I can be as loud as I want just like the anti Benning group in here. We could all talk about how much pot to put in the brownies but I am sure there are other websites for that all though I sometimes question if I clicked on the right link.
- VANTEL

I’m not saying you can’t be loud, only that it’s OK to say that they’ve made mistakes, which obviously they have. Nobody thinks less of Jim Benning than I do, but even I give him credit for his drafting and think that he’s become a much better GM that he was when he first arrived.

Had to win 5 rounds with the pandemic thingy still going on...pretty legit.
- LordHumungous

I believe it was the hardest cup to win in quite a while but the chief whiner in here said before the playoffs no travel will make it not a real cup win. He is praising them today though

I’m not saying you can’t be loud, only that it’s OK to say that they’ve made mistakes, which obviously they have. Nobody thinks less of Jim Benning than I do, but even I give him credit for his drafting and think that he’s become a much better GM that he was when he first arrived.
- Pacificgem

Every team has made mistakes. Don't confuse this as anger. I do like arguing with you. I don't mind the debate at all.

At the end of the day we all want the same thing, for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup. I just refuse to throw a blanket of sunshine over anything and everything the general manager does, he’s made mistakes and I think people voicing their displeasure has forced him to become a better GM.
- Pacificgem

I would never in a million years, ever, accuse you of throwing a blanket of sunshine over anything Benning has done or will ever do.

Sutter was signed up to be the cushion for transition from when the the Twins left to when Bo matured to a top center. Shame on Benning for not foreseeing that Petterson who was not even drafted would step in and the team would immediately improve. Shame on Benning for not predicting also back then a world pandemic would make reasonable signings back then a burden.

Beagle and Roussel came at the request of the coach to be a buffer again for new players but were immediately passed.
- VANTEL

sutter was extended and given an above market deal before he had played even a game in the canucks uniform. he was extended when his deal still had a season left.

beagle, roussel are overpaid as are several others.

it's funny how you'll justify these atrocious contracts but can't see how they're the reason he has to play hardball now. he screwed up the cap by bloating the roster with barely useful players and now he might have to let actual useful players go to manage the cap going forward.

Pretty impressive haul by Al Murray, TBL director of amateur scouting:
2009 - Hedman (1)
2011 - Kucherov (Rd 2); Palat (7)
2012 - Vasilevskiy (1); Paquette (4)
2013 - Drouin (1); trade Sergachev
2014 - Point (3)
2015 - Cirelli (3)
2019 - Nolan Foote (1); trade Coleman

————————————————————

Above is a tweet from Mike Morreale, staff writer for the NHL, no matter how you view it, that’s an impressive ten years of drafting. Tampa sucked in 2008 & 2009, thus they got the first overall in 08 and the second overall in 09. Stamkos and Hedman.

Canucks sucked in 2016 & 2017 which lead to two 5th overall picks, I’m hopeful that’s the start of our great run of drafting as Benning and company have had an impressive run, even with a few misses in there, that should make the Canucks a competitive team for a decade if they keep building on that. Hopefully it leads to a Stanley Cup!

2014 - Virtanen (1); Demko (2); Tryamkin (3)
2015 - Boeser (1); Gaudette (5)
2016 - Juolevi (1)
- Pacificgem[hopefully]
2017 - Pettersson (1); Rathbone (4)
2018 - Q. Hughes (1)

Willing to give you a bit more leeway on this one as other championships you claimed were 'based off drafting lol


Those 8 were pretty instrumental in the championship no question but certainly not the 'only' reason they won:

Kucherov
Stamkos
Point
Hedman
Killorn
Cirelli
Palat
Paquette
Vasilevskiy

All excellent draft choices with some of them being 'iffy' that turned out great.

But looking at the big picture literally double the amount of players contributed to that championship club throughout the year and POs that weren't drafted by Tampa:

Segachev
Shattenkirk
Johnson
Gourde
Maroon
Verhaege
Cernak
Mcdonough
Rutta
Coburn
Cameron Gaunce
Schenn
Bogosian
Coleman
Goodrow
Smith
Conacher

Lots of players contributed to that cup team over the course of the year and PO's.

