One of the oft repeated claims from those that support GM Jim Benning is that the Canucks have used their draft picks to spot young, promising players. Benning’s background as a scout, the legend goes, has allowed the team to accumulate players that other clubs have missed out on.

And while the Canucks definitely have a strong pool of prospects, with youngsters like Elias Pettersson, who’s carving up the Swedish Elite League and goaltender Thatcher Demko, who’s doing the same in the American Hockey League, one must look at Benning’s full body of work with a critical eye.

It’s been almost four years since Benning was appointed GM of the Canucks, and in that time, the team has finished near the bottom of the league twice out of three years, with a third on its way this April.

The team has already drafted in the top six of the NHL Entry Draft three times under Benning’s tenure. It’s reasonable to expect that any team near the basement of the league for three out of four years is going to have a stocked prospect cupboard. So it was with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who spent a few seasons at the bottom and are now among the best teams in the league.

So what do the Canucks have to show in terms of NHL players since Benning was brought in?

Not too much. The Canucks currently have two players Benning has drafted on the roster in Brock Boeser and Jake Virtanen. And while Boeser looks to be a star for years to come (and is probably the main reason Benning’s contract was extended), a look around the league shows that the Canucks have vastly underperformed when it comes to drafting and developing picks. (The "games played" data in that graph was compiled on Friday, February 16.)

Every situation is unique and has its own caveats, obviously. If the Maple Leafs didn’t win the Auston Mathews lottery, they wouldn’t be where they are. But they also hit on drafting William Nylander at number eight, after the Canucks took a swing at Virtanen with the number six pick. To say the Canucks haven’t had the chance to be up there with the top teams in the list is just plain wrong.

It gets even worse when you adjust for how well (or poorly) teams have performed since Benning was hired.

Of the bottom 10 teams in points since Benning was hired, only the Ottawa Senators (who barely make the list, coming in at 21^st) have fewer games played from 2014 and later picks on their current roster. And that’s hardly a fair comparison given that the Sens made a push for the playoffs last season and almost made the Cup Final.

Instead, the teams around Vancouver in terms of performance in the last four years (Carolina, New Jersey, Colorado, Edmonton) have more prospects from those draft years and all have a brighter current outlook than the Canucks.

The 2018 draft will go a long way towards establishing whether or not Benning is long for the GM chair. If it turns out that he misses on what looks to be a top five pick, he won’t be around for long.

Just remember that his current status as a savvy drafter is more than a little inflated by potential. Every team has prospects that they like.