Scenario 2: The Angry Fan
How do you get fans angry as an NHL club’s GM? You make a stupid trade or pick a stupid player at the draft. But even if you make a smart call, there will always be fans who rage about that call on social media and in Vancouver’s downtown bars. At the 2016 Draft, picking a defenseman could lead to that reaction.
There are Canucks fans who think picking Olli Juolevi or Jakob Chychrun would be even better than getting Dubois or Tkachuk. But there is also the vast majority who believes Bob McKenzie when he says the draft’s top-six players are all forwards (Matthews, Laine, Puljujarvi, Dubois, Tkachuk and Alex Nylander).
Related: Olli Juolevi Could Become True No. 1 Defenseman
Still, if Benning has his mind set on one of Dubois and Tkachuk but that player gets taken away from him at fourth overall, he might want to consider one of the D-men instead. Juolevi and Chychrun might not project as future NHL No. 1 D-men, but they certainly have the potential to play on a team’s first pairing within the next five years. Good defensemen are extremely valuable in today’s NHL, so their value might actually turn out to be higher than that of Dubois or Tkachuk.
There have been rumblings that Benning likes Juolevi enough to pick him in the first round, even though the Canucks GM said picking a forward is more likely. If he likes one D-man more than Dubois or Tkachuk and can’t find a trade partner to move down, he might just go for that D-man instead. Personally, I wouldn’t even call that “reaching for a defenseman” — it would just be a good pick.
But, it would leave many fans very angry. Probably not for long, but the decision would create a wave of angry reactions for at least a week after the conclusion of the draft.
Next: The Angrier Fans