The Management Thread | Live, Play, Repeat Edition

[tantalum]

I was listening to a Patrick Johnson interview today and he made some points in that fashion that reports do who don't want to made to look like a pariah to the rights holder. Anyway, he intimated strongly that ownership approves ALL transactions and also implied they INITIATE transactions by providing lists to GMGB of who to sign etc. He went on to say that it's ownership's money so they can do as they please and they do, do as they please. Finally, he circled back and doubled down on the idea they had their hands in every pie, but said that strangely ownership had somehow tried to divest themselves from the bad decisions like hiring Torts. Johnson basically went on to say that it is hard to distance themselves since they signed Torts contract and his cheques, implying they make the decision on other contract including UFAs.

I found this kind of disturbing because it changes the narrative and instead of GMJB initiating transactions and seeking ownership approval, it suggests the converse and that GMJB has very little control over any of the decisions. Furthermore, it means nothing can change since ownership isn't going to change in the near future.
Therefore, we are stuck with this circus regardless of whomever is the GM. It also explains why they haven't fired GMJB and why GMJB says he plans to focus on the draft, since "that is my background": double speak for that is the only area he can impact.

The not so hidden hand...

The problem with this is that on league transaction paperwork it is Bennings’ signature not ownership. We know this happens...it did with Nonis and it did with Gillis. The difference is that Nonis said no to mortgaging the future for Richards and Gillis said no the team needs to be rebuilt. They got fired but kept their integrity. Linden made a last minute attempt to retain his.

Bening says yes sir. Whatever you like sir.

And there is also still the question of execution and it doesn’t matter what strategy is being pursued or who set that strategy the execution on the part of the front office is simply horrifying.

And that’s why no matter how bad Nonis was as a GM he better finish ahead of Benning in the GM poll thread....

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

I think they can exceed the cap by 10% in the offseason. Couldn't he have signed Toffoli and moved money later? With Ferland (and his uninsurable contract) on the LTIR, by not signing Harmonic, Hawryluk and Motte and even delaying bringing over Hoglander, I think he would have been within spitting distance of Toffoli's contract. He could have also demoted Roussel or Beagle.
Anyway, I am sure there are other ways he could have found the cap space include a trade of Sutter or Virtanen. The will wasn't there and his remarks are revisionist history.

The reality is that this team is not closer to winning a Cup than the team he took over 7 years ago.
Why hasn't he already been replaced? The bar for every other GM in Nucks recent history was so much higher and they were all let go? How has the GMJB and Weisbrod regime lasted this long?
Considering their truly awesome salary cap mismanagement, it's hard to imagine they are making ownership richer than an alternative regime. They must please ownership in a way that they don't please the team's followers.

 

[M2Beezy]

When did Miller win a cup?

Tampa

 

[Peter10]

Tampa

Did we loan him back to Tampa after we were eliminated by Vegas?

 

[M2Beezy]

Did we loan him back to Tampa after we were eliminated by Vegas?

Oops nevermind. No that didnt happen, thats not allowed. I mixed it up the years

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

On a positive note, Miller won in Tampa, in the same way some people think Tallon won in Chicago.

 

[Hit the post]

On a positive note, Miller won in Tampa, in the same way some people think Tallon won in Chicago.

Not even remotely close.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

Not even remotely close.

Yes, indeed.

 

[Dab]

Jim Benning has one talent, one enormous skill that noone can ever argue: keeping his job.

How many times have we sat here claiming "okay this has gotta be the last straw right?" JB has had 7 years and has made countless mistakes, but somehow this man cuddles up to Aqua so hard he's kept his job! And that snake oil salesman Weisbrod does the same under Benning's wing.

I hope the rumors about the rest of the Aquilini family being upset with Francesco are true. Not only is the actual team itself a joke, but the value of the franchise has plummeted under Benning's tenure. Francesco was getting excited about the Canucks breaching the $1b value benchmark but a combination of, yes, COVID, and more importantly incredibly poor team performance, and extremely poor salary cap management have caused the team to lose 10% of its original value. This is very bad, folks.

