Canucks: Revisiting Jim Benning’s tenure in Vancouver so far
The Vancouver Canucks have entered one of their most important offseasons in recent history.
The team finished the 2020-21 season with a 23-29-4 record, putting them dead last in the Scotia North Division and 24th in the league standings. They missed the playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven years, and boast a underwhelming .493 points percentage over that span. To put that into perspective, only five other teams finished below them.
In other words, the Canucks will need to start navigating their way out of mediocrity and disappointment as soon as they can this summer, and it appears that they’ll be doing so with general manager Jim Benning still firmly planted at the helm.
Despite rumblings of drastic front office changes throughout much of the season, all signs are pointing towards Benning staying on as general manager in Vancouver. The 59-year-old has one year left on his current three-year deal, and appears to have the full support of ownership to steer the ship back in the right direction for next year.
To no one’s surprise, the city of Vancouver immediately erupted with anger and annoyance when this news broke. Canucks followers are known to be one of the most passionate fanbases in the entire league, and have been longing for any signs of long-term planning and organization from their team’s management group since 2014, something that Benning has failed to do for most of his time in Vancouver.
Most recently, he and newly-signed head coach Travis Green addressed the media during their year-end press conference, where he stated his intention to “be aggressive in the trade front and in free agency” this summer, a quote that undoubtedly brought about shivers and created déjà vu for the fans.
Yes, management has had some decent moments throughout their tenure, but, for the most part, Benning and co. have continued to drop the ball on multiple occasions, and will have one final chance to right their wrongdoings before it’s too late.
With that being said, let’s look back on all of the key Benning moments over the past seven years that brought this organization to its nearly-inevitable tipping point:
The first few months
On May 23rd, 2014, Benning was announced as the new general manager for the Canucks. He replaced Mike Gillis, who previously held the position from 2008 to 2014. During those six years, Gillis helped lead the team to consecutive President Trophies, five division titles, one conference title and five playoff appearances. The latter, of course, was highlighted by the team’s Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2011.
At the time of Benning’s hire, however, the team’s outlook was drastically different than it had been in years’ past, and the former assistant general manager for the Boston Bruins knew he had work to do.
The Canucks finished the 2013-14 season a game over .500, with a record of 36-35-11. More importantly, the team was eight points out of a wildcard playoff spot after 82 games, missing the playoffs for the first time in five years, and were starting to feel the ramifications of an aging core, prompting Benning to make his first wave of big moves.
Benning hit the ground running with his new organization leading up to the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, making a splash in both the free agency and trade markets.
Benning acquired tough guy Derek Dorsett from the New York Rangers in exchanged for a third round pick, as well as forward Linden Vey from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a second round pick, but was able to recapture that pick by dealing away defenceman Jason Garrison to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The biggest trade, of course, was sending Ryan Kesler to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Luca Sbisa and Nick Bonino, as well as first and third round picks for that upcoming draft. This wasn’t a shock for fans, as Kesler had demanded a trade out of Vancouver earlier in the season.
Benning was also busy in the opening days of free agency, landing netminder Ryan Miller on a three-year, $18 million deal, as well as forward Radim Vrbata for two years at $5 million per.
During his time in Vancouver, Miller served as a suitable replacement for Roberto Luongo, posting a .914 SV% and 2.68 GAA, which were decent numbers given how the team played in front of him. Vrbata was a huge hit in his first year, posting a career-high in points and leading the team in goals with 31, but ultimately saw a dip in his production the following season.
However, Benning was also unable to deal either player at the trade deadline during the final year of their contracts.
And finally, Benning’s final big move happened during the draft itself.
With two first round picks in his pocket, Benning selected forwards Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann. To this day, Virtanen has played all 317 career games with Vancouver, but has only recorded 100 points over that span, and McCann would go on to only play 69 games in Vancouver (more on that to come).
Fortunately, Benning didn’t completely strike out in 2014. He also drafted netminder Thatcher Demko in the second round, along with Gustav Forsling in the fifth round. What will always be the cherry on top of this draft class, something that Canucks fans will never be able to forget? Benning missed out on a few eventual star players in this league, including William Nylander, Nikolaj Ehlers and David Pastrnak. Ouch.
