2016 Draft Summary

[Diehard1]

^ Flames??

How so?

They got Tkachuk, who is exactly what they needed up front. They then got their goalie and will be better next year for it. That was their big weakness this year and they've improved it.

Then they picked up another top goalie prospect, a solid forward out of the dub in Dube, a solid young offensive dman prospect in Adam Fox, two decent power forward prospects in Mattson and Tuulola, and a lottery ticket in Matthew Phillips.

Of course a lot of this was because they were able to pick up extra picks over the year, something Benning hasn't been able to do.

[Madcombinepilot]

^ Flames??

How so?

They got Tkachuk, who is exactly what they needed up front. They then got their goalie and will be better next year for it. That was their big weakness this year and they've improved it.

Then they picked up another top goalie prospect, a solid forward out of the dub in Dube, a solid young offensive dman prospect in Adam Fox, two decent power forward prospects in Mattson and Tuulola, and a lottery ticket in Matthew Phillips.

Of course a lot of this was because they were able to pick up extra picks over the year, something Benning hasn't been able to do.

While Benning trades picks, he still replaced those picks by finding solid unsigned prospects (Like Stetcher).

[ukcanuck]

Those complaining about Benning not being able to convert asshats, bums, NTCs, NMCs and old finger chewers into draft picks at the deadline need to ask themselves if they would be stupid enough to give up draft picks to Benning for so much chopped liver if they were an NHL GM ?

I know I wouldn't.

It's been obvious for at least three year that it's easier to find minor leaguers, reclamation projects and whatever NHL flotsam and jetsam to fill a roster spot without giving up draft picks for players that cannot help a light weight team like the Canucks who have finished out of the playoffs two of the last three years and who were run out of the first round the years they have made the playoffs since 2011.

Blaming Benning for not being able to turn pigs ears into silk purses is pretty much being out of touch with reality.


Perhaps this coming dead line Benning will have players other teams might not actually piss their pants laughing at when Benning suggests they could use one or two for a draft pick or two...

[Hockey Widow]

He can't even give them away. He's been trying for two years to trade Higgins, even waived him. No one offered him anything, not even a 7th.

I just wish we had a do over with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. If he knew then what he knows now just imagine how things could have been

[Mickey107]

I will say this: Coming to Vancouver after Gillis was always going to be difficult, really hard!
The franchise was in a tough place, without many prospects, a lot of hard to work with contracts and quite frankly, a lot of people in positions that were just taking up space in those positions, no names, that wouldn't be nice.
Maybe should have kept Gilman, not sure. Point is, we needed a shit load of work from the ground up.
Gillis got us to the show but held on too long.
One of the first things JB had to deal with was Kesler.
He didn't get to do what he wanted to which was sit the P---k un till he gave more options.
To give in came from ownership.
I'm not one to gush over managers and presidents, I'm more likely to talk players anyday, but;
JB does seem to have a handle on the root problems.
Some one else on this board mentioned that the little foo-faw tampering thing was a well thought out, dirty dog strategy to create an effect.
I would agree with that 100 percent!

[Strangelove]

the fact that the Oilers and Flames had better drafts than us means we are no further ahead today than we were before the draft, and perhaps we are further behind.

Flames??

How so?

They got Tkachuk, who is exactly what they needed up front.

Yes but we got Ju, who is exactly what we needed

... and who, according to HW, was ranked higher (as high as #3) than Tkachuk by most GMs.

They then got their goalie and will be better next year for it. That was their big weakness this year and they've improved it.

Oh yes, I'm aware goaltending was their big weakness (I've comment on it many times in this forum).

(btw please note how I've NEVER ONCE reminded the Flamegoalies>Miller crowd how wrong they were)

However, Elliot is 31 and has run hot-n-cold his entire career.

He has always performed better in a 1A/1B situation... crapped out in the two seasons he played 55 games.

Probably why... in the last 5 seasons.. he has averaged only 37 games per year.

True, a better goaltender than anything they had last season, but they paid too high a price IMO.

