Rumor: Reports out of Vancouver that the Canucks will make a big trade today

The Vancouver Canucks have gotten off to the franchise's worst regular season start since 1997 and head coach Travis Green and GM Jim Benning may finally be forced to pay the price.

Green, who has been the team's coach for the past five seasons, and Benning who has been the team's GM for eight seasons, are both under the microscope and NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reports Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini will meet with Benning to "understand why the team is losing and address it." Friedman goes on to state that a GM change isn't being considered.

From Friedman:

Canucks insider Patrick Johnston of The Province newspaper chimed in on Friedman's report, urging Canucks fans to read between the lines.

So... if a GM change and a coaching change aren't in the plans... all that's left to do is to make a trade. This has Canucks fans rightfully nervous about the fate of some of the team's underperforming players.

After all, Benning isn't exactly known for making shrewd moves at opportune times. Rather, he's known for overpaying and overcommitting when he's been backed into a corner. He's a victim of his own making and has negotiated deals against himself time and time again. The bad news though is that his worst move could still be to come. 

There have been reports that slumping wingers Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller could both be on the trade block and, if true, I shudder to think what Benning could be planning to do on the trade market. 

The fact of the matter is that 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."

Anything short of Benning getting his walking papers this week should be a huge disappointment to Canucks fans everywhere.