Jim Benning has been sitting in a molten hot seat in the eyes of many Vancouver Canucks and hockey fans. He’s sacrificed offensively inclined players in favor of defensive players like Brandon Sutter and Eric Gudbranson. He’s moved too many second round picks for “reclamation projects” such as Linden Vey and Sven Baertschi. He’s failed to acquire assets for valuable players such as Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata, chasing bottom tier playoff positions and opting instead to let them walk via free agency. He’s left the Canucks in purgatorial territory for two years too many and it’s completely valid to ask that simple question:
Why hasn’t he blown up the team in the last few years?
I’ve got a guess.
