Lady Luck finally smiles on Canucks at NHL draft
GM Benning snaps up puck-moving defenceman with No. 7 overall pick
DALLAS Most lost count long ago of how many times the Canucks have tried to find a puck-moving defenceman who can run a power play.
Until Friday, they swung and missed every single time.
Some hoped it was going to be Ben Hutton.
Then there was the possibility it could be Troy Stecher.
Philip Larsen had a chance. And so did Michael Del Zotto.
There were even fawning stories suggesting Derrick Pouliot could be the next great offensive defenceman in Vancouver. That didn’t age well. And, yes, things got that bad.
But it all changed when the 2018 NHL Entry Draft board fell the Canucks way.
Both the Ottawa Senators and Arizona Coyotes passed on Filip Zadina, a decision that could haunt them for years. And for the first time, the Canucks believed they could get the best defenceman on the board outside of the slam dunk first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin.
“I didn’t think he was going to be there,” Benning said of Quinn Hughes. “We got some luck this year. We haven’t had very much luck when it comes to the draft lottery.”
No, they haven’t.
But when the Detroit Red Wings picked at No. 6 they couldn’t resist taking Zadina over Hughes.
It’s a decision that landed the Canucks a blue-liner who has the potential to fix a problem that’s engulfed the team for years.
“It’s one of those things where you have to do it the old-fashioned way and that’s draft them and develop yourselves, and that’s what we were able to do with Quinn,” Benning said.
Benning said the Canucks have had Hughes targeted for two years, and may have fallen in love with him during a combine interview that sure seems like an all-time great.
“It was excellent,” Benning said. “I liked his confidence. Sometimes for players who aren’t big, they have to have that self-belief, and he has it.
“When we interviewed him, we asked him where he wanted to play and he said: ‘In Canada.’ He wants to be under the microscope ...”
Benning couldn’t finish his sentence without laughing.
“He will be,” the Canucks’ GM said with a big grin.
“He wants that pressure. That’s just the type of player he is. He wants to be in a place where they care a lot about winning and he wants to be the guy.”
It was a fascinating first round as the Senators turned some heads by selecting Brady Tkachuk.
People have speculated the Canucks would have taken Tkachuk over Hughes if he was there at No. 7.
Benning was asked if there were players who went from Nos. 3-6 who the Canucks would have chosen instead of Hughes.
“There was probably one other guy,” Benning said. “Or a couple of other guys. You know what I mean?”
There were opportunities for the Canucks to trade back in the first round, but it would have cost them their second-round and thirdround picks to do so.
“We talked about it,” Benning said. “It could have got us back into the late first round. But we were already down one pick. We didn’t want to give up the two picks.
“There are still three or four guys we really like and we’re hoping one of them falls to us at No. 37. If we had taken a forward in the first round, then we would have concentrated on defence.
“Now that we took a defenceman, we’ll take the best player at the top of the second round and then maybe we’ll concentrate on defence.”
Asked if there are centres on the board he still likes, Benning said: “Yes, we have some centres we still like.”