Blob Mckenzie wrote: ↑Mon Aug 25, 2025 6:13 am
Chef Boi RD wrote: ↑Sun Aug 24, 2025 7:12 pm
JimBro Benning inherited a disaster.
No he didn't
He inherited a powder keg that had "handle with care" stamped all over it.....and then he lit the fuse.
Year 1.
He made some necessary moves on the blueline and acquired a 2nd rounder for Garrison. He then flipped that pick to LA for Linden Vey.....WTF?
He drafted Virtanen and McCann. leaning into a power-forward build who was from the home town and going for a center who had taken a big step forward in his draft eligible season and possessed two-way smarts. Good thoughts. However, he passed on Nylander, Ehlers, Larkin, Fiala, and Larkin, and then further passed on Pastrnak.....and thank fuck he passed on Ho-Sang lol.
He burned a 3rd rounder in a package to acquire Andrey Pedan.
He traded Forsling for Clendening.....that's some piss poor talent assessment.
He moved a 2015 second round pick to Calgary for Baetschi. That pick was used by the Flames to select Rasmus Andersson.
Year 2
Apart from Boeser, the 2015 draft was abysmal for Vancouver, and that was partly due to Benning shipping out picks at a time when the team should have been acquiring them.
At at time when a soft, re-tooling, team needed some leadership and loyalty, he traded "I'll go down with the ship!" Bieksa for a 2nd rounder. He then flipped that 2nd rounder to PIttsburgh with Bonino and Clendening for Sutter and a 3rd. Bonino went on to be a key piece of 2 Stanley Cups for the Pens (and who did we give up for Clendening?).
He then traded a 2nd, a 4th, and McCann, to Florida for Gudbranson and a 5th. Trying to forget who he passed on in the draft when he ultimately took McCann.
Year 3
He fucked the dog and selected Juolevi.....and followed that up with 5 selections who were equally as useful. The list of players after Juolevi who are very useful NHL'ers is actually long.....but it includes names like Tkachuk, Keller, McAvoy, Tage Thompson, Kyrou, and DeBrincat.
He signs Loui Eriksson to what would become known as one of the worst contracts in Canucks history.
He trades another tenured vet, Burrows, for a guy who never panned out.
Days later ships out Hansen for a Russian bust.
I needn't go on. There were some alright signings in there, but ultimately his first 3 seasons had the potential to set the stage for the arrival of Pettersson and Hughes.....and while perhaps a few of the acquisitions that he didn't make would have changed draft positions somewhat, I think that there is a high likelihood that both of those players would have still been available had our draft position dropped a couple of spots in their respective years.....but he sufficiently screwed up in those first few years to take the team into the ditch for the following 5-6 seasons.
The only thing I will say in defense of Elmer is that he had the unhappy responsibility of answering to an owner who was extremely impatient and incapable of playing the long game.
