The Vancouver Canucks are not a good hockey team. They can’t score. They don’t win. And they’re free falling from the standings as a result.

Much of the blame is falling at the feet of Willie Desjardins, rightly or wrongly. Though, of late, there has been some pushback in the media and the dressing room, shifting responsibility to the players. Everything is falling apart and everyone wants a scapegoat. It’s only natural.

So, I brought this question to the Canucks Army Roundtable and asked who the writers thought was responsible for this mess.

I think you blame this on the brutal reality that the Canucks are in a rebuild whether anyone wants it in management or not. Has Benning made some questionable moves? Of course. Has Willie made some questionable decisions? Of course. Have a vast majority of the players been underperforming at points? Of course. Have injuries plagued this team, especially on the backend? Of course.  Add all of those up, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Or success. Depending on how you look at it.

While Willie, Jim, and Trevor have certainly not been perfect at the helm, the blame for this has to fall at the feet of ownership. With hindsight, we know that Mike Gillis’ desire to rebuild was correct, and without the recent years of mediocre purgatory, trying to squeeze the last juice out of the 2010-11 team, who knows where the Canucks would be right now?

I blame the current abysmal state of the Canucks on the absence of Alex Edler, who is the best and without him there’s no hope. Also, the management hasn’t put together a great team (poor management of assets like Frank corrado, almost no defensive depth. etc) and Willie does make some odd decisions (ex: Derek Dorsett is on the ice a lot).

Torts not playing Luongo was the final straw there.Benning’s failure to move 6M in goaltending dollars and stating it publicly wasn’t smart, Corrado’s treatment again, not smart and not even offering contracts to guys like Cody Franson when they stated they wanted to play here is wrong.

I blame Ryan Kesler.

Was the rebuild his fault? No. But had we not traded Ryan Kesler for Nick Bonino (who became Brandon Sutter, which is a problem) and Luca Sbisa (also a giant problem), the team may have been able to fake it for a few more seasons.

This roster needs an overhaul, and that’s clear. But Benning isn’t overhauling with players that make the team better; he’s either moving laterally or downgrading altogether, minus his admittedly decent drafting. He’s got a good eye for prospects and a terrible eye for roster composition, and the Kesler trade helped manifest that very, very quickly.

Ultimately I blame ownership and Benning, but let’s be real. Ryan Kesler started this. I hope he enjoys being, as the Ducks were once fondly referred to, one of the cherries on the dick sundae that is Anaheim’s roster.

Frankly, anyone who was paying attention could have seen this coming from a mile away. More than anything, it’s just the sad reality of an aging core nearing the end of their respective careers without much support around them.

If I had to blame any one member of the Vancouver Canucks though, it’s Jim Benning. Did the Canucks win any of their trades this offseason? Nevermind the way he handcuffed himself in free agency with the extensions he dolled out to Luca Sbisa and Derek Dorsett last spring.