Dec 5, 2021
Canucks relieve GM Benning, HC Green of duties
The Canucks have removed general manager Jim Benning, and head coach Travis Green from their positions. Coming in to replace Green will be Bruce Boudreau, who signed a deal through the end of next season, according to reports.
TSN.ca Staff
It's the end of an era in Vancouver.
The Canucks have removed general manager Jim Benning, and head coach Travis Green from their positions.
Can confirm Irf’s earlier report that Benning is out as #Canucks GM https://t.co/6MD3mh0HHe
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) December 6, 2021
Coming in to replace Green will be Bruce Boudreau, who signed a deal through the end of next season, according to reports.
Told it’s a two-year deal for Bruce Boudreau in Vancouver.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 6, 2021
After signing a two-year contract extension in May, Green departs with the Canucks struggling to a 8-15-2 record to start the 2021-22 campaign.
Boudreau, 66, has previously coached the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild.
LeBrun reports that Boudreau's contract is worth $2 million this season and $2.5 for next season.
The move comes after the Canucks lost for the 10th time in 13 games, falling 4-1 to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
The Canucks have missed the playoffs five times in the past six seasons. They currently sit 14th in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, hired in the spring of 2014 from the Boston Bruins where he had been serving as an assistant GM, Benning leaves the team with a mixed legacy. While his draft picks have mostly panned out, many of Benning’s trades and free agent signings failed to reach their potential.
In his early days, Benning’s most significant moves came in trading away key pieces of the Canucks team that reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2011. Benning dealt captain Ryan Kesler to the Anaheim Ducks ahead of the 2014-15 season and later traded defencemen Kevin Bieksa and Jason Garrison and goaltender Eddie Lack, accruing a mix of young players and draft picks in return.
Some of Benning’s free-agent acquisitions left the team with severe salary cap constraints. In 2016, Benning signed winger Loui Eriksson to a six-year, $36 million deal. The Swede would go on to never score more than 11 goals a season in a Canucks uniform.
Canuck's legend Stan Smyl has been named interim general manager and Ryan Johnson has been named interim assistant GM. Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Doug Jarvis, and Chris Greer will also be involved in the day-to-day hockey operations.
Smyl was the director of player development and senior advisor to Benning prior to the changes.
The Canucks had an eventful summer this year, swinging a big trade with the Arizona Coyotes to acquire Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland in exchange for a package headlined by the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 draft. The 30-year-old Ekman-Larsson is due $8.25 million per season through 2026-27, $1.2 million of which the Coyotes are covering per year. Eriksson was among the players sent to Arizona in the deal.
Vancouver also went deep into the off-season without deals for restricted free agents Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, two prominent pieces of the team’s young core selected by Benning. Pettersson ended up signing a three-year deal and Hughes a six-year contract and both players were with the team as they opened their season against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 13.