Remember back in June when he NHL fined the Vancouver Canucks $50,000 on for general manager Jim Benning's comments expressing serious interest in players who were under contract with other NHL teamsteams.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly wasted little time in doling out the stiff $50K sanction against the Canucks because Benning violated "NHL By-Law 15 relating to inappropriate public comments by speaking generally to his club's potential interest in players under contract to other NHL clubs.
Benning was eager to go big game hunting for a star power forward and a stud defenseman on July 1, 2016. He eventually whiffed. Big time. He failed to recruit Stamkos, Okposo, Backes, and Ladd to Vancouver. Benning could not close the deal wit hhis targeted UFAs and has been chasing his power scoring forward ever since.
Benning made his very expensive and controversial comments during an appearance with TSN 1040 Vancouver just prior to the NHL Draft in Buffalo in June. Benning was just being honest and transparent when he said he was interested in adding at the time pending free agent Steven Stamkos and the Montreal Canadiens' P.K. Subban to his roster.
Benning made his blunder with his comments aboutr Stamkos days before teh star center was set to become UFA on July 1.
Subban was under contract with the Canadiens through the 2021-22 season at the time that Benning expressed his desire to acquire the then Montreal Canadien. Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said at the NHL Draft that Benning "crossed the line" with his comments about Subban.
Benning issued a statement that he accepted the league's punishment.
"Last week I was trying to be candid with our fans and media about our efforts to improve our team but said too much about players on other teams," Benning said. "I have spoken personally to the NHL and the general managers involved to apologize and I accept the league's ruling."
Fast forward to November 18, 2016 when Benning was asled point blank if he is in fact interested in trading for Buffalo Sabres power ofrward Evander Kane. Fast forward to the (5:57 mark of the interview)
It sounded to me when I listened to the live interview that Benning was more concerned with protecting himself against earning another $50,000 fine for making comments about a player under contract with another NHL team than he was about that actual rumor itself.
In other words, loose lips sink ships. Benning didn't want to sink another expensive ship.
"I'm not going to talk about players on other teams and you know what that entails. We're in the marketplace (for a power winger. I talked to all the other general managers. Like, we would like to add a forward with speed and skill. you know, whether we can get that done remains to be seen. But we are in the marketplace trying".
When asked as a follow up question if he wanted to shoot down the Evander Kane to Vancouver rumors, Benning declined to do so.
"I'm not going to talk about other teams players"
Thanks, TSN 1040
Benning's refusal to squash the Kane-ucks rumor only serves to throw gasoline on that fire.
Benning appears to have learened his lesson from the Stamkos-Subban drama.
My gut tells me that Benning had a face to face conversation with Buffalo GM Tim Murray while the two men were at the NHL GM meetings in Toronto earlier this week. The Evander Kane trade kettle that has been simmering on teh back burner may be at peak boiling temperature right now.
Tim Murray likely told Benning for the umpteenth time:
"You get Evander Kane when I get Ben Hutton. No Luca Sbisa. No Alex Edler. Keep your overpaid has beens. I want Hutton because you NEED Kane. Throw in Virtanen and Ill give you a second rounder".
Thanks, Canucks TV
Benning can't hide it anymore. If Kane is the player that he is looking to acquire, why not do it already?
Benning's appearance on a Vancouver radio station saying that he's actively shopping for a young, veteran forward with “speed and skill… is telling. What's even more telling is that Benning is committed to trading some of his organization's defensive depth to seal the deal. Benning has a very solid young corps of blue liners. The Canucks are not about to trade 2016 first rounder Olli Juolevi nor Chris Tanev. Nikita Tryamkin, Troy Stecher and Erik Gudbranson are keepers in Cover. Ben Hutton is valuable the Canucks, however, he is the bell cow that Tim Murray is interetsed in acquiring.
Benning is under an intense amount of pressure to get hi steam turned around. And now, The window is closing rapidly on the Canucks and tehir aging veterean core of the Sedins, Ryan Miller, Alex Burrows, and Alex Edler.Canucks ownership is focused on earning a wild card playoff berth this season. It's not too late for Benning to correct the course of his club. I don't see Benning waiting until the NHL Trade deadline to add a skilled, scoring forward.
________________________________________________________________________
I'm here to tell you that the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres continue to shadow dance.
Hell, I've been saying it since early July.
Is Evander Kane at the center of it all?
I believe so.
The Canucks and Sabres have been scouting one another frequently.
