If the only prospects he can "develop" are "sure things" then how much of a great developer is he?
There should be guys who are NOT sure things who have made big strides under him and are doing a lot better than anyone expected. Who are these players?
Never said he was a bad coach or not able to win at the AHL level. That's not the discussion we are having.
1) He had Corrado (5th round pick, low chances of NHL top 6) playing well, but instead of the Canucks allowing him to continue growing, they chose to rot him in the press box. He was injured pretty badly in the playoffs but played anyways and played well I might add. He came to camp not ready and was told the team understood, but instead of using tools at their disposal to keep a hold on him they put him on waivers and shockingly he was claimed.
2) Shinkaruk (1st round, #24 pick, 10% chance of becoming an NHL top 6 froward) He was allowed to play 74 regular season games in the AHL when he probably should have played at least a half season in the ECHL rehabbing and getting in shape after taking off the summer to recover form injury and surgery for such. He was definitely not ready for the AHL yet. Green kept him here. Worked every day teaching him his professional responsibilities. The kid was a human checking dummy. He was a knocked all over the place.
By mid season he got his legs back and started to show speed flashes and was learning to pass, find open space, get it back, and shoot. He found rebounds crashing when other guys got shooting opportunities. He used his skills to his benefit instead of wasting them on dashes down the boards only to end up kissing glass, the boards, or the ice. He had a successful second half and finished with 16G/15/31Pts He played in all 23 playoff games, 4g/2A/6Pts.
He used that learning season to the best of his abilities the next season. He came out doing what Green had groomed him to do. He was an offensive force. He lead the team in goals and points (21G/18A/39 PTS in 45GP), made the All-star team, and was promptly traded.
3)Brendan Gaunce (1st round, pick #26, 10% chance of becoming a top 6 NHL player.) Gaunce played that same rookie season as Shinkaruk and played 74 regular games (11G/18A/29Pts.) and 21 playoff games (4G/5A/9Pts).
He did this playing laft wing, not his natural position, center.
The next season he would split time between Vancouver and Utica and spend time injured as well. In Utica he managed to put up 17G/21A/38 points which was 4th best on the team after only playing 46 games with the Comets.
Both of these players improved immensely and if they had played a full season here would have come close to doubling their rookie point totals which weren't bad to begin with.
This was good development. Shink was good enough to earn Benning what he considered a NHL ready player in a trade. That player is now considered a great pickup according to a large swath of Vancouver posters. Gaunce made the Canucks out of camp this season. That's development.
4) Nicklas Jensen (1st round, 29th pick, 10% chance of making NHL top 6) Jensen made big improvements in his game but the Canucks had already given up on him by then. He has played 7 games this season with the rangers and was an AHL All-Star pick from the Hartford Wolf Pack and has 20 goals thus far.
Incidentally, I do not share your opinion that Green didn't want Shinkaruk or Jensen. What coach in his right mind would not want his team's best goal scorer and close to PPG player on a goal starved team in spite not having a number #1 center to play with and and also toss away his #2 RW and then be satisfied with no replacements coming back? Are you really serious? He tells the brass how much talent the players have and it's up to the brass what they want to do with those players. He does not recommend trades.
5)Jordan Subban (4th round, #115, low chance of NHL top 6). Jordan was known to be a puck moving, offensive D-man with a knack for putting up points. His d was suspect. Suspect was puttin it mildly. he was bad!. Did that mean he got shelved for a veteran? To hear Vancouver poster talk you would think that the case. In the very beginning of the season Green was (as he usually does) rotating all of his young guys to give them all some game time to show what they have. This is what I suspect guys who like the idea of developing the kids would like to see.
He got pressboxed a couple of times for the same repeated errors in succession, several games in a row. The first time it's let go. The 2nd time the d-coach has a chat. The 3rd time maybe Baumgartner again. the 4th time Travis has a chat. Then it's a strong reprimand and a shift to think it over. The next time no chats, but a couple more shifts skipped. Again? Maybe a few more shifts. Keep doing it and it's time to sit one out and see if that helps you learn. He also had a couple little boo-boos. His D got better, he played 67 games and put up 11G/25A/36 Pts.
This season he had one pressbox early for the same crap all over again. That was it. He was injured. he spent a couple games in the Vancouver press box. He has played 37 games and has 10G/14A/ 24Pts. He is definitely improved and is on pace to well eclipse his point totals of last season. He is only one goal short of last season's total and has basically half a season left. He is also an AHL All-Star.
I'd say that is definitely improved development.
6)Alexandre Grenier (3rd round, 90th pick, chances of NHL career fall quickly.) Alex is a very interesting player. This guy skates real well, has size, great hands, hardest wrist shot on the team all 4 seasons. He has improved every single year. the first season he was a flounder in the sea of hurt that was the comets for the first half of the year. the coaching staff was faced with almost a full roster of projects. Many players came and went, but they were settled in and played at the rate of the 2nd best team in the AHL in the second half of the season. Alex improved much as the team did. He finished 17G/22/39Pts in his first AHL season.