Elliot cost them a high 2nd+ ... Gudbranson cost us a high 2nd+

... okay, I get it now, I guess in my mind I include the Gudbranson acquisition as part of the draft

(trade was a few weeks ago but it's the reason we didn't draft high in the 2nd)

Perhaps in retrospect I should have said over the past month we are "further ahead than the Flames".

My apologies.

Then they picked up another top goalie prospect,

Everything I've read says Parsons was the 6th highest-ranked goalie in the draft.

The odds of him ever making the bigs are minuscule at best.

He's not a "top" goalie prospect...

a solid forward out of the dub in Dube, a solid young offensive dman prospect in Adam Fox, two decent power forward prospects in Mattson and Tuulola, and a lottery ticket in Matthew Phillips.

Oh come on, you know as well as I do none of those guys are likely to ever go anywhere...

Of course a lot of this was because they were able to pick up extra picks over the year, something Benning hasn't been able to do.

We made 6 selections in 7 rounds, would've been 8 selections if not for the Guds trade (a great trade imo).

The Flames made 9 selections, but it's doubtful they came away with a better haul (Benning = drafting guru).

Over the past month Canucks have dropped McCann and added Ju + 24-yr-old Guds + 5 longshots.

Over the past month Flames have added Tkachuk + 31-yr-old Elliot + 8 longshots.

Personally I prefer what the Canucks have done, but you're entitled to your opinion.

Over the past 2 months Canucks have also added Stecher, Laplante, Garteig

.... three more longshots.

(not sure if the Flames have done anything similar, no time for research right now)

EDIT: all i can find is Flames signing two going-on-24-yr-olds who have never set foot outside Czech.

[DonCherry4PM]

Those complaining about Benning not being able to convert asshats, bums, NTCs, NMCs and old finger chewers into draft picks at the deadline need to ask themselves if they would be stupid enough to give up draft picks to Benning for so much chopped liver if they were an NHL GM ?

Not sure that anyone is complaining to that extent. But it is sad to see a player like Hamuis go away a free agent without getting any return at all. One would hope that at deadline something could have been worked out with him and a contender to at least get a marginal return for us, get him a shot at going somewhere in the playoffs and get a contender a steady vet on the back end. It appears that not knowing whether we are sucking or blowing makes it tough at deadline to commit to trading any assets in return for picks at the TDL.

Blaming Benning for not being able to turn pigs ears into silk purses is pretty much being out of touch with reality.

Continuing with your metaphor, if Benning isn't able to turn pigs ears into silk purses, then he probably should't be trading away silk purses as trade top-ups on a consistent basis (being as important as those silk purses are).

[ukcanuck]

Those complaining about Benning not being able to convert asshats, bums, NTCs, NMCs and old finger chewers into draft picks at the deadline need to ask themselves if they would be stupid enough to give up draft picks to Benning for so much chopped liver if they were an NHL GM ?

Not sure that anyone is complaining to that extent. But it is sad to see a player like Hamuis go away a free agent without getting any return at all. One would hope that at deadline something could have been worked out with him and a contender to at least get a marginal return for us, get him a shot at going somewhere in the playoffs and get a contender a steady vet on the back end. It appears that not knowing whether we are sucking or blowing makes it tough at deadline to commit to trading any assets in return for picks at the TDL.

Blaming Benning for not being able to turn pigs ears into silk purses is pretty much being out of touch with reality.

Continuing with your metaphor, if Benning isn't able to turn pigs ears into silk purses, then he probably should't be trading away silk purses as trade top-ups on a consistent basis (being as important as those silk purses are).

True enough except what choice does Benning have when his mandate is to win with players that demonstrably can't? He can't make hockey trades because no one wants the assets that he has to offer ( for lack of a better word.) Drafting is great but there is a three to five year development delay and he was up against the cap for free agents and he was handcuffed by all the NTCs and NMCs handed in the glory years.

