The last thing the Canucks need is another regime change, but they’re also facing an issue with consumer confidence. Can they sell another season of GM Jim Benning if the free-fall continues?
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Vancouver Canucks held the sixth overall spot in the NHL Entry Draft lottery with a realistic shot at falling to fourth before the end of this season.The Canucks, as this season has demonstrated none-too-subtly, aren’t close to competing for a playoff berth. The only way to dig themselves out of the pit in which they’re buried is to acquire another premium prospect.
We’re not going to conduct a forensic audit of his five years on the job in this space, but something has clearly gone wrong when you finish 28th, 29th, 26th and are now facing another spot in the mid- to high-20s. This, we remind you, wasn’t an issue a month ago when the Canucks were sitting two games over .500 and in the thick of a playoff race. Their improvement, in fact, was largely viewed as a testimonial to Benning, the players he’d assembled and Green’s work as head coach. The faithful would have been happy if that storyline had held.
OK, Troy Stecher has stepped up this season and the Canucks have bigger problems than Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser. But their lineup against the Leafs featured three players who’ve hit double digits in goals for the Canucks this season. The Leafs, just so you know, had 10. We could go on. In the next couple of week or so, it’s likely Quinn Hughes will step into this mess. In a perfect world, Hughes would slide seamlessly into the lineup and excite fans with his dazzling talent.
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