What we learned from Jim Benning’s media scrum yesterday
Yesterday, Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning spoke to media about his contract extension, and much more. Let’s see what we learned from yesterday’s media scrum.
Just a day after the owner of the Vancouver Canucks, Francesco Aquilini, penned a letter to fans and season ticket holders, promising better days are ahead; the team’s general manager, Jim Benning, spoke about numerous things to media yesterday at Rogers Arena.
One of the first things Benning did to begin his nine-minute media scrum was say how, much like nearly every Canucks fan at this point in the offseason, he is excited for training camp to begin. That wasn’t before he thanked the Aquilini family for his extension, and thanked the fans for their support. I sure hope he didn’t check Twitter when the news first broke.
Benning then talked about how positive his relationship with Francesco Aquilini is, and how Aquilini’s commitment to bringing Vancouver a Stanley Cup is what keeps their working relationship so positive.
"“He’s been excellent with me. We kind of go over the plan with him and he’s real passionate, he wants the team to be successful, he wants to bring the Stanley Cup to the city of Vancouver. For me, to work with somebody like that, I like that, because he’s aggressive in wanting to spend the money to make the team competitive, so for me it works great.”"
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Another thing we learned is that Benning is not worried about the prospect of Brock Boeser exploring playing overseas, as Mitch Marner has begun to do, as he continues his talks with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Benning remains confident that a deal will get done and that Boeser will be with the team when training camp gets underway in roughly three weeks time.
Benning also made a good point, reminding us all that Bo Horvat‘s six-year deal was signed just three days before training camp. Benning didn’t offer much insight into how talks are going with the Canucks’ other restricted free agent, Russian born winger Nikolay Goldobin. Benning kept it short and sweet and offered nothing more than reiterating that they will continue to try to get both Boeser and Goldobin signed soon.
Additionally, Benning said that the team has hired new personnel into their hockey operations department, and said he’s hoping to have an announcement sometime in the next couple of weeks about some of the moves the team has made this offseason. Benning also mentioned that with the departure of Scott Walker to the Coyotes, they have hired someone who they feel is a more than suitable replacement to fill the role.
Benning then discussed the prospect of having to make tough decisions at camp this year saying, “the players who deserve to be here are going to be here.” Further, Benning was asked if he had discussed with ownership about the potential of having to send some guys on big-ticket contracts down to the minors, which Benning replied with, “yes, we have, yes.”
Both head coach Travis Green and now Benning, have made it clear that nobody’s job is safe no matter how much money they’re making. If I’m Loui Eriksson and I’m hearing all of this, I’m making sure that this upcoming training camp is my best one to date.
In regards to the need to be cap compliant by the start of the season, Benning said that the team is currently looking at all their options, including LTIR for Antoine Roussel, who could be out until December.
Finally, Benning finished the media scrum by making it clear that the Canucks goal this year is to make the playoffs. Benning said that the acquisitions they made this offseason were all acquired with the goal of reaching the playoffs in mind, and that it’s important for the team’s young players to get some playoff experience.
Oh, and he mentioned something about trying to get Nikita Tryamkin “back in the fold” sometime soon. These sure are exciting times in Vancouver, and with training camp just a few more weeks away, let the countdown to puck drop begin!