Vancouver Canucks Clean House

As we have been following for weeks, the scene out in Vancouver was a fragile one for the Canucks. Turns out ownership has seen enough have both general manager Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green have been fired.

Can confirm Irf’s earlier report that Benning is out as #Canucks GM https://t.co/6MD3mh0HHe
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) December 6, 2021

Sounds like Scott Walker will be going into Vancouver with Boudreau. https://t.co/DindSRMZP1
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 6, 2021

Green signed a two-year extension earlier this year and held on to his position much longer than expected after the Canucks came out this season completely flat. Benning on the other hand has been with the organization since 2014. He's made some head-scratching decisions via free agency and trade these past couple of seasons and the spotlight was as bright as ever for results this season.

When a fan recently threw a jersey on ice during a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, ownership said enough is enough and dropped the hammer. Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini said this in a statement:

First, I want to sincerely thank Jim, John, Travis and Nolan for their passion and dedication to the organization and our community. We are grateful for everything they have done for the Canucks during their tenure, and we wish them nothing but success in the future. These are difficult decisions, but we believed we would have a competitive group this year. As a result, I'm extremely disappointed in how the team has performed so far. I'm making these changes because we want to build a team that competes for championships and it's time for new leadership to help take us there.

Of Benning's moves, these ones stood out:

He signed Loui Eriksson to a six-year, $36-million pact in 2016, Brandon Sutter to a five-year, $21-million deal in 2015, and Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle to identical four-year, $12-million contracts in 2018.

Bruce Boudreau is in as head coach and has signed a two-year deal. He's also bringing in Scott Walker to be an assistant coach. Expect to hear from the Canucks new brass sometime on Monday and their search for a new GM is well under way and should be finalized in the coming weeks.

Photo credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports