to try and build within or are they going to seek outside help?

 

[VanillaCoke]

Benning sweats > Gillis sweats

 

[Ninebreaker]

Benning sweats > Gillis sweats

Gillis used to develop a layer of sweat...a nice sheen. Benning is more of a dripper.

In all seriousness though, Benning wasn't sweating nearly as much as I thought he would be after reading the boards.

 

[skyo]

For some reason this has been swept under the rug, but while Ron Delorme has kept his title, Gillis had given the reigns to Eric Crawford. My understanding is that Delorme has been reporting to Crawford the past year.

Yeah well it was Gilman who revamped our scouting department, making Crawford the chief scout with Delorme scouting the whl, and finally kicking out Harold Snepts from scouting the WHL who is now helping Smyl, with Snepts scouting the WHL, we got nothing out of it lol.

So with Gilman taking a more proactive approach to our scouting department our draft picks have been way better, at least it looks more promising than ever before.

 

[LiquidSnake]

I don't think and hope we don't see Thornton. His impact on the game is greatly exaggerated. Except of course for the fuel that was supplied to the Habs with the water squirt.

Benning's comments about the bottom 6 being more physical is definitely something I agree with but there needs to be some skill on those bottom lines.

Santorelli, Matthias, Hansen and maybe Higgins should all be regular mainstays on that bottom 6 on a good team.

 

[carolinacanuck]

i'm wondering if the comments about wanting to keep kesler are a smokescreen designed to keep or gain some leverage?

the second he says they'll consider moving him, he loses the upper-hand with other GM's.

by saying he wants to keep him, it might make another GM overpay? when that question was asked he kept glancing over at linden. it's like he's got a gambling tell.

would love to be a fly on the wall when benning meets with kesler before the draft.

 

[Finnish Your Czechs]

i'm wondering if the comments about wanting to keep kesler are a smokescreen designed to keep or gain some leverage?

the second he says they'll consider moving him, he loses the upper-hand with other GM's.

by saying he wants to keep him, it might make another GM overpay? when that question was asked he kept glancing over at linden. it's like he's got a gambling tell.

would love to be a fly on the wall when benning meets with kesler before the draft.

That was wheh he was asked what kind of coach he was looking for.

Linden said he always thought he would make a good coach (and he's probably right). Wheh he was talking about coaching style, he was the most comfortable I've ever seen him. No pauses, no "umms" or "uhhs". Like a duck to water.

Kind of unfortunate that we'll probably never know about Lindens ability to coach and develop young players. He would be excellent at it

 

[ddawg1950]

i'm wondering if the comments about wanting to keep kesler are a smokescreen designed to keep or gain some leverage?

the second he says they'll consider moving him, he loses the upper-hand with other GM's.

by saying he wants to keep him, it might make another GM overpay? when that question was asked he kept glancing over at linden. it's like he's got a gambling tell.

would love to be a fly on the wall when benning meets with kesler before the draft.

I don't mind a GM (or Prez) telling a bald faced lie to the media when it suits the purpose of adding value to the team.

Matter of fact, I would expect it from time to time.

 

[shortshorts]

Pls trade Kesler.

 

[Nuckles]

He says "like" a lot. #FireBenning

 

[Bieksallent]

He says "like" a lot. #FireBenning

And "you know." The sweatiest valley girl ever.

 

[RandV]

With all this talk of an improved 4th line I do have to wonder where that leaves guys like Archibald and Lain. Are the Canucks going to try and build within or are they going to seek outside help?

This is what I was saying last thread... go back to last seasons training camp/pre-season, our expected forward lineup looked something like:

Sedin-Sedin-Burows
Higgins-Kesler-Kassian
Burrows-Schroeder-Hansen
Booth-Santorelli-Richardson
Weise, Sestito

Guys like Lain and Archibald were more 5th and 6th liners, who only showed up after injuries. You don't get 'outside help' for those roster spots, that comes from within. Getting '4 lines' is dead simple in the NHL, and something we've had the majority of time under Gillis. Whats hard is having the organizational depth to keep 4 lines when the inevitable injuries start to hit.

Also I'd say having '4 lines' looks a hell of a lot more effective when your top 6 are actually scoring.

 

[Nuckles]

This is what I was saying last thread... go back to last seasons training camp/pre-season, our expected forward lineup looked something like:

Sedin-Sedin-Burows
Higgins-Kesler-Kassian
Burrows-Schroeder-Hansen
Booth-Santorelli-Richardson
Weise, Sestito

Who is this Burows, and is he related to the Burrows on the 3rd line?

 

[Raincouver]

I don't think and hope we don't see Thornton. His impact on the game is greatly exaggerated. Except of course for the fuel that was supplied to the Habs with the water squirt.

Benning's comments about the bottom 6 being more physical is definitely something I agree with but there needs to be some skill on those bottom lines.

Santorelli, Matthias, Hansen and maybe Higgins should all be regular mainstays on that bottom 6 on a good team.

