The Jim Benning/Travis Green firings, one year later: How much has changed for the Vancouver Canucks?
This article was written by Kirsten Staple, who is part of the Professional Hockey Writers Association x To Hockey With Love Mentorship Program. This program pairs aspiring writers with established members of the association across North America to create opportunities for marginalized people that do not traditionally get published on larger platforms covering hockey.
To Hockey With Love is a weekly newsletter covering a range of topics in hockey – from the scandals of the week to providing a critical analysis of the sport.
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On Dec. 4, 2021, the Vancouver Canucks played an eventful home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Left winger Jake Guentzel torched the Canucks with a hat trick, all in the second period. The Penguins outshot the Canucks 44-28 and secured a 4-1 victory. By the time the game ended, boos rang out throughout Rogers Arena and a Canucks jersey was thrown on the ice. The following day, Canucks general manager Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green were fired, and Bruce Boudreau was hired as the new head coach.
One year later under new management and a slightly different roster, the Canucks fared differently in a home game against the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal scored four goals in the first period and Canucks goaltender Spencer Martin was pulled. Collin Delia took over in net and the Canucks scored five unanswered goals. In the third period, the Habs came back and the game went to overtime tied 6-6. Thirteen seconds in, Left winger Elias Pettersson scored the winning goal. This time around, the audience cheered while “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John, the Canucks game winner song, played in the background.
It was an inspiring comeback, but one year later, did it symbolize a significant franchise turnaround? Not exactly. In many ways, it looks like the franchise is right back where it was before, with a few bright spots. This article is a breakdown of the important Canucks changes that have occurred since that day in December 2021.
Timeline of Events
December 5, 2021: Travis Green and Jim Benning are fired (Canucks record at the time: 8-15-2); Bruce Boudreau is hired as Head Coach the same day.
December 9, 2021: Jim Rutherford (former NHL player and former GM of the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins) is named President of Hockey Operations and interim General Manager.
December 6-29, 2021: Canucks go on a seven-game winning streak.
January 24, 2022: Emilie Castonguay (former player agent) is hired as Assistant General Manager.
January 27, 2022: Patrik Allvin (former Swedish player and scout for the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins) is named General Manager.
February 10, 2022: Cammi Granato (Hall of Fame player and scout for the Seattle Kraken) is hired as Assistant General Manager.
March 21, 2022: Travis Hamonic (right defenseman) is traded to the Ottawa Senators for a 2022 3rd round draft pick.
March 21, 2022: Travis Dermott (left/right defenseman) is acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2022 3rd round draft pick.
March 21, 2022: Tyler Motte (left/right winger) is traded to the New York Rangers for a 2023 4th round draft pick.
April 29, 2022: Canucks end the 2021-22 season with a 40-30-12 record (didn’t qualify for playoffs).
June 7, 2022: Nils Aman (center) signs a 2-year, $1.85 million contract ($925,000 AAV).
July 1, 2022: Brock Boeser (right winger) signs a 3-year, $19.95 million contract ($6.65 million AAV).
July 7-8, 2022: Canucks draft 1st round 15th overall (Jonathan Lekkermaki), 3rd round 80th overall (Elias Pettersson), 4th round 112th overall (Daimon Gardner) 5th round 144th overall (Ty Young), 6th round 176th overall (Jackson Dorrington), 7th round 208th overall (Kirill Kudryavtsev).
July 13, 2022: Jaroslav Halak (goalie), Brad Hunt (left defenseman), Madison Bowey (right defenseman), Brad Richardson (right winger), Nic Petan (center, left/right winger), Sheldon Rempal (left/right winger), Alex Chiasson (right winger), Justin Bailey (right winger) all leave in free agency.
July 13, 2022: Andrei Kuzmenko (left winger) signs a 1 year, $1.8 million AAV contract ($950,000 cap hit, $850,000 performance bonus) as a free agent from SKA St. Petersburg (KHL).
July 13, 2022: Dakota Joshua (center, left winger) signs a 2-year, $1.65 million contract ($825,000 AAV) as a free agent from St Louis.
July 13, 2022: Curtis Lazar (center, right winger) signs a 3-year, $3 million contract ($1 million AAV) as a free agent from Boston.
July 13, 2022: Ilya Mikheyev (left/right winger) signs a 4-year, $19 million contract with a M-NTC ($4.75 million AAV) as a free agent from Toronto.
July 13, 2022: Collin Delia (goalie) signs a 1 year, $750,000 AAV contract as a free agent from Chicago.
