Speculation: New GM Candidates?

[Djp]

I read something there is now a push back happening around the league of where teams wanting to get compensation from teams hiring their Asst GMs for the other teams GM position.

i think I read it in a Lebrun column

 

[Shoey]

I read something there is now a push back happening around the league of where teams wanting to get compensation from teams hiring their Asst GMs for the other teams GM position.

i think I read it in a Lebrun column

that seems unnecessary, it's not as if the team has to grant permission in the first place.

 

[Moskau]

I read something there is now a push back happening around the league of where teams wanting to get compensation from teams hiring their Asst GMs for the other teams GM position.

i think I read it in a Lebrun column

There isn't push back they just want to be compensated again like they were 7 years ago.

If you want to know what a class guy David Poille is consider this. He's one of the GMs pushing for teams to be compensated for losing off-ice personnel to other teams like they used to be. And he still reached out for LaFontaine to interview Fenton despite the fact Nashville won't be compensated. Awesome guy.

 

[Imagining Defeat]

There isn't push back they just want to be compensated again like they were 7 years ago.

If you want to know what a class guy David Poille is consider this. He's one of the GMs pushing for teams to be compensated for losing off-ice personnel to other teams like they used to be. And he still reached out for LaFontaine to interview Fenton despite the fact Nashville won't be compensated. Awesome guy.

It's called "getting rid of competition"....

 

[Sabre Dance]

My feeling based on what Patty said the first couple days is that I'd be surprised if they didn't interview about 5 guys. Fenton, Botterill, Treliving, and Benning make four fairly experienced AGM's. Throw in another candidate or two (possibly a more experienced guy, possibly a less experienced guy), and they'd have cast a wide net.

Benning interests me the least of those guys.

Why does Benning interest you the least, the Tyler Seguin thing? IMO thats why I want him. He identified something that didnt fit and got a heck of a deal for him.didnt wait around. Sure, he couldnt match the talent, but its best for the Bruins.

 

[Duddy]

Why does Benning interest you the least, the Tyler Seguin thing? IMO thats why I want him. He identified something that didnt fit and got a heck of a deal for him.didnt wait around. Sure, he couldnt match the talent, but its best for the Bruins.

You do know that he was the director of amateur scouting for the Sabres not too long ago, right?
and he did a horrible job.

 

[krt88]

The more read, the more I am hoping Paul Fenton becomes the GM. The guys reputation is great, he's been hugely involved in Nashville's drafts, the guy runs their AHL team and understands the importance of developing talent. David Poille, according to reports, recommended the guy, and his reputation is stellar. Every time his name comes up linked the job, the comment you hear is he'd be great for the job. Enough said, let's get it done.

 

[Sabre Dance]

You do know that he was the director of amateur scouting for the Sabres not too long ago, right?
and he did a horrible job.

Yes, but who do you blame? Plus they were picking mid-late 20's. If anything you feel good about his only top 5 pick. Also some good picks after the 1st over that time.

I never had a huge issue with the drafting because I really didnt know who to blame. Could be many people. But yes there were 1st round misses. It would be probably my 1st or 2nd question to him in an interview.

I dont think any of the Assistant GM's have a much better resume. Do a comparison. If you eliminate top 10 picks, Benning did draft Miller, Roy, Pominville, Sekera, Stafford, MacArthur, Ballard, Hejda, Kaleta, Paille, Wideman, Gaustad. Everyone has misses.

 

[Paxon]

Why does Benning interest you the least, the Tyler Seguin thing? IMO thats why I want him. He identified something that didnt fit and got a heck of a deal for him.didnt wait around. Sure, he couldnt match the talent, but its best for the Bruins.

It's based on his body of work here in Buffalo. That doesn't mean he can't or won't be a good GM, but other guys don't have as much glaringly negative to point to.

 

[Duddy]

Yes, but who do you blame? Plus they were picking mid-late 20's. If anything you feel good about his only top 5 pick. Also some good picks after the 1st over that time.

I never had a huge issue with the drafting because I really didnt know who to blame. Could be many people. But yes there were 1st round misses. It would be probably my 1st or 2nd question to him in an interview.

I dont think any of the Assistant GM's have a much better resume. Do a comparison. If you eliminate top 10 picks, Benning did draft Miller, Roy, Pominville, Sekera, Stafford, MacArthur, Ballard, Hejda, Kaleta, Paille, Wideman, Gaustad. Everyone has misses.

He basically drafted the old core that everybody hated, why would I want to bring that guy back?
1 starting Goalie, 2 legit top six players, bunch of grinders and a lot of guys that haven't done much or anything as a Sabre.
that's not good enough to hand him the keys to the team.

 

[Zip15]

He basically drafted the old core that everybody hated, why would I want to bring that guy back?
1 starting Goalie, 2 legit top six players, bunch of grinders and a lot of guys that haven't done much or anything as a Sabre.
that's not good enough to hand him the keys to the team.

