Kukla's Korner Hockey
Ken Holland To Vancouver?
by Paul on 01/15/18 at 08:31 AM ET
Comments (7)
from Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province,
The Vancouver Canucks might be headed for a five-day break but the Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports never rests.
• The media, like nature, abhors a vacuum and the longer Jim Benning’s contractual situation goes unresolved, the louder the conjecture will grow about his future.
As of this writing, the most popular scenario is Detroit GM Ken Holland, who’s also on the last year of his deal, moving to Vancouver as the hockey overlord in a restructured organization. That would leave a role for Benning in player personnel. It would also add that thing which has been missing from the Canucks’ front office since Trevor Linden and Benning were hired: the experienced voice of an executive with championship experience.
Now, we can argue the relative merits of this move from now until doomsday but if the Canucks continue to hover around 28th-place in the NHL change would appear to be inevitable. This has become less about the plan and more about consumer confidence in the brand. Bringing in Holland would go a long way toward calming the masses.
The problem — and this wouldn’t be a Canucks’ story if there wasn’t a problem — is the native of Vernon might be at the top of the wish list for the new Seattle franchise. But barring a dramatic turnaround in the next couple of months, it appears the status quo is no longer an option for the Canucks.
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Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: ken+holland
Comments
I can’t wait until Holland is gifted a stacked team and people around here start moping about “we should’ve kept him around”.
Posted by CharDeeMacDennis on 01/15/18 at 09:21 AM ET
I’m done with Holland. Even if he’s a talented GM who could succeed someplace else, he’s grown stale in Detroit. He rode a good team through some rough transitions and maybe no GM could’ve done better but that’s the past now. The Wings find themselves in an unfavorable cap situation that is Holland’s doing and he’s not the guy to get them out of it. The Wings need a new voice. Hopefully one that rhymes with wiser man.
Posted by awould on 01/15/18 at 10:02 AM ET
Wherever he might go, can he take Tyler Wright with him?
Posted by Hootinani from the parade following Babs out of town on 01/15/18 at 11:21 AM ET
I don’t see him leaving the metro Detroit area, nor do I see him leaving the franchise.
But the better question to me is, if Holland is at the top of the list for Vancouver and Seattle, who are the wings supposed to hire? Sloppy seconds?
Posted by TreKronor on 01/15/18 at 12:11 PM ET
who are the wings supposed to hire? Sloppy seconds?
Yep.
Because there are only 31 NHL-capable GMs in the world.
Posted by CharDeeMacDennis on 01/15/18 at 12:26 PM ET
who are the wings supposed to hire? Sloppy seconds?
Alternate response: Isn’t that what Vancouver/Seattle would be getting?
Posted by CharDeeMacDennis on 01/15/18 at 12:27 PM ET
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The more these rumors persist, the more I can envision Holland being gone, if not vacating the GM role.
To be fair, I would be happy to see him succeed. I don’t care to call people idiots or morons - even if they deserve it. So wherever he goes, hope he can turn it around. I would want the same here in Detroit.
Posted by ilovehomers on 01/15/18 at 08:49 AM ET