A truly comical Jim Benning trade tree
#The Kesler Trade
I'm sure the Canucks owners absolutely get too involved with their hockey team... but you cannot possibly convince me they orchestrated all of this while Benning was just a figurehead. This shit sandwich just has too many layers.
Sorry if it's tough to follow; summary is at the end.
June 24th, 2014
Out:
-
2015-VAN-3rd
In:
-
24th OV
-
85th OV
Before we look at the players in this return...
June 24th, 2014 (later the same day)
Out: 85th OV
In: Derek Dorsett
At the time, what you were getting in Dorsett was well known. He was 27 years old with 331 games over 6 seasons, contributing 73 points and 855 penalty minutes while mostly playing 11-12 mins/game. A face-punching 4th liner, albeit one that produces some points. In his first year with the Canucks he became a fan favourite, recording 25 points and 175 penalty minutes... but under the surface it was ugly:
... proved a significant drag in nearly every aspect of the game ... exactly zero of Dorsett’s teammates benefited as a result of skating alongside Dorsett ... the Canucks are hemorrhaging [10 bell] scoring chances with Dorsett on the ice.
What did Benning do with his 4th line face-puncher? A 4-year, $10.6m extension. Now making $2.65m, the next season he "continued along his career path of being a unique combination of punching faces while being an average fourth liner":
the Canucks were better off in every measure
above[goal based, scoring chances, shot attempts] without Dorsett on the ice coupled with the alarming amount of scoring chances against ...
Dorsett's career would unfortunately end with injury after that, playing just 34 games over his last 2 seasons.
The Canucks used their newly acquired 24th OV to select Jared McCann, who spent another year in junior before surprising everyone by making the Canucks for opening night, jumping straight to the NHL for 69 games at age 19. CanucksArmy had this to say on May 22nd, 2016:
The Canucks have an excellent piece to build with in McCann. It’s becoming increasingly clear that McCann’s offensive punch is considerably more potent than we gave him credit for at the draft and it’s hardly at the expense of his defensive game, which was passable in his first year as a professional hockey player.
May.25.2016 (3 days after that article)
Out:
-
33rd OV
-
94th OV
In:
-
140th OV
Gudbranson was a 3rd overall pick, now 6.5 years removed from the draft, who had generally shown very little ability to be a top-4 NHL defenseman:
plays well in his defensive end, but poorly in the offensive end... will need a lot of work on his offensive game if he wants to make the jump from a bottom pairing player
Gudbranson, in year #1 (Jun.14.2017):
This season wasn’t kind to the 25-year-old defenseman ... purely based on this season, one would be justified in saying he isn’t a top-four defenseman ... no leverage in the negotiations because of how poorly he played this year ... quite the punching bag
Gudbranson, in year #2 (May.22.2018):
Fast forward a year later, and Gudbranson has done little to silence the skepticism ... No NHL defenceman was worse than Gudbranson at controlling scoring chances, while only four fell short of him with regards to controlling shot attempts ... Gudbranson stands out as the only Canucks’ defenceman performing below replacement-level.
Halfway through the season where Gudbranson was worst in the league at controlling scoring chances and the only Canuck defenseman below replacement-level... he was given a 3 year, $12m extension. "I don’t think skill players enjoy playing against him," said the Canucks’ rookie coach [Travis Green].
Gudbranson ultimately played 139 games over 2.5 years for Vancouver with almost disastrous results across the board.
February 25th, 2019
Out: Erik Gudbranson
In: Tanner Pearson
Like everybody watching the first-ever alley-oop... some.. bizarre series of events... led to a team giving up an asset ... for Gudbranson (?)
Pearson was a reclamation project who had showed some flashes but was generally unproductive for long stretches with both LA and PIT. He quickly flourished with the Canucks, making this (so far) the only branch of the tree that hasn't promptly withered and died.
In 19 games after the deadline, Pearson was a monster:
Pearson’s numbers weren’t just encouraging on the surface level—and he doesn’t need to keep scoring at such a ridiculous pace to remain a positive contributor to the team moving forward
His first full season with the Canucks was another great campaign, though you'll notice Brett Lee (the writer) was positing "hmm, time to sell high?"...
a flagship year for the 28-year old winger ... career-high in points with 45 in just 69 games ... accomplished while largely playing extremely tough defensive matchups riding shotgun to Bo Horvat.
Halfway through year despite some struggles and missing time with injury, he was given a 3 year deal @ $3.25m per.
January 29th, 2015
Out: Gustav Forsling
In: Adam Clendening
We step aside from the tree momentarily to discuss a minor trade deadline deal that occured 7 months after the Kesler deal.
Clendening was a 2nd round pick 4 years prior, a 22 year old prospect with 118 points in 185 AHL games, while Gustav Forsling was still playing in Europe, having been drafted by Benning 6 months ago in the 5th round.
Forsling would play 3rd pairing minutes for Chicago the next season, and is now playing >21mins/game for the Florida Panthers.
Clendening played 17 games with the Canucks (scoring 0 goals and 2 assists) and 11 with their AHL affiliate.
For his part, Benning didn't regret the trade the next year... I wonder if he does now...