I'm not a huge fan of Benning, either, but I think you're being a bit over the top in your criticism. His biggest fault was not that he selected--and let's be clear, he was simply a part of the selection process, and not one with final authority, either--guys like Jason Pominville (55th), Derek Roy (32nd), Paul Gaustad (220th), or Ryan Miller (138th). Those guys were great picks for where they were selected in a given draft. The odds are stacked against players selected in those draft slots to have long NHL careers as each has had.

My issue with him is that he and the rest of Sabres management failed to put proper "core players" around those guys with his other draft picks. Most notably, the Sabres picked Heisten, Kryukov, and Novotny in three consecutive 1st rounds from 1999-2001? Big problem. You can't piss away three consecutive 1st round picks like that without consequence. With the exception of the 2001 class, he largely got nothing out of his 2nd round picks, either: Andrew Peters, Norm Milley, Jaro Kristek, Milan Bartovic, Mike Zigomanis, Doug Janik, Gerald Dicaire, Branislav Fabry, Mike Funk, etc. Those are all whammies at spots where you'd like to be drafting depth.

There's an argument against Benning, but it ain't that he "drafted the old core." Those were good picks where he got those guys. The organization screwed up by missing on so many 1st rounders during his tenure, and, subsequently, watching the GM make "the old core" into the core, when they mostly should have been complementary players.
__________________________________________

Whoever gets chosen is going to get nitpicked by those who cannot be happy about anything and/or those who wanted one of the other candidates. Paul Fenton? "The Preds haven't picked an elite forward in his tenure, I hope you all enjoy a forward corps of 2nd and 3rd liners just like we had with Darcy!" or "He only knows how to be a small-market GM, and we've seen what happens when they have to become a GM of a cap team." Jason Botterill? Pittsburgh's drafts have sucked since he's been there, starting with the 2008 draft. And on and on.

Perfect doesn't have to be the enemy of good. I'm sure they'll make a good selection.

 

[1972]

The more I read and listen to interviews I am really starting to like Phoenix AGM Brad Treliving. Something about Jim Benning just puts him in the do not want category. Probably the two guys I would want the most which seem to be on the list are Fenton and Treliving.

 

[Duddy]

I'm not a huge fan of Benning, either, but I think you're being a bit over the top in your criticism. His biggest fault was not that he selected--and let's be clear, he was simply a part of the selection process, and not one with final authority, either--guys like Jason Pominville (55th), Derek Roy (32nd), Paul Gaustad (220th), or Ryan Miller (138th). Those guys were great picks for where they were selected in a given draft. The odds are stacked against players selected in those draft slots to have long NHL careers as each has had.

My issue with him is that he and the rest of Sabres management failed to put proper "core players" around those guys with his other draft picks. Most notably, the Sabres picked Heisten, Kryukov, and Novotny in three consecutive 1st rounds from 1999-2001? Big problem. You can't piss away three consecutive 1st round picks like that without consequence. With the exception of the 2001 class, he largely got nothing out of his 2nd round picks, either: Andrew Peters, Norm Milley, Jaro Kristek, Milan Bartovic, Mike Zigomanis, Doug Janik, Gerald Dicaire, Branislav Fabry, Mike Funk, etc. Those are all whammies at spots where you'd like to be drafting depth.

There's an argument against Benning, but it ain't that he "drafted the old core." Those were good picks where he got those guys. The organization screwed up by missing on so many 1st rounders during his tenure, and, subsequently, watching the GM make "the old core" into the core, when they mostly should have been complementary players.
__________________________________________

Whoever gets chosen is going to get nitpicked by those who cannot be happy about anything and/or those who wanted one of the other candidates. Paul Fenton? "The Preds haven't picked an elite forward in his tenure, I hope you all enjoy a forward corps of 2nd and 3rd liners just like we had with Darcy!" or "He only knows how to be a small-market GM, and we've seen what happens when they have to become a GM of a cap team." Jason Botterill? Pittsburgh's drafts have sucked since he's been there, starting with the 2008 draft. And on and on.

Perfect doesn't have to be the enemy of good. I'm sure they'll make a good selection.

It may be a little over the top, but if you looked around this board and how everybody viewed the old core, I focuse more on them.

I never had that big of a problem with Vanek, Roy, Poms, Miller and like you said they drafted so poorly and never got any help for them. And that alone is something that turns me off Benning.

We have some high draft picks coming up, no doubt that he could do good with them, but the harder part will be getting the right guys in the years after with picks in the late teens and not just picking off homeruns.

No one is perfect, but having already a huge lists of busts in this very organization that needs to build on the Draft, is just something I don't want to have back.

But everybody deserves a 2nd chance, he's just not my top choice.

 

[Sabre Dance]

He basically drafted the old core that everybody hated, why would I want to bring that guy back?
1 starting Goalie, 2 legit top six players, bunch of grinders and a lot of guys that haven't done much or anything as a Sabre.
that's not good enough to hand him the keys to the team.

The old core was fine, needed more pieces. The pieces were there for a year or 2, just didnt keep it all together.

Again, do your own comparison between Benning and the other GM's. Outside the top 10 its very even.

