Canucks expected to name Benning GM Friday

Canucks president Trevor Linden personally delivered the news to season ticket members attending a Canucks Town Hall Meeting in Coquitlam. (Darryl Dyck/CP).

The Vancouver Canucks are expected to announce Jim Benning as general manager Friday.

Benning has spent the past seven years as assistant GM with the Boston Bruins. He worked as a scout with Anaheim in 1993 before joining Buffalo the following year and served as the Sabres’ director of amateur scouting from 1998-2004.

The 51-year-old Benning played nine seasons in the NHL, including four with the Canucks from 1986-90.

Vancouver fired president/GM Mike Gillis in April and the club named former captain Trevor Linden as president.

One of Benning’s first tasks will be finding a new coach. John Tortorella was let go May 1 just one season behind the bench.

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