Yes, it was a fast rebuild -- faster than I expected. But not as fast as 88% of respondents on this, the most pro-Benning site anywhere in hockey, set as the threshold for "genius" speed:Carl Yagro wrote: ↑Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:40 pm Amen, ESQ.
Other GMs are now looking at the JB model as to how to rebuild quickly. It's true. Not making this up.
Disbelievers can choke down your crow with your whine.
Genius
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10898
But I don't think that's really the point, anyway. What is the best measurement of the quality of rebuild? Briefest time possible in the wilderness before a return to competitiveness? Some of you seem to think so, along with Benning's boss. For me, though, it is the quality of the team that finally emerges from the rebuild. How's that looking? These playoffs painted everything about the Benning rebuild in stark relief, both the good and the bad. Many others here will be happy to highlight the good. Allow me to review some of the deficiencies:
What was the biggest advantage Vegas had over the Canucks? Arguably, depth. You know what would have improved the Canucks' depth? Sound asset management. Good cap management to bring in better free agents wouldn't have hurt, either. What were Benning's critics concerned about early?
Two-thirds of the top defenders by TOI are past their best before date. Yes, there are defencemen in the pipeline, but so far, none look to be as good as peak Edler and Tanev. Time will tell. Yeah, maybe Tryampkin comes back and is awesome. Maybe.
(moved from the game day thread)
Ya know, me too. But while you see a team build systematically through the draft, I see one that traded potential for future success for a better season now. Yes, it was a fast rebuild, but it was goosed by trading a draft pick -- I would argue prematurely -- for a player now. By now there is no question that Miller made the 2020 Canucks better than they otherwise would have been, and of course his contribution was greater than any player not yet drafted could have been. Will he still be an important contributor by the time the new core is at its peak? That remains an open question.Nuckertuzzi wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 10:52 pm For 40+ years I've been begging, pleading for just one regime to build a team properly and that's systematically through the draft. Only to see management group after management group continually blow it with horse shit drafting that amounted to precious little other than when the Sedins and Kesler were drafted not that far apart or Bure & Linden. But those successes were way too few and far between. This past 5 years is exactly what I've been waiting for. While it hasn't been perfect, collecting a core with 4-6 key pieces all at the same age group has never really happened here before. It appears to be happening now, finally, so I could give a shit about a $6 blunder that should go away when this core matures.
And speaking of draft picks, it is widely accepted here that drafting is Benning's greatest skill. Certainly, he has made some great picks, but consider this: so far, Benning has 4 top-ten draft picks old enough to contribute. Two of them have been awesome; two of them would have to be considered disappointments at their draft positions. 50%. Is that any good? Honestly, I don't follow any other teams' drafting that closely, but as an obvious comparison, Gillis had 2 (barely; both were 10th overall). One has been very good; one was a bust. 50%. And we all know Gillis wasn't very good at drafting. (Since Hodgson turned out to have a disqualifying medical issue, I'm not even sure that one should count.)
You can hold your heads high and say "the Canucks didn't tank". Maybe not on purpose, but they did suck, and were rewarded with high draft picks, and some of those have really shone. But there really wasn't enough of a supporting cast behind them. I don't see that as a hallmark of genius management.
I don't know if it will mollify any of the "Benning is a genius" faction, but I would certainly concede that Benning is a solid hockey man doing a good job under the serious handicap of what certainly seems to be a highly interventionist, impatient and short-sighted ownership group. Sort of a von Manstein figure (without implying that either he or the Little Eagles are Nazis -- just the same relative command and talent structure).
After the third Stanley Cup in the Dynasty Chef keeps promising me, we can talk genius.
(Torrey won 4; Pollock won 9)
Right now, though, he remains tied with Milford, Neale, Gillis, and the rest at zero.