Jim benning would had ruined Makar

He wasn't TERRIBLE at getting our first round picks to become good. He was simply just bad at everything else

I don't think Benning was as bad as many think he was, not perfect but did some good things.

You'd think if Nucks had taken a D-man in 2017, they wouldn't have done that too in 2018, especially another small, offensive D like Hughes.

Nucks would have likely taken Oliver Wahlstrom due to their lack of offensive talent without Pettersson or Noah Dobson as a bigger D-man.

If he just put the phone away July 1st he'd still have a job.

Let me stop you right there! I doubt the roster would be the same from that amount of time. Everyone’s rosters would be different if they chose the guy they wanted, or should’ve. Like the oilers would be different if they chose Zegras over Broberg back in 2019, like they should have.

I disagree. Did you watch Benning's interview after he made the Hughes selection? To say he was ecstatic would be a major understatement, he looked and sounded like a little kid in a candy shop.

Jim Benning Notable Dang-its to Good Moves
Dang-its: Drafting Juolevi 5th overall in 2016(Tkachuk, Keller and Chychrun were some that came next), Drafting Virtanen 6th overall in 2014(Ehlers, Nylander and Vrana were some that came next), Signing Eriksson and Myers to 6 mil contracts, Signing Roussel and Beagle to 3 mil contracts, Signing Poolman to 4y@2.5M, Trading a 3rd for Dickinson, Failing to re-sign Markstrom, Tanev and Toffoli(Who are all now playing for the Flames, a team might have to face if we make the playoffs) and another notable one; trading Gustav Forsling to the Hawks for Adam Clendening.
Good Moves: The JT Miller trade, Getting Martin for FC, Signing Schenn for 850k, Signing Chiasson for 750k, Drafting Hughes 7th Overall in 2018, Drafting Demko in the 2nd round, Drafting Forsling and Gaudette in the 5th round.
At least he clean up a bit with the OEL trade and the Juolevi trade.

I didn't, but I wouldn't be too surprised if that was the case since Hughes did look like a high quality prospect back then.

Still, I do think it's possible they could've had second thoughts, as what's the point in drafting two similar juniors in consecutive years. That's fairly rare to say the least.

Quinn Hughes was probably the easiest pick Jim Benning had in his tenure. If you watched the behind the scenes draft video for 2018, Hughes and Zadina were the only two players even considered, and the Canucks wanted Hughes

And would that have been the case if they hadn't drafted a potential superstar center year before, but instead a player very much like Makar they hypothetically would've drafted in this scenario? We can't say for sure.

Well either way, neither Pettersson nor Makar even played in the NHL the year Hughes was drafted so I don't really see how that could impact much. Hughes was definitely BPA at #7 so they probably still would have drafted him