But I will say the 8-9 players that Tampa drafted well on were built around pretty well.

it's funny how you'll mention the canucks were the "top 6" but if someone mentions a non-cup winner, you'll fall back "1 winner and the rest are just losers."

it's amusing vantel type stuff.
- RealityChecker

You could not be more wrong but that is usual RC stuff.


I appreciate what the Canucks did and I enjoyed the format of the playoffs and have respect for all the teams and many of them I like including Vegas but you keep preaching Vantel says win the cup or you are a loser.

If Gillis knew how to draft, we would have been able to remain relevant until the twins retired. The fact that he had one good NHLer under his belt with years of drafting speaks volumes. He screwed up our goalie situation, was hated by other GM's, and people only think he is a good GM because he was able to add a few minor pieces to a solid core(that existed before he even took office). Gillis was not responsible for getting us to the SCF, our drafting and trades from before his tenure did. Also, a lot of people credit him for Hamhuis, the guy was only willing to sign with Vancouver as a UFA. How can you credit a GM for signing a guy with a 1 team list?
Benning is not a great GM, but he has built a solid young core that is starting to be competitive earlier than expected. If Hughes and EP weren't as good as they are, we wouldn't even have any potential issues with Cap. This is something that could not be foreseen when LE was signed. Beagle is fine as a 4c and had 2 big goals during the playoffs for us. Roussell has done what we wanted him to do. We were better with Myers than without during the playoffs, even with the penalties.
- Retinalz

Totally agree, Mike Gillis was not very good at a lot of the GM aspects, but the point was in reference to organizations not having a lot of turnover such as the Tampa Bay Lightning. They’ve given their top people lots of rope to fail but continue with their jobs.

I saw an interview with Mike Gillis where he stated his biggest regret was not changing the scouting organization quickly enough, that he went to Aquilini and said we need to rebuild the organization and he wanted to make changes, specifically to the scouting department, however Francesco Aquilini wanted no part of that, from what I’ve read and heard.

I would never in a million years, ever, accuse you of throwing a blanket of sunshine over anything Benning has done or will ever do.
- Makita

That was a good line, wasn't it.

sutter was extended and given an above market deal before he had played even a game in the canucks uniform. he was extended when his deal still had a season left.

beagle, roussel are overpaid as are several others.

it's funny how you'll justify these atrocious contracts but can't see how they're the reason he has to play hardball now. he screwed up the cap by bloating the roster with barely useful players and now he might have to let actual useful players go to manage the cap going forward.
- RealityChecker

Sixth place . What a terrible team

Sutter was signed up to be the cushion for transition from when the the Twins left to when Bo matured to a top center. Shame on Benning for not foreseeing that Petterson who was not even drafted would step in and the team would immediately improve. Shame on Benning for not predicting also back then a world pandemic would make reasonable signings back then a burden.

Beagle and Roussel came at the request of the coach to be a buffer again for new players but were immediately passed.
- VANTEL

Exactly, the issues teams are having right now with cap(not just us) is the reason why the league is looking into options to help teams sign players with the flat cap. As it stands, many good players will have to settle for Ottawa simply because teams can't afford them now, and less so in the future when current stars need a pay day during this flat cap era.
It would not surprise me if some kind of free buy-out is given to teams either this year or next.

Sixth place . What a terrible team

- VANTEL

We got to the Second round and almost beat Vegas with a non-PO team...

We would have went so much further with 6 more players making $975,000

We got to the Second round and almost beat Vegas with a non-PO team...

We would have went so much further with 6 more players making $975,000


- LordHumungous

Moral victories!!!

Sixth place . What a terrible team

- VANTEL

not as good as dallas though.

you're the best vantel. don't quit again. the place is nowhere near as funny without you!

Moral victories!!!
- Marwood

Intangibles champ!!

We got to the Second round and almost beat Vegas with a non-PO team...