September 2, 2022: J.T. Miller (left winger, center) signs a 7-year, $56 million ($8 million AAV) extension with a NMC that starts in the 2023-24 season.
October 7, 2022: Jason Dickinson (left winger and center), along with a 2024 2nd round draft pick, are traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Riley Stillman (left defenseman).
October 12-24, 2022: Canucks start the 2022-23 season with a seven game losing streak.
October 18, 2022: Canucks become the first team in NHL history to lose four straight games after holding a multi-goal lead in each game.
October 27, 2022: Michael Dipetro (AHL goalie) and Jonathan Myrenberg (right defenseman prospect) are traded to Boston Bruins for Jack Studnicka (right winger, center).
October 28, 2022: Ethan Bear (right defenseman) and Lane Pederson (center prospect) are acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2023 5th round pick.
What has stayed the same since the Benning and Green removal? About 65 percent (24/37) of players from the 2021-2022 roster remain in the 2022-23 Canucks system and only three roster players have been traded away so far. The Canucks still have to deal with the decisions from the Benning era (i.e. having Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the payroll until 2027) and keep pushing to retool the roster in complex ways to create a competitive, Cup contending team. Some of the choices that the Rutherford-Allvin management group has made, like signing J.T. Miller to a pricey eight-year extension and scrambling to figure out what to do about Bo Horvat, feel like something the Benning regime would have done.
So what has changed? A year later, this team is currently spending to the cap, sitting outside of the playoff picture and yet playing well enough to also likely be out of the running for a coveted top three first-round draft pick. Current projections show that the Canucks have higher odds of drafting 10th to 11th overall.
Maybe the better question for us to ask is: how much will change by the end of this season and the start of next season?
The 2022-23 season is very interesting since it’s a contract year for captain Horvat (UFA), forwards Nils Hoglander (coming off his ELC) and Andrei Kuzmenko (UFA), defenseman Travis Dermott (RFA with arbitration rights), Ethan Bear (RFA with arbitration rights), Luke Schenn and Kyle Burroughs (both UFAs), and goaltender Collin Delia (UFA). According to CapFriendly, the Canucks are projected to have around $2.7 million at the trade deadline. By the time the 2022-23 season ends, the Canucks are going to have to possibly replace two right defensemen, two left/right defensemen, a center, a left winger, a left/right winger, and an AHL goalie with an estimated $12.5-13.5 million in cap space.
On the bright side for the Canucks is that, at the end of the current season, the Braden Holtby and Jake Virtanen buyouts will no longer be on the books ($2.4 million total) and the salary cap is also projected to increase by at least $1 million, so they’ll be able to have a bit more spending power to make some much needed improvements on the roster. Another optimistic thing that’s happening for the Canucks is that they’re winning more than they did in October, which alleviates some of the pressure on the team and shows that they have some talent, but it affects draft position and contract negotiations. On the analytical side, the Canucks have increased their overall regular season point percentage from .478 with four seasons under Travis Green to .594 with 2 seasons under Bruce Boudreau so far, so it shows that play has improved with a new coach.
Despite this possible sunny outlook, a lot of questions loom for the future of this team. Will the Canucks front office finally fully embrace this team’s need for a rebuild instead of relying on retooling the roster? Will the Canucks be able to keep their beloved captain and move Miller’s albatross contract, which hasn’t even started yet, without retaining salary? Will Kuzmenko choose to stay after this season? What will happen to Brock Boeser and will he be traded now that his agent is allowed to speak with other teams to facilitate a trade? Will the Canucks fall back down in the standings and end up competing for a high draft pick? Will Boudreau remain head coach of the Canucks come opening night 2023? Only the Canucks management team will have the answers.
What can the Canucks do going forward? Well, in order for them to do so, they have to make their vision for the future clear. Right now, it’s hard to tell because management has yet to let it be known if they’re planning on moving big pieces like Horvat and acquiring essential pieces in order to kickstart a rebuild soon or if they’re planning on somehow keeping him as a member of this team.
To plenty of people among the Canucks fanbase, it seems like the team won’t be able to contend for at least the next three to five years and should tear down the roster and rebuild sooner rather than later. The front office has a different viewpoint. For example, Jim Rutherford mentioned that the Canucks were 1-2 years away from being a playoff team and contender and accepted the idea of a rebuild but preferred to retool the team on the fly. To further support Rutherford’s perspective, Patrik Allvin has mentioned that he has faith in the current core, which is reflected by the Canucks current play. These conflicting points of view make it difficult to see where the future of this team lies. The next several months will be crucial in determining whether this franchise moves one step forward instead of two steps backward.