Jim Benning declines to give Canucks coach Travis Green a vote of confidence

The Vancouver Canucks have gotten off to the franchise's worst regular season start since 1997 and head coach Travis Green may finally walk the plank, despite the fact that GM Jim Benning is the one who has assembled the team's motley crew roster.

Green, who has been the team's coach for the past five seasons, recently signed a contract extension just six months ago but when Benning was asked by the media today about his coach's job security he declined to give him a vote of confidence. When asked if Green's job is in jeopardy, Benning said "we're looking at everything."

To be perfectly frank... change is needed.

Benning has been the team's GM for eight seasons now and he has built a playoff team in just two of those eight seasons. He's been GM longer than his predecessor Mike Gillis who made the playoffs in five of six seasons and delivered two President's Trophy seasons and a Stanley Cup Final to the city of Vancouver. Benning's greatest accomplishments in Vancouver have been drafting stars Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, both of whom have been underwhelming to start the season. Benning has signed so many terrible free agent contracts that it's honestly tough to keep track of them all. Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Sam Gagner... the list goes on and on. Add to it that Benning absolutely whiffed on 5th overall pick Olli Juolevi and 6th overall pick Jake Virtanen and you have to wonder what ownership sees in him? It's not exactly a secret that Aquilini likes to involve himself heavily in the team's decisions and the speculation amongst the team's fanbase is that Benning is simply Aquilini's "yes man."

As for Green, well... just watch the team and you'll see that it's clear the team has given up on him. On their recent three game road trip, the Canucks were lambasted by the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks. During those games the Canucks put up absolutely zero fight and, to me, that's a failing of their head coach. It's one thing to be flat for a game or two, but when you've got the entire fanbase calling for your coach's head it's time to at least put up an effort. The Canucks couldn't muster that and I think that tells you everything you need to know about Green's future with the team.

Thoughts, Canucks fans?