And this was just the first summer.
The early years – 2014 to 2016
During Benning’s first year in Vancouver, the team was actually able to bounce back big during the regular season, building off of the skill and leadership of their core players. They finished second in the Pacific Division with 101 points, succeeding under the coaching regime of Willie Desjardins, who was hired on June 23rd, 2014 to replace bench boss John Tortorella.
During the season, Benning acquired Sven Baertschi from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a second round pick. Baertschi had three productive seasons in Vancouver starting in 2015-16, recording 28, 35 and 29 points respectively, but was eventually moved down to Utica once the offence dried up. The Flames would also end up using that second round pick to select defenceman Rasmus Andersson.
That same year, Benning also dealt Forsling to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Adam Clendening.
Clendening only played 17 games with the Canucks, recording two points during that span. Forsling signed an entry-level deal with the Blackhawks, posting 27 points in 122 games. He was eventually dealt to the Hurricanes in 2019, who placed him on waivers twice, and was scooped up the second time around by the Florida Panthers. The 24-year-old is now a key piece on the left-side of their blueline, averaging just under 20 minutes of ice time. He also registered two points in six playoff games this past season.
The Canucks’ regular season success was short-lived, however, as the team was swiftly eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, falling to the Calgary Flames in six games. This would end up being the last playoff series played for many of the veterans, including Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and would mark the beginning of turbulent times.
It didn’t start off all bad, fortunately.
The Canucks entered the 2015 NHL Entry Draft with the 23rd overall pick, selecting right winger Brock Boeser from the University of North Dakota. Benning also selected forward Adam Gaudette in the fifth round, and defenceman Guillaume Brisebois in the third round. The pick used on Brisebois was acquired from the Eddie Lack deal, who was sent to the Carolina Hurricanes that same offseason.
On the trade market, Benning dealt away fan favourite Kevin Bieksa, who had one year left on his deal at $4.6 million, to the Anaheim Ducks. In exchange, the Canucks received a 2016 second round pick, which was eventually included in the trade package to acquire centre Brandon Sutter from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sutter had one productive season in 2016-17, recording 34 points, but has been hampered with injuries since then, significantly impacting his contribution as the team’s third-line centre. In that deal, the Canucks also sent away Bonino and Clendening, while also acquiring a 2016 third round pick, which was eventually used to select forward Will Lockwood, who made his NHL debut just a few weeks ago.
Finally, Benning also made changes in the front office, relieving Lorne Henning and Laurence Gillman of their assistant general manager duties to make way for current right-hand man John Weisbrod, who had only been with the organization since 2014. He also hired Judd Brackett as Amateur of Director Scouting, as well as former Canuck Ryan Johnson as Assistant Director of Player Development.
The rebuild officially began during the 2015-16 season, with the team falling to 28th in the league standings after 82 games. It was a disastrous end to the campaign following the trade deadline, as the team lost 11 of their last 15 contests, which included a nine-game losing streak. What most fans remember, however, is how the team was able to rattle off three consecutive, meaningless wins against their Californian opponents to end the losing streak. They also wrapped up the season with a shootout victory over the Oilers.
The Canucks finished the season with 75 points, six more than the last place Toronto Maple Leafs, who were eventually awarded with the first overall pick in 2016. The Canucks fell to fifth overall, losing out on the Auston Matthews sweepstakes in cringe-worthy fashion, which, as we all know, would become a trend for the franchise moving forward.
The Canucks used their first round pick to select defenceman Olli Juolevi.
After battling numerous injuries in the AHL, the Finnish blueliner was finally able to make his NHL debut this past season. The jury is still out on Juolevi, who has only played 23 games with the Canucks, but it’s also hard not to compare him to other players in his draft class.
On the blueline, Benning missed out on solid defencemen such as Charlie McAvoy, Mikhail Sergachev and Jakub Chycrun, all of whom are excelling with their current teams. They also dropped the ball on some forwards, skipping over Matthew Tkachuk, Clayton Keller and Sam Steel.
