When Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green made Loui Eriksson a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s home game against the New York Rangers, some of the focus automatically shifted back to general manager Jim Benning.
After all, this is the man who rewarded Eriksson a six-year contract worth $36 million three summers ago. The Canucks were supposed to enter a rebuilding phase at the time, but Benning couldn’t avoid the temptation to add a veteran goal-scorer — even if it cost him plenty of term and dollars.
Per Daniel Wagner of the Vancouver Courier, Benning admitted earlier this weak that Eriksson’s struggles with the Canucks are “disappointing,” since he expected the veteran two-way player “to be a consistent 20-goal scorer.