Jim Benning

player back, too.

So when I hear wanting under 25 players, players who are under 25, my mind automatically goes to the Jim Benning era and Granlund and Berchi.

And the Canucks believed that there was a gap in their development system with that age.

And automatically I go there and we talked earlier about ticket prices and people not showing up.

Yeah.

alexi action gal like gallagher it's so crazy because gallagher is like two years younger than me and he looks like the oldest piece of shit in the world out there and it just makes it work oh my god he's so like i i went to the the minnesota game on sunday and just seeing gallagher skate around he's look he's trying really hard which i appreciate great in the locker room i'm i'm glad he's here for a multitude of reasons but he's he's like not an nhl player anymore And that's fine because those like, I think the difference between this and like the Jim Benning rebuild is that Benning would bring those style of players in and sign them for like five years and $25 million.

And we're just, we're bringing them in for a year, maybe two.

And we're obviously going to trade them.

Like, the last 15 years was just like...

It literally was...

I can't count how many times I would see an Elliott Friedman tweet or report where it was like... you know what, Aquilini's looking at this next weekend, the three games later this week, and that's really going to determine the future of Jim Benning and the coaching staff.

And then they'd win two out of three games, and okay, well, I guess you're keeping them around now.

He becomes the third 18-year-old in the past 80 years to score at least five goals in a season for the Leafs, joining a couple of Gord's guys.

Jim Benning, who had 31 points, seven goals, and 31 points back in 81-82. and Vinny D'Amfus, who had nine goals and 15 points in 86-87.

Still, this was one that got away for the Leafs, at least a point that got away late on the Montour goal.

Here's Captain Austin Matthews afterwards being asked what the emotions were like for his club to see them battle all the way back to tie it and yet lose it in the end.