May all us working class shlubs find the kind of job security Jim Benning has.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

May all us working class shlubs find the kind of job security Jim Benning has.

or even Beagle and Roussel.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Paging @Jyrki21

We are all apostles of the Church of Jyrki



2016. 2016!

 

[I am toxic]

"we would have had to move money out."

You would've had to move money out? Oh that's totally brand new information that nobody saw coming at all.

I mean who would've known right? WHO?????

Only Hindsight would have known.

But even now, how can we know, we must wait. And see.

About waiting and seeing an arbitrary number of seasons from now.

It's too soon to tell.

The jury is still out.

A stitch in time saves nine.

Slow and steady wins the Cup.

Patience.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

Only Hindsight would have known.

But even now, how can we know, we must wait. And see.

About waiting and seeing an arbitrary number of seasons from now.

It's too soon to tell.

The jury is still out.

A stitch in time saves nine.

Slow and steady wins the Cup.

Patience.

On the balance of evidence (or lack of evidence to the contrary), the only reasonable conclusion is GMJB's incompetence is actually FA's incompetence and firing himself is not an option.

 

[I am toxic]

I get it now guys.

Benning predicted the whole Canadian division thing,

So he lets Marky and tanman go to Calgary
Deliberately mess up the toffoli extension for 7 months just to piss him off and get him to sign in Montreal
Lose Malholtra to Toronto
Keeps the same useless coaching staff even though Gallant who’s a clear upgrade is available.

We get absolutely f***ed this season,
free fall down the standings
get a top 4 draft pick this year which is packed with good d prospects.

Let Brackett go because he was a Gillis guy,
and finally have a draft where no one would meddle with his draft choices.

We then proceed to have the best draft in Canucks history and completely restock our prospect pool.

All part of his master plan to turn this team around in a hurry.
We will be contender by the time Bo horvat retires and our next wave of prospect comes in.

Just wait and see

I sure wish we had the prospect pool we had back in 2014.

Bo, our current captain that does it all, both on the ice (often with anchors on his wings) and off the ice.

Marky, a goalie who would singlehandedly drag this team out of the loss column.

A 6th OA pick that could have netted us Ehlers or Nylander.

I wish we had a prospect pool that good, instead of only having Podz (love him) and achieving a grade of "C" in the last draft, while a team like Minnesota got an "A+".

But don't fret, we are in the best position to end Canada's Cup drought.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Wasn't Todd Harvey basically moved into the role for the last draft? He's not listed anymore, what happened? Was the well poisoned that quickly?!

edit: No wait, Harvey's still there, listed among coaches and staff. He only has the title "Amateur Scout", but he was reported (e.g. by Sportsnet) to have become Director, and even his Wikipedia page says it.

For a while, at least on paper, it continued to mean Ron Delorme was the highest-placed dude. The same one who was most directly responsible for the poor drafting during the pre-Benning years, yet magically has fans prepared to rewrite history as long as he remains part of this management.

Is it Harvey? It’s really impossible to know with this team, but I fully expect that it would be Benning and Weisbrod ruining our draft (Freudian slip, or was it?)

 

[4Twenty]

I sure wish we had the prospect pool we had back in 2014.

Bo, our current captain that does it all, both on the ice (often with anchors on his wings) and off the ice.

Marky, a goalie who would singlehandedly drag this team out of the loss column.

A 6th OA pick that could have netted us Ehlers or Nylander.

I wish we had a prospect pool that good, instead of only having Podz (love him) and achieving a grade of "C" in the last draft, while a team like Minnesota got an "A+".

But don't fret, we are in the best position to end Canada's Cup drought.

12th overall pick, Podkolzin, Dipietro and Chatfield.

As good as Bo, 6th, Tanev and Markstrom?

