Canucks GM Jim Benning differs from his peers at deadline

Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning took a different approach than his peers at the NHL trade deadline.
While most GMs made moves intended to help their team win the Stanley Cup, he swung one intended to help Vancouver’s AHL farm team in Utica, N.Y., claim the Calder Cup. That was the aim as Benning, who stood pat on tweaks to his NHL roster, acquired prospect Cory Conacher from the New York Islanders for minor-leaguer Dustin Jeffrey.
“We have a good team down in Utica this year, and we have some good prospects that are developing, but we think playoff success is a good teaching tool for that group to continue to grow and to learn from,” said Benning. “We thought, maybe, we were missing a scorer, like a power-play guy, a guy that’s a natural scorer, and Conacher has proven in his AHL career that he’s a real good scorer in that league.”
Conacher, a 25-year-old Burlington, Ont., native, has played 15 games with the Islanders this season, recording three points (1-2-3) and 14 penalty minutes. He has also appeared in 28 games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers, collecting 22 points (5-17-22) and 30 minutes. Altogether, he has toiled in 141 career NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and Islanders, recording 58 points (19-39-58) and 84 penalty minutes.
In 2011-12, Conacher produced an AHL career-high 39 goals and 41 assists for 80 points, along with 114 penalty minutes, with the Norfolk Admirals. The next season, he recorded a respectable total of 57 points in 72 games while shuffling between Syracuse of the AHL, Tampa and Ottawa.
"(Conacher) is a power-play guy, so we made that deal to help that group down there, and he’s played NHL games,” said Benning. “In case we need him (in Vancouver), we have depth with him up here.”
BWhile helping Utica now, Benning also received a potential long-term benefit, because Conacher is due to become a restricted free agent, and the Canucks can tie up his rights going forward. On the other hand, the departed Jeffrey is slated to become an unrestricted free agent.
Benning acknowledged that Conacher has the same offensive orientation as Sven Baertschi, who was acquired in Vancouver's only other trade Monday, from Calgary for a 2015 second-round draft pick, and will also report to Utica. But the style duplication didn’t bother the GM.
“Why get one of those (potentially high-scoring) guys when you can get two?” he said.