Other than Matthias though, those guys don't contribute much in terms of physicality or size.

Especially with Hansen's looming new contract.

Horvat was praised by Benning and is about the exact same size as Boston's key bottom 6 guys during his Boston tenure...Paille, Campbell, Peverley,

Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell, and Daniel Paille was the best 4th line in hockey IMO.

As for the third line, I think you're right that the Canucks need some skill. The Bruins took the same approach Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson (Soderberg is a big dude, roughly the same size as Matthias). Soderberg had 49 pts in 73 games. If Matthias can do that, it'll be a huge boost. Don't think he can though,

Now, Hansen's cap hit is going to be 2.5 million...that's like, 1 million more than guys like Paille and Campbell make and I don't think Hansen has a whole heck of a lot more talent that those guys.

I also don't know enough about Horvat's game to know if he is physical enough to play on the Canucks' bottom 6 if Benning wants more physicality there.

I could see Higgins and Booth, both with reasonable size, sticking around to play on that third line. But size and grit are a definite need. Especially if younger guys like Horvat make the team.

 

[Bieksallent]

Benning would likely try to insulate Horvat with big veterans that would carry the physicality load.

 

[RandV]

Who is this Burows, and is he related to the Burrows on the 3rd line?

Yes Burrows is just awesome that way! One version would be the goal scorer that rides shotgun to the Sedins, the other the pesky shutdown winger that used to play with Ryan Kesler.

 

[Uhmkay]

I think Benning is right that a quick turnaround is very possible with this team. We have a lot of players that other teams would love to have but we could also replace with a poormans version of via free agency.

I'm guessing that Kesler to Pittsburgh for Pouliot and a 1st would still be on the table. Trade Kesler and insert Pouliot who is likely ready for another step.

Edler would fetch a good price even after his worst season ever last year. I think we could get another good young forward for him at the very least. Apparently Boston had a deal worked out with Vancouver for Edler, but it was based on whether or not the Kesler deal was done or not.

With the savings from Edler and Kesler and buying out Booth, we would also have a huge amount of cap that we could use to upgrade in another area with a UFA or two.

These two trades alone would quickly turn us from an aging team, to a young team of Corrado, Tanev, Stanton, Horvat, Shinkaruk, Kassian, Pouliot, Matthias, plus this years #6, etc... The Transition would be well underway.

After trading Kesler, Edler, and buying out Booth, and inserting Pouliot and resigning Santorelli I am giving a rough estimate of about 10 million in cap space that we'd have to sign 2 UFA to upgrade at forward or use one of the UFA spots to sign a goalie with some experience (Hiller perhaps). Iginla, Gaborik, Stastny, etc would all help this team out a lot. Stastny is also still a younger player to help with our transition from older to younger.

Sedin, Sedin, Kassian
Higgins, Horvat, UFA (Iginla?)
Jensen, Matthius, Burrows
Richardson , Santorelli, Hansen.

Garrison - Hamhuis
Pouliot - Tanev
Stanton - Bieksa
Corrado

Lack
Markstrom

- I left Shinkaruk out as he probably needs another year due to his injury to get back up to speed.

 

[Desai87]

I think Benning is right that a quick turnaround is very possible with this team. We have a lot of players that other teams would love to have but we could also replace with a poormans version of via free agency.

I'm guessing that Kesler to Pittsburgh for Pouliot and a 1st would still be on the table. Trade Kesler and insert Pouliot who is likely ready for another step.

Edler would fetch a good price even after his worst season ever last year. I think we could get another good young forward for him at the very least. Apparently Boston had a deal worked out with Vancouver for Edler, but it was based on whether or not the Kesler deal was done or not.

With the savings from Edler and Kesler and buying out Booth, we would also have a huge amount of cap that we could use to upgrade in another area with a UFA or two.

These two trades alone would quickly turn us from an aging team, to a young team of Corrado, Tanev, Stanton, Horvat, Shinkaruk, Kassian, Pouliot, Matthias, plus this years #6, etc... The Transition would be well underway.

After trading Kesler, Edler, and buying out Booth, and inserting Pouliot and resigning Santorelli I am giving a rough estimate of about 10 million in cap space that we'd have to sign 2 UFA to upgrade at forward or use one of the UFA spots to sign a goalie with some experience (Hiller perhaps). Iginla, Gaborik, Stastny, etc would all help this team out a lot. Stastny is also still a younger player to help with our transition from older to younger.

Sedin, Sedin, Kassian
Higgins, Horvat, UFA (Iginla?)
Jensen, Matthius, Burrows
Richardson , Santorelli, Hansen.

Garrison - Hamhuis
Pouliot - Tanev
Stanton - Bieksa
Corrado

Lack
Markstrom

- I left Shinkaruk out as he probably needs another year due to his injury to get back up to speed.

I think Shinkaruk is more ready then Horvat even though he had the injury.
Jensen should be in the top 6.