 

[I am toxic]

wait I'm confused, aren't we suppose to be toxic anti-Benning conspiracy theorists who are horrible human beings undeserving to be called Canucks fans?

As a matter of fact, yes.

Yes we are.

 

[DS7]

Failing to re-sign Toffoli could be Benning's downfall - Vancouver Is Awesome

Well it's official, given the choice of Brandon Sutter or Toffoli, he chose Sutter. Doesn't know sunk cost

The Canucks’ situation, however, was malleable. While the Canucks were dealing with some significant salary cap constraints thanks to a combination of bad contracts, Roberto Luongo’s cap recapture, and the COVID-caused flat cap, there were several ways they could have made room to re-sign Toffoli.

For instance, Benning had the option of buying out Brandon Sutter to add some cap flexibility, but didn’t do so, either because he felt that Sutter was still important to the team or because of financial constraints placed on him by ownership. The Canucks did seem to tighten their belts in multiple ways this offseason.

That wasn’t the only way to make room for Toffoli, but Benning instead prioritized other players.

He signed veteran goaltender Braden Holtby to a $4.3 million-per-year contract after the worst season of his career instead of searching for a cheaper option to play with or behind Thatcher Demko. He also re-signed restricted free agent Jake Virtanen to a two-year deal worth $2.55 million.

Holtby was the goaltender victimized for half of Toffoli’s eight goals and has an .896 save percentage this season, while Virtanen was a healthy scratch on Tuesday night as Toffoli scored twice.

 

[Izzy Goodenough]

In my opinion, Chris MacFarland should be one of the top guys (together with Erik Crawford) considered to replace GMJB and Weisbrod.

NHL News
@PuckReportNHL Frank Seravalli on Insider Trading: "The Pittsburgh Penguins have formally sought and been granted permission to speak to a trio of assistant GMs from around the NHL, including Chris Drury, Chris MacFarland, as well as John Ferguson Jr.

Bleak

 

[I am toxic]

We are all apostles of the Church of Jyrki



2016. 2016!

It's deja vu all over again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

 

[I am toxic]

On the balance of evidence (or lack of evidence to the contrary), the only reasonable conclusion is GMJB's incompetence is actually FA's incompetence and firing himself is not an option.

You do understand that some things are not mutually exclusive?

 

[pgj98m3]

It's deja vu all over again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Have I seen this somewhere before?????

 

[bandwagonesque]

Failing to re-sign Toffoli could be Benning's downfall - Vancouver Is Awesome

Well it's official, given the choice of Brandon Sutter or Toffoli, he chose Sutter. Doesn't know sunk cost

This just isn’t true. The buyout would only have saved about 2.3M in salary this season. Now if you wanted to move out Virtanen as well you’d be in business, and in hindsight that might have been the right move. You can’t infer from his remarks that he preferred Sutter to Toffoli as a player and I doubt very much he did.

 

[bandwagonesque]

I sure wish we had the prospect pool we had back in 2014.

Bo, our current captain that does it all, both on the ice (often with anchors on his wings) and off the ice.

Marky, a goalie who would singlehandedly drag this team out of the loss column.

A 6th OA pick that could have netted us Ehlers or Nylander.

I wish we had a prospect pool that good, instead of only having Podz (love him) and achieving a grade of "C" in the last draft, while a team like Minnesota got an "A+".

But don't fret, we are in the best position to end Canada's Cup drought.

Markstrom wasn’t a prospect — he was 24 and had played an entire season as a 1b in Florida and led the team in starts. So what you’re really doing is comparing players 24 or under, in which case ... well, you seem to be leaving a few players out.

 

[infinitemile]

I love how whenever Benning makes questionable decisions, then it was probably Aqua meddling. Don't you guys know Aqua has his fingers in day-to-day hockey operations?

but when Benning gets extremely lucky and picks Quinn Hughes, for instance, then it's all his drafting genius. Don't you guys know Benning is a drafting guru and Aqua leaves him alone to do that?

You can use the Aqua boogeyman to account for anything!