All he could do and has done so far is cycle out unsuitable players for arguably better ones using higher round draft picks to try to improve short term while occasionally using second round for players who fit his long term goals.

Perhaps it hasn't been spectacular and of course a few moves haven't worked out but there is a steady method in place and it's starting to take shape. Consider the defense, two years ago it was an absolute mess. Now instead of the old core patched up with bandaid solutions, there are enough pieces in place all in the right age group to grow together with a pretty solid foundation.

Admittedly there is a lot of work to be done in the top six but since he can't draft a Matthews or Laine he'll have to make do with retread free agents in the short term and perhaps, now that there is some depth, parlay that into a few draft picks coming back or picking over other teams farm teams looking for talent that slipped through the cracks.

At the end of the day I'm not suggesting that Benning is the second coming of Moses but I don't think he deserves half the vitriol spewed from the Elmer glue gang either.

He reminds me of that guy a few years back who went online with a paper clip and traded up for a pencil and then traded that up for something a little better and then for something a little bit better still. Until eventually, he traded for a house.

[2Fingers]

One thing about Doc, even when I still want to beat a dead horse his positive posts always brings me around.

[Madcombinepilot]

We made 6 selections in 7 rounds, would've been 8 selections if not for the Guds trade (a great trade imo).

The Flames made 9 selections, but it's doubtful they came away with a better haul (Benning = drafting guru).

Over the past month Canucks have dropped McCann and added Juolevi + 24-yr-old Guds + 5 longshots.

Over the past month Flames have added Tkachuk + 31-yr-old Elliot + 8 longshots.

Personally I prefer what the Canucks have done, but you're entitled to your opinion.

Over the past 2 months Canucks have also added Stecher, Laplante, Garteig

.... three more longshots.

(not sure if the Flames have done anything similar, no time for research right now)

EDIT: all i can find is Flames signing two going-on-24-yr-olds who have never set foot outside Czech.

Actually, looking at the 'bottom tier' teams, (any team with a top 10 draft pick), I honestly can't see any team improving more overall than us so far in the last couple months. Sure, a top 2 pick this year would have been better for us, but working with what he has, JB has done a pretty good job with the assets and cap flexibility that he has..

But it all depends how he shakes it out In July...

[ukcanuck]

One thing about Doc, even when I still want to beat a dead horse his positive posts always brings me around.

Im not beating a dead horse I'm reacting to all the horse beatings going on here

[Blob Mckenzie]

We made 6 selections in 7 rounds, would've been 8 selections if not for the Guds trade (a great trade imo).

The Flames made 9 selections, but it's doubtful they came away with a better haul (Benning = drafting guru).

Over the past month Canucks have dropped McCann and added Juolevi + 24-yr-old Guds + 5 longshots.

Over the past month Flames have added Tkachuk + 31-yr-old Elliot + 8 longshots.

Personally I prefer what the Canucks have done, but you're entitled to your opinion.

Over the past 2 months Canucks have also added Stecher, Laplante, Garteig

.... three more longshots.

(not sure if the Flames have done anything similar, no time for research right now)

EDIT: all i can find is Flames signing two going-on-24-yr-olds who have never set foot outside Czech.

Actually, looking at the 'bottom tier' teams, (any team with a top 10 draft pick), I honestly can't see any team improving more overall than us so far in the last couple months. Sure, a top 2 pick this year would have been better for us, but working with what he has, JB has done a pretty good job with the assets and cap flexibility that he has..

But it all depends how he shakes it out In July...

Lol this team is no better than when they finished the year. Gartieg, Stetcher and one pick in the top 60 improves the team greatly? With the decaying of the twins, the departure of Hamhuis and a worse coaching staff it's probably a worse team at this point. Who knows how free agency shakes out? There's some potential there but I'm not sure how much of a destination Rainouver is these days.

[Hockey Widow]

I for one think you have to include the Gudbranson trade as part of draft "week". I said it before, if that identical trade had been made Friday night or Saturday morning Benning would have gotten a lot of credit for a good draft. But because it was before the draft we are left moaning about not having a 2rd pick.