 

[Ethan Edwards]

The more I read and listen to interviews I am really starting to like Phoenix AGM Brad Treliving.

He'd be an excellent choice IMO. He and Loiselle, who I'm a bit more familiar with, are two that I've only heard mentioned sparingly, and neither has been linked to LaFontaine's short list to my knowledge. Both would be great to at least interview.

 

[Sabre Dance]

The more I read and listen to interviews I am really starting to like Phoenix AGM Brad Treliving. Something about Jim Benning just puts him in the do not want category. Probably the two guys I would want the most which seem to be on the list are Fenton and Treliving.

I felt the same way, watched a lot of interviews with Trevling and Fenton.

If we are going with a 1st time NHl GM, I want a guy who had full control of a successful AHL team. Thats probably by biggest negative for Benning. Botterill, Fenton, and Trevling all have run successful AHL franchises.

 

[SabresFan26]

Just found this and thought I would share, it adds some names but I definitley like who is listed as #1

Craig Custance of ESPN: Ranking Sabres GM candidates: 1. Claude Loiselle 2. Jason Botterill 3. Laurence Gilman 4. Brad Treliving 5. Paul Fenton Wild Card: Bill Zito.

Not as credible though considering it was posted over a week ago

 

[Beerz]

I'm totally basing this off the video I saw with him but.. Benning just seems blah... no personality and no enthusiasm. Seems like a Dinosaur to me.

 

[joshjull]

He basically drafted the old core that everybody hated, why would I want to bring that guy back?
1 starting Goalie, 2 legit top six players, bunch of grinders and a lot of guys that haven't done much or anything as a Sabre.
that's not good enough to hand him the keys to the team.

To be fair, Benning was part of a management team (along with Regier) that put together that great collection of talent we had coming out of the 04-05 lockout. They built the team through the draft, trades and free agency.

The players he had a hand in drafting were great compliments to the core pieces Regier had traded for. Its not Benning's fault that those core pieces left due to the previous owners contract policies.

 

[Heretic]

It may be a little over the top, but if you looked around this board and how everybody viewed the old core, I focuse more on them.

I never had that big of a problem with Vanek, Roy, Poms, Miller and like you said they drafted so poorly and never got any help for them. And that alone is something that turns me off Benning.

We have some high draft picks coming up, no doubt that he could do good with them, but the harder part will be getting the right guys in the years after with picks in the late teens and not just picking off homeruns.

No one is perfect, but having already a huge lists of busts in this very organization that needs to build on the Draft, is just something I don't want to have back.

But everybody deserves a 2nd chance, he's just not my top choice.

Honestly, when Connolly got hurt in the playoffs, he came back and was never the same. If we had a healthy Connolly, and the Drury/Briere situation wasn't a cluster**** then maybe we have some traction. They were always "that one guy away" and they went out and got Zubrus, which imo was aiming too low. Part of that is that Regier had to do what the Ottawa GM did where he has to send out as many dollars as he brings in, which means you get a Zubrus instead of a Hossa or somebody but really what I'll say is that if Connolly got hurt and we aimed for the fences instead of trying to get a basehit (Zubrus) we would've been alright.

But I guess none of it really matters because had Hull's goal not counted, or 4 top 4 defensemen getting hurt happening, then maybe we'd have a cup too. Darcy's time had come a long time ago but he wasn't terrible at his job, he just could have been a lot better when it counted.

 

[jc17]

I'm totally basing this off the video I saw with him but.. Benning just seems blah... no personality and no enthusiasm. Seems like a Dinosaur to me.

He seemed a bit like the old scouts in moneyball.

 

[joshjull]

@JoshRimerHockey: Former Buffalo Sabres GM John Muckler says Lafontaine should hire Jim Benning as new GM. "He's the guy they should hire." #Bruins (1/2)

@JoshRimerHockey: More Muckler (2/2) "Jim Benning deserves it after how hard he's worked. He's a good man and has an eye for talent."

 

[Paxon]

@JoshRimerHockey: Former Buffalo Sabres GM John Muckler says Lafontaine should hire Jim Benning as new GM. "He's the guy they should hire." #Bruins (1/2)

@JoshRimerHockey: More Muckler (2/2) "Jim Benning deserves it after how hard he's worked. He's a good man and has an eye for talent."

Old boys club

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

@JoshRimerHockey: Former Buffalo Sabres GM John Muckler says Lafontaine should hire Jim Benning as new GM. "He's the guy they should hire." #Bruins (1/2)

@JoshRimerHockey: More Muckler (2/2) "Jim Benning deserves it after how hard he's worked. He's a good man and has an eye for talent."

deserves it doesn't matter, doesn't matter how hard he worked

he could be the clone of Hitler, but if he could manage a team to a cup I'd tolerate him

ok he has an eye for talent, how about the other 20 qualifications needed by a GM

good talkin to ya Mucks

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Is Benning old? Say...over 60? I'd like to think Buffalo should be looking for a 40-45ish year old guy that can stick around for a while.