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BenningHurtsMySoul
Unfair Huggy Bear
Well ultimately it's the same thing as with Dylan Guenther - not as if he was our prospect and we traded him. There's no guarantee Benning would have taken either of these players.
It's better than what you see in picks 6-10 most drafts, honestly.
BenningHurtsMySoul
Unfair Huggy Bear
This team has had a bad stretch from 2019-2024 where they either haven't held onto their high picks or haven't managed to find impact players to insert into the lineup. The notable exceptions being Hoglander, Lekkerimaki and Willander (who haven't yet made the jump). This is always a risk when you trade picks for rentals, because unless you win it all it's not going to be worth it in the long run. Missing on Podkolzin was a huge blow to our top six, especially considering Boldy and Caufield went immediately after.
The same thing happened to the 2009-2013 era Canucks. We really felt the lack of promising ELC talent that could come in on cheap contracts and play above expectations. The only reason that team was so competitive is the Luongo cap manipulation + group discounts in bulk.
The current core of this group had their cheap years wasted by Benning's inability to run a bath, let alone a f***ing hockey team. The rest of the players were acquired or signed and haven't exactly played above their value, which is collectively what you need to win a Cup. If everyone plays at or below their cap hit, you simply can't compete in a salary cap world. If you end up with situations like Loui or OEL, you are dead to rights. No team can overcome $10+ million in dead weight.
Additionally - I don't love that since Tocchet's arrival, they have tried to brute force a completely different playing style than the core was used to. Seems like exactly what Benning tried to do in 2013 and beyond because of the loss to Boston. It worked last season because everything went our way until the All Star Break - as soon as everyone came back down to reality, productivity fell off a cliff and we haven't seen things go particularly well since.
It felt like they were on the cusp of being a truly exciting, offensive juggernaut of a team and they tried to switch gears to become a grinding, defence-first team that capitalizes on mistakes. But the problem is that we didn't actually have those types of players on our team - they have tried to force players like Pettersson, Kuzmenko, Suter etc. into being way more physical and put a leash on their offensive creativity, lest ye receive the Daniel Sprong treatment.
And when they realized they were lacking those types of players, they overpaid on the open market to bring them in. Only now, you have a bunch of players with no history of playing together mixed with a core group of players who have been forced to change what has made them successful. The result is a disjointed, dysfunctional mess. That's where we are.
I hate to say it, but I think last year was the best shot this core will ever have. The door was wide open and they blew it.
The same thing happened to the 2009-2013 era Canucks. We really felt the lack of promising ELC talent that could come in on cheap contracts and play above expectations. The only reason that team was so competitive is the Luongo cap manipulation + group discounts in bulk.
The current core of this group had their cheap years wasted by Benning's inability to run a bath, let alone a f***ing hockey team. The rest of the players were acquired or signed and haven't exactly played above their value, which is collectively what you need to win a Cup. If everyone plays at or below their cap hit, you simply can't compete in a salary cap world. If you end up with situations like Loui or OEL, you are dead to rights. No team can overcome $10+ million in dead weight.
Additionally - I don't love that since Tocchet's arrival, they have tried to brute force a completely different playing style than the core was used to. Seems like exactly what Benning tried to do in 2013 and beyond because of the loss to Boston. It worked last season because everything went our way until the All Star Break - as soon as everyone came back down to reality, productivity fell off a cliff and we haven't seen things go particularly well since.
It felt like they were on the cusp of being a truly exciting, offensive juggernaut of a team and they tried to switch gears to become a grinding, defence-first team that capitalizes on mistakes. But the problem is that we didn't actually have those types of players on our team - they have tried to force players like Pettersson, Kuzmenko, Suter etc. into being way more physical and put a leash on their offensive creativity, lest ye receive the Daniel Sprong treatment.
And when they realized they were lacking those types of players, they overpaid on the open market to bring them in. Only now, you have a bunch of players with no history of playing together mixed with a core group of players who have been forced to change what has made them successful. The result is a disjointed, dysfunctional mess. That's where we are.
I hate to say it, but I think last year was the best shot this core will ever have. The door was wide open and they blew it.
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