What did Hamilton cost last year? A 1st, 2nd and 4th, or something like that? But it was seen as an astute move by Treliving. I for one think it was a good move by Treliving. Top 4 D don't grow on trees. Pundits were screaming about how a rebuilding team gave up all those assets to bring in a D man.

We were told by numerous sources that Columbus was not as high on the other Finn as the rankings suggested.

Linden said he felt a month ago Columbus was going to pick Dubois.

Benning tried to trade up to 3 but Columbus really wanted Dubois and wern't sure he would be there at 5.

Benning had been telling us he had a D man ranked in the top 5-6.

Edmonton was said set to select Juolevi at 4.

Very seldom does a top 10 get traded, more rare for a top 5.

I bought into the Tkuchuck hype but I've never seen him play.

Never seen Juolevi play.

How many people that are shitting on the pick have seen either play? Or have seen a significant sample size to render a meaningful opinion?

How many years have we been clamouring for a better defence?

No true number one in the true meaning of that statement was available to draft yet we get two top four in short order. One a true mean stay at home asshole. The other a gifted offensive quarterback type. One LHS. One RHS.

All in all a good body of work.

How many times do we have to flog the disaster that was TDD? Vrbata had no takers. Hamhuis gave a short list of 1-3 teams depending upon who you listen to. Benning only got a firm offer of a third round pick at the midnight hour. He would have gladly taken the package that the Hawks gave up for Ladd or the one Dallas gave up for Russel but they were never offered to him. Was I disappointed? You bet. Pissed off even. But then reality set in.

Would anyone here really have been happy if we took scraps from Dallas? Sure in hindsight but I mean at the time? Doubt it. Benning would have been crucified and we all know it.

Does Benning still have work to do up front? Unquestionably yes. No one denies that. Maybe he gets 1-2 of the FAs on his list to 4-5 year deals. Maybe not. True we only have Boeser in the system that appears to be a top prospect. But we have more drafts to come. More cap next year. Still this summer to play out.

[Hockey Widow]

Blob I agree we are not appreciably better than last year. Potentially we will be better on D with Grudbranson. Maybe Trymakin turns out OK. Juolevi is 2-3 years away.

Up front we have a lot of work to do. Hopefully injuries are less of a factor but one can't count on that. Even with a FA or two I don't see us making a lot of noise. Maybe we make the playoffs again but who knows.

But there really wasn't anything Benning could have done in the draft to expedite the rebuild more than he did. Even had he picked Tkachuk we'd be in the same boat as it is a question mark whether he makes the NHL this up coming season. And if he did, alone he wouldn't solve our problems.

We have a few years to go.

[Ronning's Ghost]

Lol this team is no better than when they finished the year. Gartieg, Stetcher and one pick in the top 60 improves the team greatly? With the decaying of the twins, the departure of Hamhuis and a worse coaching staff it's probably a worse team at this point. Who knows how free agency shakes out? There's some potential there but I'm not sure how much of a destination Rainouver is these days.

I'm not an "everything is sunshine and roses" kind of guy, but I think this is an unduly pessimistic assessment. On paper, the Canucks are already better than they ended the season. Replacing an over-matched McCann with what has every indication of being a stalwart top-4 D would be expected to be worth at least 10 points in the standings. I'm not a Sutter fan, either, but he will be an upgrade on Linden Vey. Any decay in the Sedins (not a given that it would be detectable this year) should be more than offset by the (far more likely) improvement in the under-25 crowd. It is also not yet determined that the defensive corps will lose Hamhuis. Even without new free agents, I think there is at least some reason to suspect that Rodin will be an improvement on an unmotivated Vrbata. Given that Gulutzan was in charge of special teams, and the special teams weren't very good last year, I think there's at least a chance that coaching staff will be improved.

So no, still not Cup contenders, and maybe even not playoff contenders with the talent available as of tonight, but still, probably better than the team at the end of the season.