With the news cycle mostly quiet around the NHL, Trevor Linden's departure from the Vancouver Canucks has caught the attention of media all across the country, including Toronto's Steve Simmons.
In his Sunday column this week, Simmons says he's heard that Linden got played by Jim Benning and John Weisbrod, who were angling to save their own jobs.
"Linden was caught in the middle of a power struggle and a hockey struggle of sorts," writes Simmons, with an impatient Aquilini on one side and his general manager, Jim Benning, and personnel man, John Weisbrod, nastily selling out the team president in exchange for their own power and security."
I can certainly see how Trevor's side would perceive the situation in this way—after all, he's gone and Benning and Weisbrod are still there. But I dunno. Benning has always come off as being honest to a fault. Can he really be a puppetmaster?
Doesn't it seem more likely that Benning and Weisbrod simply chose to align with ownership's vision rather than backing Trevor after his recent 'how to rebuild' fact-finding tour?
For what it's worth, local writer Ed Willes offers some support for Simmons' version of events:
What troubles me about Trevor's position is the fact that it sounds like he didn't start his fact-finding on how to properly execute a rebuild until last month. If he told ownership that he now wanted to chase "the Winnipeg model" after he started his job with the assertion that he believed in "the Boston model" four years ago—with how many other "models" in between?—I can understand how they may have grown impatient with his tendency to chase instead of to lead. With the speed that hockey changes, if you try to do what's currently successful, you'll always be a few years behind.
I'm kind of fixated on the idea that when Linden was brought in, the mandate was to turn things around in a hurry. Instead, the franchise cratered in terms of both on-ice product and valuation—at a time when the NHL as a whole was on the rise.
I broke down those numbers in a Forbes article a couple of days ago:
I've said this before: the Aquilinis have to shoulder some blame for giving all the hockey operations power to someone with no on-the-job experience. But it's on Linden that he brought in the equally inexperienced Benning and Desjardins—and it's also on him if he didn't get around to pitching the idea of a full rebuild until now. Under his leadership, the Canucks have lost value—and time.
Looking back on the franchise's history, I was surprised to see that the team has never missed the playoffs for more than four consecutive years. Yes, it's tougher to reach now in a 31-team league, and the Canucks don't play in the cushy Northwest Division anymore—although there's a reasonable argument to be made that the Pacific is still the weakest of the NHL's four current divisions.
If the Canucks miss the playoffs again this season, they'll be rolling into their 50th anniversary year in one of the darkest periods of their entire franchise history—and I don't imagine Linden will be around to lead the nostalgia parade anytime soon.
I don't see how the team can turn things around in a hurry to save face here, but I can definitely understand ownership's desire to try to make that happen.
On the bright side, Quinn Hughes' dad has nothing but good things to say about the Canucks group during the process that has led to Quinn's decision to spend another year in college—a decision that most of us believe is best for his development, even if the team could really use a boost on the blue line.
Though their home base is still Toronto, the Hughes family spent most of last month in L.A., at CAA's summer development camp. If you're a subscriber, Lisa Dillman did an excellent feature on the whole crew a couple of weeks ago in The Athletic.
I hadn't realized that Quinn's father Jim is currently working as director of player development for CAA,
the mega-agency led by Pat Brisson and J.P. Barry on the hockey side, with a roster of clients that famously includes John Tavares, Sidney Crosby and the Sedin twins, just to name a few.
I've seen some concern that Quinn may end up holding out and signing as a free agent after playing out his college career—perhaps choosing to go where his wunderkind brother Jack lands next year. I'm not buying that. One year of additional NCAA development for a player at Hughes' level makes sense. I don't think someone as driven and competitive as him would waste two more potential NHL years when he had such a tough time making his decision this time around.
The players who stay in college for four years in order to unlock their free agency option tend to be mid-round picks who take big strides during their NCAA careers, not blue-chippers like Quinn.
Jim Hughes sends up no red flags at all about how the situation was handled by the Canucks.
I'm looking forward to seeing Quinn (and Jack) on the ice in Kamloops on Monday!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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