Canucks: The 5 worst moves of the Jim Benning era
Playing armchair GM is something all fans of the Vancouver Canucks have been guilty of. We look back at trade deadlines and free agency periods of the past with clarity of the present tense, and react with a bowed shake of the head, or take pleasure knowing that our management made the right move. The unfortunate nature of this list is that these transactions carried out by Canucks GM Jim Benning were dead on arrival as soon as the fax was sent.
Benning’s an easy target right now, as his most recent transactions (or lack thereof) have been on full display, starting last weekend with getting shutout by a Flames team powered by ex-long time Canucks (Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev), then getting fully dunked-on by Tyler Toffoli on the ascending Montreal Canadiens. It’s put the crosshairs of the fickle Vancouver fan-base firmly back on ol’ Jimbo.
Look away, #Canucks fans pic.twitter.com/0obmGKnP1P
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) January 25, 2021
Benning gets full marks for leading the Canucks out of the wilderness by hitting huge in the draft over the past five years. However, the window created by Benning and his scouting team is closing quickly due to his consistent failings at asset retention and buying high on bottom-six players during free agency.
With upcoming negotiations with franchise cornerstones Elias Petterson and Quinn Hughes looming, Benning’s track record suggests he’s in no way qualified to build a championship roster in a flat salary cap environment. Now let’s all hold hands and dig into the proof…
Trading Zack Kassian and a 5th Round Pick for Brandon Prust
In Benning’s second year as Canucks GM, the team went full rebuild mode in the offseason after getting bounced by the Calgary Flames in the first round. That summer, we bid farewell to fan favourites Eddie Lack and Kevin Bieksa for draft capital and cap space.
Part of the reshuffling included shipping 24-year old Zack Kassian and pick for Canadiens third-line winger Brandon Prust. In fairness to Benning, Kassian’s documented off-ice issues had depressed his value, but the trade marked a disturbing trend of continually buying high on gritty veterans, all while giving up on a salvageable Kassian. It’s important to note as well that the Canucks took on more salary in this trade.
Both players never stuck around with their new teams, but Kassian eventually turned things around, notching career highs in points and average TOI last year with the Edmonton Oilers. Benning could’ve been forgiven for this trade had it not been the first of many lopsided moves in pursuit of veteran bottom-six forwards; which leads us to our next part of our list…
Signing Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, and Tim Schaller for a combined $7.9M AAV
This technically counts as three moves, but holy cow this still makes my eyes water almost three years later. It was at this moment that Canucks management solidified their reputation as the pot of gold for scrappy vets to hit their big pay day, both for the term and dollar amount.
It’s no coincidence that the teams that let these players go (Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins) are franchises that are enjoying the sustained success the Canucks are still striving for. A quick glance of each team’s respective Cap Friendly page showcase a similar theme: their bottom-six littered with entry-level contracts and vets making under $2M AAV.
Last year’s playoff run was a direct result of excellent Benning drafts injecting impact players at bargain prices. We can look back at this summer day as one of the reasons the Canucks weren’t able to build on that momentum this offseason.
Trading Tim Schaller, Tyler Madden, and a 2020 2nd Round Pick for Tyler Toffoli
With the Canucks fighting for their playoff lives, and Benning in a similar situation with his job, the GM landed top trade deadline target Tyler Toffoli to shore up the top-six. The move paid immediate dividends as Toffoli slotted into the top line, playing excellent hockey before injuries and the pandemic derailed his season.
The trade itself isn’t the issue, but the lack of foresight to retain Toffoli (who was practically begging to stay) is an indictment on Benning. The sentiment at the time was that while resigning Toffoli would be a priority, it would take a backseat towards locking up Jacob Markstrom. None of those things eventually happened., and with 10% of the season played it’s obvious the holes have not been adequately filled.
Grading the transaction at the time was contingent on resigning Toffoli in the offseason, and letting him slip away to the Canadiens for less money than anticipated, is why the trade makes this list.
Signing Tyler Myers to a 5-year, $30M contract
I’ll cop to the mildly clickbaity title, but the reality is that out of 32 NHL defenseman this season with an AAV of $6M or more, Tyler Myers is second last in average TOI just ahead of Keith Yandle (20:46 a game, taking into account injuries). This stat only gets more depressing considering the utter lack of healthy NHL-ready defenseman available to the Canucks currently. One reason holding Myers back from more ice-time is his NHL-leading 23 penalty minutes, a toxic combination considering our current 73.5 PK%.
Myers first season with the Canucks was a mild success, putting up solid underlying numbers when paired with Quinn Hughes and Alex Edler. Things fall off rather quickly when he’s not playing with two of our top defenseman, and Myers-Fantenberg or Myers-Benn were the two worst Canucks pairings from a xGoals % perspective last year.
Look no further than this past Saturday’s beatdown at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens for insight into the type of decision making that $6M a year apparently gets you:
With the game still much in the balance at 3-2, Myers forces an audacious gambit along the blue-line with J.T. Miller. With Miller hounded at the top of the o-zone by Jonathan Drouin, Myers flees his last man back position, signaling for a low percentage pass attempt you’re least likely to see again this year. The pass doesn’t even make it past Drouin, and by the time Myers can turn around, Drouin and Josh Anderson are on a partial 2 man breakaway. Drouin inevitably converts, and it’s game over.
As the game continues to trend towards speed and shiftiness, Myers will continue to struggle with the faster pace of new forwards entering the NHL. With his $6M AAV on the books for three more seasons, I expect we will be feeling similarly about this contract like our last entry…
Signing Loui Eriksson to a 6-year, $36M contract
I guess now is a good time as any to state this qualifier: in no way shape or form is this the fault of any of the players on the list. Beyond winning cups, the job of the player and agent is to collect as much money as they can playing a dangerous sport that can take away your health and livelihood in an instant. The role of the GM is to evaluate the demands of agents and players relative to team roster needs, which made the Loui Eriksson signing in 2016 border line at best, and downright embarrassing in 2021.
Based on a 4 game sample size at the World Championships playing with the Sedin’s in 2013, Benning employed the rebuild ”on the fly” approach to take an expensive flyer on Eriksson in hopes the Swedish connection could ignite the Sedin twins in the twilight of their career. Needless to say, that did not happen. Two years after the signing the Sedin’s retired, and Eriksson has since alternated between Canuck Twitter punching bag and occasionally serviceable checking line winger to taxi squad fixture. Age, injuries and the changing game have passed Loui by, but it was Benning that put the paper and pen in his hand to ensure his career ended with the Canucks.
Next. Canucks: 3 rookies exceeding expectations. dark
With a good amount of cap space coming off the books over the next couple of years (Sutter, Beagle, Roussel, Eriksson), Benning will soon have more flexibility to address some of the current roster needs. Whether Canucks ownership and fans give him that chance is looking dimmer by the day.