Unfortunately, two of Benning’s most memorable moves also came during that offseason. On May 25th, 2016, he traded away McCann, as well as second and fourth round picks, to the Florida Panthers, in exchange for big-bodied blueliner Erik Gudbranson.
McCann still continued to develop with the Panthers, recording 53 points in 143 games as a middle six forward, before being dealt to the Penguins at the 2019 trade deadline. The now 24-year-old seems to have found his scoring touch and stride in Pittsburgh, and appears to be one of their more promising young forwards for the future. Gudbranson, on the other hand, has suited up for four other clubs since his time with the Canucks, and has yet to live up to his third overall draft pick status.
The other mistake, of course, is still rearing its ugly face today.
On July 1st, 2016, Benning signed forward Loui Eriksson to a six-year, $36 million contract. Since signing with Vancouver, Eriksson has only registered 90 points in 252 games played, essentially playing his way out of the line-up and into the press box on a permanent basis. To this day, he is without a doubt Benning’s worst transaction as general manager.
Fortunately, not all was lost for Benning this season. He traded away fan favourites Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen in under 72 hours at the deadline, receiving young prospects Nikolay Goldobin and Jonathan Dahlén in return. Unfortunately, neither panned out as expected at the NHL level, with the latter never actually playing for the Canucks (aside from in Utica), but it was a promising step for Benning and co. at the time.
The Canucks finished the 2016-17 campaign one position lower in the standings than the previous year, sitting only above the tirefire that was the Colorado Avalanche heading into the 2017 offseason.
This prompted Benning to fire Desjardins and his coaching staff, making way for Green to transition from the AHL to the NHL.
The middle years – 2017 to 2019
Despite the second-to-last finish in the standings, the hockey gods still decided to punish the Canucks even more, dropping them down three spots to fifth overall.
Fortunately, the Canucks made the most of their pick position, selecting Elias Pettersson from the Swedish Elite League. Benning, with the help of Brackett, also struck gold with his remaining picks, selecting Kole Lind, Jonah Gadjovich, Michael DiPietro, Jack Rathbone and Petrus Palmu. Aside from Palmu, each player has been able to make their NHL debut, and it appears that all of them could be key pieces for the organization moving forward.
Despite not qualifying for the playoffs for the third consecutive year, the Canucks were slowly starting to show signs of improvement throughout the season, giving fans small glimpses of hope and promise.
The team also made a solid acquisition at the deadline, trading away forward Thomas Vanek to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jussi Jokinen and Tyler Motte. Jokinen actually played well during his short stint in Vancouver, posting 10 points in 14 games. Motte, of course, would end up having more of a significant impact with the franchise. The 26-year-old is easily the team’s best bottom-six forward, providing energy and determination on every shift while also playing a key role on the penalty kill.
The Canucks finished 26th in the standings, and were given the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft as a result. Benning and co. used the pick to select offensive defenceman Quinn Hughes, who, similar to Boeser and Pettersson, also made an immediate impact on the team.
However, despite the successful draft selection process over the past few years, Benning would eventually revert back to his old habits just one week later, attempting to rush the rebuild without a long-term plan in mind.
In a span of 24 hours, Benning made two more massive free agency mistakes, inking veteran forwards Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle to matching four-year, $12 million contracts. Like Eriksson, these two players are only impacting the team’s cap space, and has majorly dipped in production and on-ice value over the past few years.
Benning was eventually able to make up for Gudbranson trade at the 2019 deadline, executing what-would-become a lopsided deal of his own. Benning sent Gudbranson to the Penguins in exchange for forward Tanner Pearson.
At the time, Pearson was a solid acquisition, fitting in nicely on the second line with captain Bo Horvat. Yes, his new contract will most likely be criticized in a year or two, and he has already slowed down significantly in the points column this past season, but you can’t deny Pearson’s overall contributions to the team thus far. Since coming to Vancouver, Pearson sits fourth on the team goal scoring list with 40, with 31 of those tallies coming at even strength.
Benning also wasn’t done at that deadline. He sent Michael Del Zotto to Anaheim in exchange for Luke Schenn, and dealt Sam Gagner to Edmonton in exchange for Ryan Spooner. The last one did come back to bite Benning, as Spooner’s buyout penalty counted towards just over $1 million against the cap for the past two seasons, and will finally be set to expire in July.