July 28th, 2015
Out:
-
Adam Clendening
-
2016-ANA-2nd
In:
-
2016-???-3rd (conditional; higher of 2 3rd round picks owned)
Bonino's first season was largely successful:
... the most efficient rate scorer on the Canucks by a sizable margin ... a solid possession player by all accounts ... A positive raw and relative showing ... proved a more than competent player [at controlling high danger scoring chances]
Despite that, he was promptly shipped after 1 season, again with a prospect and moving down in the draft, to pick up Sutter.
Sutter was given a significant extension before playing a single game for Vancouver - 5 years and ~$22m. How about that.
Before being acquired, Sutter missed 3 games over the previous 5 (five!) seasons. Through 6 years with the Canucks he averaged 46 games/year and in his 7th year he has yet to play. That's just bad luck... but even healthy? His production in CAR, PIT, and VAN is all a 31 point pace, playing the same defensive minutes Bonino had.
June 18th, 2017
Out: Luca Sbisa
In: (nothing; Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft)
When he was acquired, Luca Sbisa was a project at best:
relegated to the 9th D role in Anaheim ... no reason why Luca Sbisa should earn the $2.9 million he’ll make this season ... Guys should be near their peak at 24, not still a “project.” ... never really been close to an average possession player
The best part of acquiring Sbisa was that his contract expires. Yet inexplicably, after a first year that was mostly disasterous...
a very rough first season ... often found themselves pinned in their zone for minutes at a time ... isn’t a long list of NHL regulars who performed worse at suppressing scoring chances ... where the ten-bell chances are concerned, Sbisa looks even worse
...Benning rewarded Sbisa with a 3 year, $3.6m contract. Surely he'll get better in year 2, right?
done wonders to convince me Sbisa might be an NHL defenceman ... Assuming further development, Sbisa could develop into a high-end third pairing defender - if there ever was such a thing
Sadly, Sbisa didn't figure it out the next season either...
a semi-competent third pair defenceman with a degree of utility based on his ability to play as poorly on his off-side as his preferred side
...and is now best known for an atrocious giveaway on a routine play ... for the Cup-winning goal.
#THE SUMMARY
- Out:
33rd OV
94th OV
Ryan Kesler
A future 2nd (2016-ANA)
A future 3rd (2015-VAN)
Prospect (Forsling)
- In:
140th OV
A future 3rd (2016-VAN-3rd; they ended up getting their own pick back)
Derek Dorsett (1 terrible season, massive extension, cap anchor, retired)
Jared McCann (1 good season, traded)
Nick Bonino (1 good season, traded)
Luca Sbisa (1 terrible season, big extension, 2 more terrible seasons, claimed in draft)
Brandon Sutter (immediate big extension, 7 seasons of cap anchor, still under contract)
Erik Gudbranson (1.5 terrible seasons, big extension, 1 more terrible season, traded)
Adam Clendening (17 unproductive games)
Tanner Pearson (~1.5 very good seasons, big extension, still under contract)
#Thoughts:
At almost every step, Benning made the wrong decision.
-
Of 8 players he targeted, only 3 proved even REMOTELY useful... And 2 of those were traded immediately. Tanner Pearson is the only thing preventing this trade tree from being an unmitigated disaster.
-
Of the 5 players he kept, who ranged from (mostly) NHL-worst-kind-of-awful to merely-below-average, 3 of them were given questionable (and unnecessary!) contract extensions that proved to be terrible anchors on the team, and while I won't argue Tanner Pearson didn't deserve his deal, he also hasn't lived up to it since (not that anyone on the Canucks has over the past 1.5 years).
-
He gave up more prospects/picks than he acquired. When he did acquire picks, it was usually by moving down in the draft. Gotta pay up for those guys who are simultaneously "tough to play against" but somehow also bleed scoring chances against regularly.
Apologies for any inconsistencies or errors; call me out on them so I can fix.
#Can you believe getting rid of Benning took 8 years?!
Posted Dec 6, 2021, 11:22 PM UTC · edited
Jim Benning's list of dmen he acquired as GM is just ghastly.
The only part I take issue with in this list is Dorsett.
He may not have done a lot on the scoresheet but he always stood up for his teammates and took on all comers. We could use somebody like him now, seems to be sorely lacking in the current roster.
He was on a tear, looking like a career year, when he got hurt too.
…is that what the Canucks are lacking? Face-punching? If the Canucks had a face puncher to stand up for teammates, you think this is a playoff team?
Its not just face punching - having teammates that are willing and capable of standing up for each other is an important component of any successful team.
I've never seen a championship quality team that didn't have it as an ingredient. They protect skill players and younger players, and hold other teams accountable.
[deleted]
Ie: Rangers last year vs Rangers this year. They feel more freedom to hit hard/play with an edge when you have a Ryan Reaves. Helps people buy into Gallant’s system, since they are all in it together if things get rough vs. individual battles.
The Penguins in 2016 didn’t.
And the puck he traded for him never played in the nhl
Had the same thoughts. Huge respect to him.
Not to mention the dmen that he has lost for nothing.