Darren Dreger continues his tease, now saying that Jim Benning will be officially introduced on Friday as the Vancouver Canucks' new general manager.
Jim Benning has agreed to a multi-year deal as Canucks gm and will be officially introduced in Vancouver on Friday.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 21, 2014CBC.ca offers a confirmation of sorts in this article, featuring a resigned-sounding Cam Neely:
We have given Jim permission to talk, and he's talked to a couple of different teams. That's what happens when you have success, other teams look at other organizations that have had success and start inquiring about your management group.
A little while back, I suggested that anybody looking for more insight into Benning could visit the Bruins' website and check out their reality series, "Beyond the B". Jason Botchford of The Province did just that, and offers this summary of some of the footage.
As the Bruins make the decision to trade Tyler Seguin:
Disdain and authority just oozes from him. With his arms crossed and his shoulder shrugs, Benning has an “I’m not putting up with crap… aura. That may help when the oft-meddling Aquillini family starts knocking on his door. Daily.
The article's worth a read—and the footage is well worth watching too, if you can spare the time. It's interesting to see Benning in action during such a crucial deal—and not afraid to pull the trigger.
For what it's worth—I don't agree that the Bruins didn't get enough back in the trade. They were dealing with damaged goods in Seguin at the time, who wouldn't have been the player we saw this year if he had stayed in Boston. Loui Eriksson is a good player who had a bad year with concussions, while Reilly Smith and Matt Fraser look like promising young talents.
Dan Murphy says the coaching interviews have yet to begin:
Barry Trotz may be a candidate for the #canucks vacant coaching job but my sources say no one has been interviewed for the position yet.
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) May 21, 2014For what it's worth, Dreger has Trotz interviewing in Washington yesterday:
Also confirming reports Barry Trotz was in Washington yesterday meeting with Caps owner Ted Leonsis and president, Dick Patrick.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 21, 2014So, the wheels are turning. Still not sure if Benning will be able to assume his duties right away or if he'll be required to stay in Boston till after the draft, but at least we have our leader—and it's the guy they wanted from the get-go. Better that than some sort of last-minute scramble.
Rebuild vs. Retool
I see there was a fair amount of discussion yesterday about Ed Willes' column, suggesting that the Canucks' problems run deeper than Linden and Company might foresee.
Here's the link if you missed it, though I wouldn't make it a reading priority.
In this story, Willes basically ranks the teams in the Western Conference based on where they landed in the standings this year. That's it. He presumes that every team's spot is cast in stone, when we know that's not the case.
If we'd done this analysis a year ago, Colorado would still have been in last place in the conference. An optimist might have given them a chance to make the playoffs with their developing young core, but that's about it. Two years ago, Anaheim was 13th in the conference. Fortunes do change.
I'm not saying the Canucks will make the jump back to elite levels in one season, but I do think some of their troubles this year came on the coaching side. Some change is certainly necessary, but I do think the existing crew has better results in it than what we saw this year.
Ducks After Kesler and Other Trade Bait
On that note, it sounds like Ryan Kesler remains the most desirable asset that the Canucks could make available this summer. Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register is reluctant to give away all of Anaheim's best assets on behalf of the Ducks' organization, but is pretty definite in this article that Kesler could have cured what ailed Anaheim through its playoff challenges.
In one breath, Whicker says the Ducks wouldn't offer as much for Kesler this summer as they did at the draft. In the next, he admits that there will be competition—which should drive up the price.
Bleacher Report recently ran a list of trade rumours that's filled with possibilities for Kesler and Alex Edler, though writer Lyle Richardson doesn't end up endorsing any of the possibilities for our players. Click here to check it out.