The big splashes for Benning, of course, the ones that are still relatively still fresh in our mind and will impact the franchise for years, took place over the past 24 months.
The most recent years – 2019 to now
On June 22nd, 2019, Benning acquired J.T. Miller from the Tampa Bay Lightning, in exchange for Marek Mazanec and a conditional first round pick, which was eventually used during the 2020 NHL Entry draft. He also selected winger Vasily Podkolzin 10th overall, just one day earlier.
At the season deadline, he made one of the bigger blockbuster deals in the league, trading for winger Tyler Toffoli, and sending back Tim Schaller, prospect Tyler Madden and a second round pick to the Los Angeles Kings. This would mark Benning’s first major transaction since signing his surprising three-year contract extension on August 20th, 2020.
Of course, the Miller trade has proven to be one of Benning’s best transactions during his tenure. The 28-year-old slotted perfectly into the team’s top six forward group, bringing about a solid combination of toughness, speed, versatility and offensive prowess. He recorded 72 points in 69 games on the “Lotto Line” in 2019-20, and followed up that performance with 46 points in 53 games in 2020-21.
Toffoli, on the other hand, didn’t go as well.
The winger, who found immediate chemistry in Vancouver’s top six forward group for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, was apparently kept in the dark by Benning throughout the offseason, prompting him to go ahead and sign a four-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens instead. To add even more salt to the wound, Toffoli absolutely lit up the Canucks this past season, scoring eight of his 28 goals against his former club.
He was also the fourth free agent that signed with another club during the 2020 offseason, despite all of them expressing strong interest to stay in Vancouver. As we all know, the Canucks were unable to hold onto goaltender Jacob Markstrom, or blueliners Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher.
Benning also continued to make blunders in the front office.
On May 29th, 2020, Benning announced that the team would be parting ways with Brackett after 12 years in Vancouver, once again showing his poor contract negotiation skills with important members of his team. Brackett would eventually take on the same scouting role with the Minnesota Wild, which became official on July 9th, 2020.
Fortunately, Benning was able to do something right during that offseason.
On October 12th, 2020, he acquired right-handed defenceman Nate Schmidt from the Vegas Golden Knights, taking advantage of a team who had made it abundantly evident that they needed to clear up cap space ASAP.
Yes, Benning only had to give up a third round pick in 2022 to secure Schmidt, but that may not have been the case if Vegas didn’t end up signing Alex Pietrangelo to the long-term deal that pushed them over the cap. In other words, he was able to come away from the situation more unscathed and much more lucky than what most of us expected, and it makes you wonder what he would’ve had to resort to had the Vegas cap crunch not occurred.
One week later, Benning also resigned Virtanen to a two-year deal just north of $5 million, essentially putting all of his eggs in Virtanen’s basket instead of in Toffoli’s.
As we know, that didn’t age well.
This past year alone, Benning continued to be aggressive from his front office (apparently still without a long-term plan in sight), dealing Gaudette to the Blackhawks in exchange for Matthew Highmore, as well as sending Jordie Benn to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a sixth round pick.
As mentioned above, he also signed Pearson to a three-year contract extension worth a head-scratching $3.25 million per, but not before inking Demko, his goaltender-of-the-future, to a much-better five-year, $25 million extension.
He was able to come to an agreement with Green in the 11th hour, inking the bench boss to a two-year contract extension, but has yet to come to terms with the rest of the coaching staff, including goaltending coach Ian Clark.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
In the next few months, Benning will need to deal with limited cap space, pending UFAs, depth scoring issues, a missing third line centre, a depleted right side of the blueline, and a looming expansion draft, STILL without a concrete plan laid out in front of him to guide him through this mess.
Time and time again, Benning has been unable to work with pressing deadlines, execute proper player and personnel management, manage money effectively, or hold onto important draft picks, and all signs are pointing towards a repeat of that.
In other words, if you thought these past seven years were bad, you might want to brace yourselves for what could be coming next from Benning and his team.
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