On Thursday night, the assistant general manager of the Canucks was scheduled to be in Buffalo to watch the Sabres and Lightning live and in person. I thought that the AGM was in the region and jumped in to Buffalo in a one off scouting mission. Makes sense to me. The Canucks' AHL affiliate in Utica hosted Hershey on Wednesday night. The Comets host the sprinfield Comets tonight. Utica is a par five drive down I-90 West. The Canucks honcho could watch jake Virtanen's performances in Utica while keeping an eye on a certain Buffalo power forward live in person.
On Friday morning, TSN's Darren Dreger spoke with Dan Dunleavy on WGR radio. Dreger confirmed a Buffalo-Vancouver connections.
“What we know is there has been connection between these two clubs. There was in the summer and we have reason to believe that, at least to some degree, that there’s been more recent discussion between the two".
The Canucks and Sabres are in the basement of NHL goal scoring.
In 18 games, the Canucks have allowed 57 goals against while scoring only 38 goals for.
Similarly, the Sabres have scored 31 goals for and have allowed 45 goals against.
The difference between the Sabres and Canucks right now is that the roster that Dan Bylsma is chock full of temporary players. In other words, tough and debilitating injuries to offensive contributors Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Ennis, Dmitry Kulikov, Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane have really put the kibosh on Buffalo's offensive execution in the first six weeks of the season. Bylsma's nightly lineup is heavily populated by Rochester Amerks players who are learning to fly.
Over the summer, Canucks GM Jim Benning tried like mad to add a prolific power forward. He came up snake eyes and instead signed UFA Loui Eriksson, the antithesis of "power forward". Benning's search for scoring continues.
“When you look at the Vancouver Canucks, that’s a team that’s starved for offense. And why wouldn’t they kick tires on Evander Kane. Regardless of the history and all of that, when you’re a desperate team like Vancouver. Jim Benning, the general manager there, didn’t have the same view of the Canucks that perhaps the rest of us did at the start of the year. He made his moves. He brought in Loui Eriksson. He traded for (Erik) Gudbranson. He made some other transactions to put his team in a Western Conference playoff bid. I didn’t see it. I still don’t see it. But he did as a general manager. So he’s not giving up now, less than 20 games into the season.
“So he’s been on the march for some goal scoring. So why not investigate the availability of Evander Kane.…
Sabres GM Tim Murray was a guest on WGR on Thursday afternoon before the Sabres-Bolts game. Murray said that hockey trades aren't easy to execute these days. Because he is currently scraping the salary cap ceiling, Murray needs a dance partner who is is the same amount of pain as he is.
"I've made some calls just to see what's going on and what's out there. It's very hard to make a trade because it has to be money for money," Murray said.
Murray was face to face with his NHL GM counterparts in Toronto on Tuesday.
Murray said that he isn't being overwhelmed by friendly competitors who want to give him a "get out of jail card". In other words, Murray needs to upgrade his blue line and will have to do a dollars in-dollars out business transaction with a friend who is in similar need.
"There's no GM out there going into his office in the morning saying, "Let's give Tim Murray a hand here. Let's help him out here. We feel bad for him." That's not going to happen...plug away and see if we can get something done. Right now there's just been a lot of vague talk and nothing specific."
Vague talk may well amplify to trade talk this weekend.
The 7-10-1 Canucks will host the high octane Chicago Blackhawks. Another loss on home ice could activate the Canucks fans into a movement against Benning. After the Saturday game against Chicago, Vancouver won't play again until Wednesday night in Arizona.
Failure is not an option for the aging, passive Canucks who need an immediate infusion of power, scoring and results.
At what cost Kane?
Don't kid yourself. Evander Kane has serious trade value. He is a young 25-35 goal scorer who can change the tenor of a game with a flick of his wrists. Kane has a $5.25 million cap got this and next season. The Canucks would have to send Ben Hutton or Chris Tanev to Buffalo in exchange for Kane. Buffalo would also have to absorb a portion of Kane's contract in order to get a deal done.
Hutton, 23, is 6'2" and 210 lbs. He reminds me a lot of Stanley Cup champion Brian Campbell. He skates like the wind, makes the four foot and 20 foot passes on the tape; has a bomb of a shot, can run a power play; play's top four minutes and isn't afraid to mix it up. Hutton averages 20:52 TOI, has 16 hits and 21 blocked shots this season. He has scored 2 goals and 1 assists in 18 games. Hutton has landed 35 shots on goal.
**
Dreger also told Dunleavy that he has heard that Sabres super sophomore is two weeks away from returning to the Buffalo lineup. It's been five weeks since Eichel injured his ankle the day before the season opener. The initial prognosis for Eichel's return was 6-8 weeks.