It's time to get used to that new TSN Radio branding for the station formerly known as TEAM1040.
Bro Jake and Dave Pratt interviewed Jim Benning this morning about the team's prospects as training camp draws closer.
Did you miss @VanCanucks GM Jim Benning on #TSN1040 this morning? Here's a link to the interview http://t.co/UzWePvA3Qj
— TSN Radio Vancouver (@TSN1040) September 8, 2014Benning's not on the Hunter Shinkaruk bandwagon just yet—his name didn't come up when he was asked about the prospects with the best chance of making the team. That's why I suggested yesterday that a roster spot on the big club on opening night would be "defying the odds" for the speedy winger. It's much easier for the organization to send him to Utica to start the season.
Benning says they'll "keep an open mind" about the youngsters through training camp. I'm really hoping Shinkaruk forces him to make the "tough decision" that he says he's prepared to make.
The two rookies with the inside track on a lineup spot appear to be Nicklas Jensen and Bo Horvat—as we surmised. Benning said he liked what he saw from Jensen during his late-season callup last year and that Horvat has shown himself well in junior and worked hard this summer.
Like Shinkaruk, Jensen can also be sent to Utica without needing to clear waivers. In fact, he still has two seasons or 128 games of waiver exemption remaining according to CapGeek.com, who have done a fantastic job of adding an easy-to-use waiver calculator to every player's profile on their website.
Once again—all roads lead back to Horvat. If he looks good at the YoungStars tournament and at camp, I could definitely see him getting his beak wet for the first nine games of the season. He'll need to prove that he belongs with the men, and management will need to believe that he won't peter out as the season rolls along, in order for him to stick.
Tradewinds?
As far as trades before the beginning of the season, I'm not holding my breath. I think the management team is going to take a long look at the group they've assembled before they move any more bodies.
The Canucks won't carry three goalies. My expectation is that Jacob Markstrom will be sent down to Utica—and will clear waivers. I don't think there will be any demand for Markstrom after the rough ride he endured at the end of last season, and any team that claims him would need to keep him on their NHL roster or expose him to waivers again themselves.
During training camp and preseason, the roster will also open up as injuries inevitably surface. I'd say Shinkaruk's best opportunity to crack the lineup will come if an established winger gets hurt—or suspended like Zack Kassian did last year.
Benning hits his usual points about adding depth to the lineup, supporting the core, and how the veterans want to prove people wrong and show that they're still good players. He acknowledges that "It's one thing to put it down on paper. We'll see once we start where we're at."
Benning also mentions that he doesn't expect to see any additional players invited to camp on professional tryout contracts.
The Boston Model
The trend of comparing the new Canucks to the current Bruins has died out over the summer, but Dave Pratt made an interesting point when he asked Benning if his arrival in Vancouver runs parallel to the experience that he had when he joined the flailing Bruins as an assistant to Peter Chiarelli back in 2006.
The changes in Boston came about because the Bruins missed the playoffs coming out of the lockout year in 2005-06. As Benning points out, they also missed in his first season with the club, improving by just two points before starting their march to the Stanley Cup championship five years down the road.
Benning wouldn't commit to the the idea that the Canucks are on a similar timeline, continuing to insist that he believes he's assembled a team that can win right now.
Perhaps my favourite part of the interview came when Benning was asked about new coach Willie Desjardins:
Willie is a detail guy. He's been doing a lot of work, watching film from the past to see where he can implement his systems to get to where we play a high-tempo, fast game.
John Tortorella never made me think he was putting in that kind of effort behind the scenes. He seemed more concerned about managing his public image and talking about the "tough" training camp that he'd run than actually learning about and trying to get the most out of his players.
I'm really hoping that Willie Desjardins' intelligent, information-driven approach to his team is going to yield vastly different results than the emotion-driven approach we often saw last season.