from Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province,

There are two ways to look at the Vancouver Canucks after an eventful off-season and, as is often the case with this franchise, those two views are almost contradictory.

First off, Jim Benning improved his lineup, thereby improving his chances of making the Canucks relevant and keeping his job. He added a top-six forward in J.T. Miller. He added a top-four defenceman in Tyler Myers and a legitimate NHL blueliner in Jordie Benn.

Those three players represent significant upgrades for the Canucks. True, that isn’t exactly the NHL’s gold standard but, for the first time in five years, the faithful can look at the roster and believe their team has turned a corner.

But — and you had to know a but was coming — Benning also went into this off-season with US$30 million (all figures in U.S. dollars) in cap space and with so many teams tight to the cap, that represented a tremendous competitive advantage for the Canucks.

That space created any number of options for Benning and there were teams around the Canucks that exploited their cap room. But a week after free agency, Benning has whittled that $30 million down to some $5.5 million with Brock Boeser still to sign. Which means the Canucks are right back where they started.

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