We would have went so much further with 6 more players making $975,000


- LordHumungous

Without question

Exactly, the issues teams are having right now with cap(not just us) is the reason why the league is looking into options to help teams sign players with the flat cap. As it stands, many good players will have to settle for Ottawa simply because teams can't afford them now, and less so in the future when current stars need a pay day during this flat cap era.
It would not surprise me if some kind of free buy-out is given to teams either this year or next.
- Retinalz

This is going to be an issue league wide. I don't think it is good for the league overall when good players are forced to leave. When I see the Jets talking about moving Laine it is not good for their team.

Believe it or not I do think Canucks are in a good place with this. I see Markstrom wanting 7 mil per year or 6 and I say hell no. I have seen many people on here saying walk away form Toffoli Tanev and Marky but I am sure we will hear once they walk about we have cap issues even though we have some very good ELCs ready to step in.

Totally agree, Mike Gillis was not very good at a lot of the GM aspects, but the point was in reference to organizations not having a lot of turnover such as the Tampa Bay Lightning. They’ve given their top people lots of rope to fail but continue with their jobs.

I saw an interview with Mike Gillis where he stated his biggest regret was not changing the scouting organization quickly enough, that he went to Aquilini and said we need to rebuild the organization and he wanted to make changes, specifically to the scouting department, however Francesco Aquilini wanted no part of that, from what I’ve read and heard.
- Pacificgem

And yet Benning was able to do it in his first year as GM. Like you, I have issues with moves Benning made earlier as our GM. But these last few years he has done a really good job at making us relevant again. Myers was a good add, feel like 5.5 should of been the mark, but better than the 8m people thought he would get. Miller has been the best pick up for us in a trade in years. Toffoli was a good pick up for us, and if not for Covid, would have been even better. Benning took a declining team and successfully gave them another shot in his first year as GM. His 2 biggest mistakes as a GM are LE and not trading Vrbata after that first year(though what GM would after 101pts. Not JB's fault the guy only allowed trades to teams that weren't buying at TDL the next season.)

https://www.nucksmiscondu...ignings-vancouver-canucks

This paints a good picture of his UFA signings. So far the only truly ugly one is LE, the Bad ones are a non-issue now. Beagle will probably be a bad one when all is said and done, but Roussell really isn't. Myers I think is a good signing, the rest are low cap hit and really do not affect us negatively.

Willing to give you a bit more leeway on this one as other championships you claimed were 'based off drafting lol


Those 8 were pretty instrumental in the championship no question but certainly not the 'only' reason they won:

Kucherov
Stamkos
Point
Hedman
Killorn
Cirelli
Palat
Paquette
Vasilevskiy

All excellent draft choices with some of them being 'iffy' that turned out great.

But looking at the big picture literally double the amount of players contributed to that championship club throughout the year and POs that weren't drafted by Tampa:

Segachev
Shattenkirk
Johnson
Gourde
Maroon
Verhaege
Cernak
Mcdonough
Rutta
Coburn
Cameron Gaunce
Schenn
Bogosian
Coleman
Goodrow
Smith
Conacher

Lots of players contributed to that cup team over the course of the year and PO's.

But I will say the 8-9 players that Tampa drafted well on were built around pretty well.
- LordHumungous

That will always and forever be the case, you never build a championship team solely on drafting alone, but as you said, you draft a core and build around them, just like the flames did in 1989.

Al MacInnis
Gary Sutter
Mike Vernon
Hakan Loob
Theo Fleury
Joe Nieuwendyk
Gary Roberts
Jim Peplinski
Brett Hull -> traded for Rob Ramage

Their amateur scouting department scouted these undrafted kids out of college and signed them.

Jamie Macoun
Joel Otto
Colin Patterson

Yes they traded for Gilmour and Mullen but it doesn’t change the fact the Flames (who I know you’re referring to) were built around drafting and amateur scouting.

