How to spend must be in the Hockey GM's manual -
Loui Ericksson - few goals since signed - 6.3 MILLION dollars a year for 4 more years!
Three mediocre Free Agents signed last year - Antoine Rouselle, (penalty leader) Tim Schaller, Jay Beagle, all have limited ice time - all older, all on 4 YEAR contracts.
Canucks still paying half of Roberto Luongo's 10 million dollar salary while he plays in Florida.
Canucks paying Sam Gagner's wages while he plays in the AHL for a team NOT related to Utica, the teams' AHL farm team. Maybe checking Canucks' young prospects if he plays against the Comets? Bad situation.
Michael Del Zotto just traded to Sharks, Canucks will 'pick up' 25% of his salary too!
Is Trevor Linden being paid still because they got rid of a guy who wanted to build Canucks through the draft slowly? While Benning undermined the President and convinced the spaghetti brothers he could get the team winning right now? IF they got rid of the Trevor thorn? Preventing Benning from doing some Matts Sundin and Mark Messier-like deals? Is there anyone left who believes the Canucks could beat any other team four out of seven in a playoff series?
One would almost think the Aquilini brothers are spending Daddy's money all this time and are not so smart after all? They seem to be handcuffed by the situation Benning has put them in. Is it all about Italian ego now?
Don't be taken in by the Pettersson impact, the team does little without him and Boesser needs someone who can pass the puck or receive it. Not likely among the soft players around him with the exception of workhorse Bo Horvat, who is being run to death trying to save Travis Green's job. And poor Travis can't sit the poor players without inciting Benning's wrath for embarrassing him!
And there is still doubt about Green's ego when he sat Boesser TWO games for his first NHL start! And gave the Sedins about 5 minutes per game (ego again) until he realized the Sedins were all he had until Pettersson arrived! And consider that instead of Benning calling the above mentioned fifth liners as Mentors to the young players, what effect the Sedins would have had on Pettersson's development?
And we hear that Quinn Hughes, already drafted but finishing up with his own team, (?) won't be signing anything until the end of the NHL season? Why? Benning said it is okay with him, but is it? Hughes is billed as the savior to the team, Is Quinn considering if he actually wants to play for Vancouver? Sometimes agents put that prospect to their client when something isn't quite right. And brother Jack is coming up for draft. The Hughes brothers want to play together and we all know that Benning is no Brian Burke to get them both.
Boesser has not signed a real contract yet, and is still on his entry level contract, and also his agent has let it be known that nothing will happen until season end. Does that make anyone nervous? Petterson will be on entry level another year. Do agents consider the management of the team while advising their clients? Is the toughness of the Canucks a factor if whether he will sign here? Is his future only a target with a coach who meekly looks away when his star is attacked? Can he look forward to injuries as part of his hockey life?
Pettersson is already being compared to Gretsky but maybe we need a winger to compare with Dave Semenko? Where is the gritty Matt Cook when we need him?
Would all that money draining from the Canucks' war chest influence the dollars being offered to their star players?
Benning thinks he can trade Edler for the end of the season, then get him back for next year again! If you discard a top player he tends to lose his loyalty to the team! And should ANY player on the Canucks make less than Loui?
Benning has ways of getting rid of the team owner's money. Do the Aquilinis have enough to keep him around yet another year when it is obvious his first GM job is way over his head? His mistake list is longer than the team roster! Does Travis Green have the kind of fire in his gut to run an NHL team? Does he get angry enough to take a personal penalty sometimes, for showing the league faults in not protecting their own entertainment stars? 'I didn't see what happened' is NOT an answer, it is an excuse.
Sorry, look at the team and the obvious answer is NO!
What's next? Fin cheering for the San Diego Chicken while billing the Canucks for Orca skin?
