Raile wrote: ↑Mon Sep 09, 2024 4:26 pm
yeah as Doc said some of it at least is coaching..
But a guy like Beagle was brought in fresh off a cup win - to show the youngins how to be a pro, how to play the right way, etc, all those lovely hockey cliches.. how to WIN.. you'd expect..
and it amounted to very little.
Same for all the vets they overpaid for..
anyway just commenting a bit more on how it's pretty impressive how many of those players that were brought in, failed spectacularly.
Hard to say how much the vets may have helped during the rebuild.
Ignoring the smaller moves...
2014 - Signed UFA Vrbata and got Bonino back in the Kesler trade. Vrbata and Bonino were 3rd and 4th in Nuck scoring that year, which helped get them back to playoffs. Vrbata led Canucks in goals and was an All-Star selection. Also signed Ryan Miller and traded for Derek Dorsett, who were great that year.
2015 – Not much at all… Bonino for Sutter (who had a rep for mentoring prospects).
2016 – Traded rumoured party boy McCann for Gudbranson. Signed UFA Eriksson. Not good moves as it turned out, but hey, everyone thought they were good moves at the time.
2017 – Not much, brought in depth players Vanek, Gagne, Del Zotto on short term deals.
2018 – Signed UFAs Beagle and Roussel to $3M x 4 years each. Ouch, although they were decent that first year. Traded Del Zotto for Luke Schenn, and Gudbranson for Pearson. Trades were fine.
2019 – Signed UFA Myers ($6M x 5) and Ferland ($3.5 x 4). Traded for JT Miller in the summer and Toffoli at the deadline as Nucks returned to playoffs.
2020 – Let Marxstrom, Tanev, and Toffoli walk. So yeah, we lost a lot of leadership. Traded a 3rd for Schmidt and signed Holtby to a 2-year deal.
2021 – The big trade. Eriksson, Roussel, Beagle, 1st, 2nd, 3rd for OEL (retained) and Garland. OUCH. Made a big jump in the standings though, 92 points. Benning fired 2 months into the season.
I think bringing in veteran leadership during a rebuild is a good plan in theory.
And I feel these vets were pretty good as far as leadership goes:
Vrbata, Bonino --> Sutter, Ryan Miller, Dorsett, Beagle, Roussel, Ferland, Schenn, Myers, JT, and Garland.
Of course some of them were overpaid UFAs, but you’re gonna hafta overpay in a rebuild.
And it was weird the way so many guys who were brought in took serious injuries within the first year.
(Beagle, Roussel, Sutter, Dorsett, Ferland, Poolman) IIRC
As far as leadership for the youngsters, I think the summer of 2020 hurt us the most (hi BoS).
As far as Benning’s performance (discounting the luck factor) his last 2 summers were his worst IMO.
But if we like the team we see today, Benning should still receive a lot of the credit.
