Elias Pettersson looked like a steal. Brock Boeser was a legitimate Calder Trophy candidate. The team was playing well, even in a playoff spot at American Thanksgiving. Then it unraveled like a $.99 sweater bought from Value Village.
It's not that Benning and Linden have been really bad. It's just that they haven't been good.
It's Cody Glass that is their undoing though. As I've said in previous posts missing on Cody Glass would be their undoing.
And it is.
Cody Glass was the best player in the 2017 NHL draft.
He's disgusting.
To be fair to Benning/Linden and the head "scout" Judd Bracket, Pettersson looks good playing in the 5th or 7th best league in the world.
But Cody Glass is disgusting.
45 points in 24 games in a league that best compares to the NHL. Same rink size. Elite prospects. Same NHL schedule. Same NHL physicality. The grind. The hitting. The fighting.
And Glass is disgusting.
45 points in 24 games.
+31
17 goals in 24 games.
6'2" 190 pounds.
And he's a center.
Elias Pettersson is a 6'3" 160 pound winger. And he's clearly a winger. And any thought of him being a center is a pipe dream at best. But even if you want to say he's a center, and ok, he might turn into one eventually, he's a 160 pound center who might bulk up to 175 pounds.
I'm not saying Pettersson sucks. That's not what I'm saying.
He just won't ever be Cody Glass.
And then you look at what George McPhee has done in 1 year in Las Vegas and compare that to the garbage in Vancouver and ... there's no other choice than to discharge Linden/Benning/Brackett.
Pettersson MIGHT play and be good.
Glass WILL play and is a stud. A franchise center.
What did the Canucks need? A center. What did they draft? A winger.
Then there was the Nikita Tryamkin screw up. A brilliant draft.
A defenseman the Canucks sorely needed in a lineup of pathetic tiny screw ups on the blue line and they got into a dispute over $$$. It wasn't Tryamkin's wife. He got more money to play in Russia. He said it on air, on radio. I got paid.
And while Brock Boeser has been good you can clearly see Matthew Barzal is miles ahead of him. Boeser has zero chance at the Calder Trophy. None. Zip. Diddly.
So when I look at the wins for Linden/Benning/Brackett... where are they?
Like, what am I evaluating here?
Jared McCann / Eric Gudbrannson trade appears to be a wash at best for Linden/Benning.
McCann is a center. Gudbrannson is a big D man who plays like a small D man. He did not come as advertised as a bruising physical D man. He rarely hits anyone. He hasn't shown a mean streak. And McCann is a center. And they need centers.
Sven Baertschi looks good at times. But you need more. And he's 25 so there's probably not more.
Marcus Granlund looks lost. Those are two trades you thought you could say Benning/Linden won.
Yes, they won. But it's not like they're impact players. They got two serviceable NHL players.
The Kesler deal stunk.
There's really nothing at the AHL level playing well. Goldobin is what exactly? He's a 70 point AHL player. Can he play in the NHL? I'm not seeing it. I don't think so.
The Erikkson signing was an unmitigated disaster. He is playing well this year but he's on place for 20 goals. For $6 million. And that might be the high-water mark.
I'm looking for wins for Benning/Linden and I just don't see any clear wins.
If they were sitting on Cody Glass then, Okay, I get it. They got a player.
Virtanen looks good but the coach they hired won't play him. And they drafted one and hired the other. So that they could battle each other ? That doesn't make sense.
Oli Juolevi is a lost cause. That's a write off. It happens. Every GM should get a swing and a miss. Mikhail Sergachev taken 5 spots behind Juolevi was clearly the best D man in the draft and is now an impact D man. It's a blown draft. It happens. But you only get once chance to blow a draft.
And so as I look for wins and can't see any for Linden/Benning it's now time to say, Okay, they're going to be fired.
But when do you fire them?
Can you let these guys run another Trade Deadline Day ? No. Absolutely not. They haven't demonstrated the ability to make good trades.
Can you let these guys run another Draft Day ? No. Absolutely not. They haven't demonstrated the ability to steal a draft.
So then, if you're going to need someone in to run the Trade Deadline and start scouting for Draft Day... don't you have to fire them now?
Someone's going to have to go through that scouting department and fire a lot of people. And I don't give a fart that Brackett was in charge and drafted Cole Lind.
Whoopee shit. Every NHL team has a "Cole Lind" in their drafting record. Until I actually see Lind in an NHL lineup - he's an undersized winger.
Thatcher Demko? He's not in the NHL. No AHL Championship. What are we looking at here?
The "Golden Child" has a GAA of 2.41 and a Save Percentage of .921.
It's okay. Is it great? No. Hell no. Looking like a NHL backup at best.
Nope. I'm sorry. But they had Tryamkin. They lost Tryamkin. They had Glass. They lost Glass.
It doesn't get past those two decisions.
FIRED.
I'd ask Dean Lombardi to take over in Vancouver.
Proven history of a winner.
Want more common sense talk?
Hockey Sucks - Let's fix it!
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