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Vancouver Canucks: Jim Benning Not Looking to Move Up in First Round
June 12, 2015, 2:14 PM ET [137 Comments]
Carol Schram
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With the 2015 NHL draft two weeks away, Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning seems to have a pretty good deal of clarity about what he wants to accomplish this year.

Amidst all their franchise troubles, the Arizona Coyotes' third-overall pick coud be up for grabs, but Benning told Ben Kuzma of The Province that he thinks the price would be too high to even consider.

“To get that pick, they would want Bo Horvat and I’m not interested in anything like that because we want our top prospects and I feel comfortable at No. 23,” Benning said Thursday from Utica, where he’s watching the AHL affiliate Comets in the Calder Cup final and meeting with his pro scouts. “We’re just starting to get some depth now with our young prospects and I don’t want to give any of them up because they’re further along on the development curve. I’m not willing to sacrifice the depth or our prospects pool.”


As far as the Coyotes go, I thought this piece from Elliotte Friedman does a pretty good job of assessing the lay of the land.

I have a sentimental interest in hoping that the Coyotes can stay in the Phoenix area—my cousin lives down there and her husband and son are now both playing and are part of the region's hockey culture. As Friedman points out, that's a real thing now—potential 2016 first-overall pick Auston Matthews is a Scottsdale native. He was born in 1997—one year after the Coyotes first landed in the desert.

It certainly looks like the NHL and the Coyotes organization are going to fight the Glendale city council's attempt to kill the arena deal as vigourously as they can in court, but I wonder if this move damages the relationship irreparably?

With lucrative expansion fees available if the NHL installs new franchises in markets like Las Vegas, Seattle and Quebec City over the next few years, I'd be surprised if the Coyotes end up moving to one of those locations and killing that money-making opportunity.

There’ve been rumours over the past few months of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns looking to build a new arena. There’s at least one report of the location being Scottsdale, which would be a much better fit than Glendale.


Friedman suggests that if such a plan came to pass, the team could temporarily move back downtown to its original home (the old America West Arena is now called the Talking Stick Resort Arena) until a new arena is built—keeping the franchise in the region while setting itself up for a brighter future.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are in the midst of showing us that Sunbelt success is possible both on and off the ice. I'm still hopeful that the Coyotes can find a way to make their situation work—but they might need to do it away from Glendale.

Anyway—back to Jim Benning:

“We’ve talked to lots of GMs to get a general feel for what’s going on in the marketplace and we’re going to try and recover a second-round pick if we can."


During a radio hit on TSN1040, Benning once again talked about the prospect of trading Eddie Lack or Jacob Markstrom, with no mention of a Ryan Miller option:




Benning says decisions about players with no-trade clauses are still forthcoming:

“I haven’t talked about that (NTC clauses), but at our pro meetings we’re talking about our options and what direction we want to go with the goalies,” said Benning. “Once we get out of these meetings, we’ll have a better idea and act upon what we decide.”


Kuzma specifically mentions the idea of trading Kevin Bieksa for a second-rounder in his article.

For his part, it looks like Bieksa's still in town and appreciating everything that Vancouver has to offer:




Here's a fresh look at the Bieksa saga:




The writer, Jeremy Davis, is on board with the idea of a Bieksa trade, but suggests that our rugged heart-and-soul guy has taken more abuse than he deserves over the past year or so—and I'd agree with that.

Bieksa's quote in this article, while still bleeding Canucks blue, is still the first time I've ever had even an inkling that he might be willing to accept a move—for the good of the team and perhaps a fresh start in a new market for himself and his family.

Benning's certainly indicating that the Canucks have some right-side defensemen who are ready to move up:




It'll be an emotional moment for the franchise if Bieksa does get moved.

Comets' Season Riding on This Weekend

The Utica Comets are back in action this weekend, with Game 4 tonight at 4 p.m. Pacific and Game 5 at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

No word yet on whether Jake Virtanen will be ready to play after missing Game 3 with illness.

Manchester's starting goalie J.F. Berube did ride the bike before today's morning skate, but did not hit the ice. Neither did leading scorer Brian O'Neill.




Once again, here's the livestream information if you'd like to watch this weekend's games:




Tonight's game will also be aired locally on TSN1410 radio and Saturday's will be on TSN1040.
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