‘It’s all about the process and I’m happy with that,’ GM says at quarter point
Few observers would have predicted or expected the Vancouver Canucks to be sitting near the top of the Pacific Division one-quarter of the way into the National Hockey League season.
Even the Canucks’ brass sought to temper fans’ expectations before the 2018-19 campaign started, highlighting the number of younger players on the rebuilding NHL team or close to making the big-league jump.
But here they are.
Canucks general manager Jim Benning says he’s focused on the process and what he’s seen develop — a lot of which is pleasing him.
He’s happy with how the free agents he signed this summer — Antoine Roussel, Tim Schaller and Jay Beagle — have played. And he’s happy with how the younger skill players have progressed.
And he’s happy how well his team has played despite a heavy heap of adversity.
“We signed some guys this summer who are hard-worker character guys ... to bring some competitiveness to our group,” he says. “And to be reliant on the skill set of our young players. We’ve been on the road a lot, our schedule hasn’t been easy. And we’re six guys down (with injuries).
“It’s all about the process and I’m happy with that.”
Still, the injuries are putting a heavy toll on the team, he admits, and the potential knock-on effects worry him.
“We can’t be wearing out our top players ... Bo (Horvat), with Sutts (Brandon Sutter) and Beagle being out, he’s getting 40 faceoffs a night, it’s hard to keep that going.”
These Canucks are a quicker group than last season, so while they’re not able to match the league’s elite when it comes to skill, they’re at least doing a better job of taking away their (playmaking) space, he argues.
“When we’re faster and hard working, we’re taking away space, we can spend more of our time in the offensive zone,” Benning says. “The speed helps us on the forecheck; when we lose the puck there’s speed in the back pressure.”
That skating ability also plays into the improvements everyone has noted from the defence corps.
Heading into the season there were serious doubts about the Canucks using the same eight defenceman as they did in 2017-18, a season when they struggled to influence the game, especially when it came to moving the puck.
So far, though, it’s working. “The system we’re playing, we’ve asked our defencemen to be more involved in the offensive zone, they’ve adjusted,” Benning says. “For the most part they’re all good skaters.”
One of those superb skaters is Ben Hutton. The progress he’s shown has been a key part to the improvement story on the blue-line. He’s fitter than ever and as a result is far more involved in the play.
Hutton, Benning notes, “was good for us that first couple years.”
Then there was last year, when he was a regular healthy scratch and came in for criticism from coach Travis Green.
“(Now) he’s back and even further along in his development.”
Green’s success in connecting with young players has drawn praise from the boss.
“I think that’s a reflection on Travis and his coaching group, they do a real good job with the players,” Benning says. “Travis points out, you’re constantly teaching them, you can’t just expect that they know how.”
Benning remains calm as he discusses the early success of star prospect Elias Pettersson.
‘We knew he was going to be good but did we think he’d make the transition so easy? We didn’t know that,” he says, before discussing the team’s other young scorers.
“Brock (Boeser) has had some bad luck (with injuries),” he says. “We need to get Brock up and going, because he’s a big part of our group.
“Goldy (Nikolay Goldobin) has shown some flashes, he’s a skill guy and he’s hit a bunch of posts. I think we’re on the right path.”
When the Canucks hit the halfway mark, Benning hopes to be singing a similar tune, with one small addition.
“I hope it’s the same conversation: that we’re competitive, that our young players are progressing. I’m also hoping I can talk about how we’ve got a relatively healthy group. If I can talk about that, I’ll be pretty happy.”