And yet Benning was able to do it in his first year as GM. Like you, I have issues with moves Benning made earlier as our GM. But these last few years he has done a really good job at making us relevant again. Myers was a good add, feel like 5.5 should of been the mark, but better than the 8m people thought he would get. Miller has been the best pick up for us in a trade in years. Toffoli was a good pick up for us, and if not for Covid, would have been even better. Benning took a declining team and successfully gave them another shot in his first year as GM. His 2 biggest mistakes as a GM are LE and not trading Vrbata after that first year(though what GM would after 101pts. Not JB's fault the guy only allowed trades to teams that weren't buying at TDL the next season.)

https://www.nucksmiscondu...ignings-vancouver-canucks

This paints a good picture of his UFA signings. So far the only truly ugly one is LE, the Bad ones are a non-issue now. Beagle will probably be a bad one when all is said and done, but Roussell really isn't. Myers I think is a good signing, the rest are low cap hit and really do not affect us negatively.
- Retinalz

At the end of the day we’ll never know if Mike Gillis would have been able to turn the franchise around, and yes they had a great year statistically during Benning’s first year but I think it was the last gasp effort of the Sedins. Just my opinion.

As for the rest, as I’ve said this morning and repeatedly over the last little while, the Canucks are certainly on the right track and it’s because Benning’s drafted exceptionally well. Which has put us on the right track to turn things around.

And yet Benning was able to do it in his first year as GM. Like you, I have issues with moves Benning made earlier as our GM. But these last few years he has done a really good job at making us relevant again. Myers was a good add, feel like 5.5 should of been the mark, but better than the 8m people thought he would get. Miller has been the best pick up for us in a trade in years. Toffoli was a good pick up for us, and if not for Covid, would have been even better. Benning took a declining team and successfully gave them another shot in his first year as GM. His 2 biggest mistakes as a GM are LE and not trading Vrbata after that first year(though what GM would after 101pts. Not JB's fault the guy only allowed trades to teams that weren't buying at TDL the next season.)

https://www.nucksmiscondu...ignings-vancouver-canucks

This paints a good picture of his UFA signings. So far the only truly ugly one is LE, the Bad ones are a non-issue now. Beagle will probably be a bad one when all is said and done, but Roussell really isn't. Myers I think is a good signing, the rest are low cap hit and really do not affect us negatively.
- Retinalz

Some of those moves in the early year were made from desperation and necessity . He was handed a pile of crap and told fix it . Rookie Pres Rookie GM and Rookie coach with a team with an age group of 33 going on 100.

He took some long Hail Mary's and man some were horrible but I appreciate that he tried. He since then has gotten better .

And yet Benning was able to do it in his first year as GM. Like you, I have issues with moves Benning made earlier as our GM. But these last few years he has done a really good job at making us relevant again. Myers was a good add, feel like 5.5 should of been the mark, but better than the 8m people thought he would get. Miller has been the best pick up for us in a trade in years. Toffoli was a good pick up for us, and if not for Covid, would have been even better. Benning took a declining team and successfully gave them another shot in his first year as GM. His 2 biggest mistakes as a GM are LE and not trading Vrbata after that first year(though what GM would after 101pts. Not JB's fault the guy only allowed trades to teams that weren't buying at TDL the next season.)

https://www.nucksmiscondu...ignings-vancouver-canucks

This paints a good picture of his UFA signings. So far the only truly ugly one is LE, the Bad ones are a non-issue now. Beagle will probably be a bad one when all is said and done, but Roussell really isn't. Myers I think is a good signing, the rest are low cap hit and really do not affect us negatively.
- Retinalz

Might want to give that one another year or 2 before deciding whether it's a good signing.

Might want to give that one another year or 2 before deciding whether it's a good signing.
- NorthNuck

lousy season. lousy playoffs with the exception of 2-3 decent games. good signing?

even vantel discussed him as a potential buyout a few months ago.

lousy season. lousy playoffs with the exception of 2-3 decent games. good signing?

even vantel discussed him as a potential buyout a few months ago.
- RealityChecker

Still do. Key word is potential .

lousy season. lousy playoffs with the exception of 2-3 decent games. good signing?

even vantel discussed him as a potential buyout a few months ago.
- RealityChecker

I think 2-3 years from now if he's still around the fanbase will hate him the way they hate Loui right now.