His second season he learned to play both ends of the rink and became a much better hockey player. He put up 17G/26A/48Pts, good for 2nd on the team behind O'Reilly, moving between the 1st and 2nd lines and 6G/9A/15 Pts, tied for 2nd with Baertschi, in the playoff run.
Pretty good improvement, eh?
3rd season shows him becoming a leader. His 16G/32A/48Pts in 68GP leads the team. Shinkaruk's 39 points in 45 GP shows just how important Hunter was to the team and just how good he must have been.
This season he leads the team in scoring once again with 14G/21A/and 35 points with only 42 GP. He is well on a pace to having his best season. Improving even more.
It does seem strange that a player who has been this much in the forefront of a team has been given very little attention by the parent club.
Are there any similarities here? Want to join the conspiracy theory? None of these guys are Benning's people. Gaunce is the only one up there and many of the Vancouver faithful are petitioning for his return to Utica if the Canucks return to full strength and someone has to go. He is not susceptible to waivers.
7) Pedan 3rd round, #63, 4th pro season, NHL chances in Vancouver dwindling fast). Andrey arrived in Vancouver for a draft pick, as a victim of Islanders depth and had spent some time injured. Came to Utica and was raw. They whipped into shape. Taught him what they wanted him to do and he strated to settle in and played very well. his problem was enjoyment in fighting. It had cost him a concussion in the isalnders organization and he got KOed again here and lost a third of the season and all of the playoff run.
His 2nd season he really rounded into shape and was hyped big time down here as developing into a real good NHL prospect. The Canucks brought him up and he has been up and down ever since, but his game has gone to ****. I don't know what happened in the transition, but that player who was showing all the right stuff here doesn't look promising at all now. WD seems to feel the same way because he doesn't play Andrey when he's up there. That's not on Green. What he got back is not what he sent up.
8) Kenins (undrafted, slim chance of making an NHL roster.)
His first season here was along with Gaunce and Shinkaruk. He played his wing. Dealt some big hits. Scored some goals. We were impressed. He got the look in Vancouver. played just like down here. Then he lost ice time. Got moved in and out of the lineup, but ended up with 30 GP in Vancouver and 41 in Utica. We looked for his return for the playoffs, but he went home to Europe, injured they said.
Last season he was again up and down. was injured for quite a bit and finished with the Comets (41GP). He was on the the 1st/2nd line, depending on how you in looked at it, by the heat of the run to the playoffs with half the squad made up of PTOs. Both were on the PP as well. Neither he nor Friesen was talented enough to warrant that responsibility and they didn't handle it all that well. There play was not recognized as all that by the Canucks either as both were let go after the season. Like Pedan. Ronalds never played the same way he had before going to Vancouver. They both improved immensely, looked to be getting NHL ready and then kaputski.
9)Markstrom - Marky's strory is ell known . No reason to rehash it again. He strated here as okay. He rotated game by game with Eriksson for a good part of the season. He got injured and Jokie carried the load. He had a call-up. Came back and settled in to the #! by season's end. The playoff run was all his and earned him a spot in vancouver. it was not known how he would do when sent here. They took a chance he would clear waivers and then hoped for the best. Nobody envisioned the final results and anyone who says they did is making it up. Green didn't give him the job right off the get go anymore than he's going to give it to Demko. I see Thatcher eventually growing into the Markstrom mold, but it won't be this season. Right now he has a 2.83 GAA/.901 SV% to Bachman's 2.58 GAA/.908 SV%. Neither stinks and neither is setting the world on fire. They have both had spurts and down times. They get along very well and both want to play. It's a very normal goalie relationship. Give thatcher time to become what he can be. Rushing goalies is the dumbest thing hockey management can do. Developing the mental toughness to survive at the highest level takes the longest time to develop in most keepers. More than a few have had the skills but couldn't hold up under the mental stress and many successful ones have suffered many other ailments caused by stress.
These are the top guys the Comets have received and as far as I can see they all developed. They improved every season. their numbers got much better, but they didn't fit into Benning's cubicles and many have never really been given the ice time to prove anything. if you want prospects to work their way in, you have to play them when you bring them up. They don't get better in the press box or playing in situations that don't fit their MO. A scorer has to be put in position to prove he can score. Playing 6 or 7 4th line minutes with plugs won't allow them to prove anything. If a guy is a pick rushing D-man you have to put him out there with a top line and let him do his thing. This type of action has never been employed by WD. I watch the rangers, Sabres, Devils, and Islanders regularly. They do do what I just stated. with guys they bring up. They don't just bring the guy up to get a pay check and look on from the rafters. They play him and get a look . They want to know who they can or can't depend upon if a future situation calls for a guy to fill a role for a bunch of time. They don't wait for an emergency and then pray the guy the bring up can do it because he's been doing it in the AHL. They have seen him play for their club and have an idea of who best to fit the need. Jensen has played 7 games for the Rangers. How many games have any Comets forwards played this season and how many of those games have they seen any time on the top 2 lines?