Sam "Freaking" Bennett

[Snuffleupagus]

Feels like he's been around forever yet he only turned 20 four months ago.

Flames are blessed to have two top centers learning their trade at such young ages. future is bright indeed.

[Greybeard]

Saw Jankowski play in Tucson on Friday. He looked very good iMP best player on Flames that night tho Klimchuk looked sharp. I think this guy will nicely round out our centers. Backlund, Bennett, Mony and Jankowski. Seeet.

[wwkayaker]

http://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/hoc...-mouth-injury/

Tough kid!

[Reggie Dunlop]

Bennett's starting to turn things around. I thought he had a solid game.

[sempuki]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Bennett's starting to turn things around. I thought he had a solid game.

The kid will be fine -- he's using his line mates better, seeing more of the ice, less likely to dipseedoodle up the middle. His IQ and size just need to catch up to his hands and heart.

[killer_carlson]

his hockey IQ is fine. Always has been.

The kid is 20.

[Classic_Sniper]

Still think he should be playing as a winger now and down the road. He's not big enough or strong enough to compete against the centers in the west. His line still gets hemmed in their own zone too often for my liking.

I think his game is more suited for wing as he's a better shooter than a playmaker and he would certainly benefit more playing a more north-south style. I feel like when he plays center, the position just doesn't come to him naturally. When he's out there, he thinks too much in terms of where he should be and who he needs to defend and where his wingers are instead of playing a more physical in your face style that a wing position would offer him.

[PugnaciousIntern]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Still think he should be playing as a winger now and down the road. He's not big enough or strong enough to compete against the centers in the west. His line still gets hemmed in their own zone too often for my liking.

I think his game is more suited for wing as he's a better shooter than a playmaker and he would certainly benefit more playing a more north-south style. I feel like when he plays center, the position just doesn't come to him naturally. When he's out there, he thinks too much in terms of where he should be and who he needs to defend and where his wingers are instead of playing a more physical in your face style that a wing position would offer him.

I hate to agree, but I do. Young players who stand out on their teams often get slotted into the centre position, even if their tendencies are better suited to wing. I'm in no rush to change him over to wing, but from what I've seen, he seems to have the tools to be an excellent winger. But as every other poster on this topic will point out, I am content to watch him develop at center and hopefully he continues in this trajectory!

[Canada 02]

10-4; 71% in the faceoff dot this afternoon
doing the little things right

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Still think he should be playing as a winger now and down the road. He's not big enough or strong enough to compete against the centers in the west. His line still gets hemmed in their own zone too often for my liking.

I think his game is more suited for wing as he's a better shooter than a playmaker and he would certainly benefit more playing a more north-south style. I feel like when he plays center, the position just doesn't come to him naturally. When he's out there, he thinks too much in terms of where he should be and who he needs to defend and where his wingers are instead of playing a more physical in your face style that a wing position would offer him.

I disagree. Is Backlund too small to play to play against the centres in the East? In the West? Is Kadri? Dubinsky, Mi. Granlund, Pavelski?

And if your counter argument is that "Bennett is no Backlund", then I'd argue that Bennett is ahead of where Backlund was at the same time in his career - and that the Flames should continue down this development path because any short-term pain is worth the long-term gain(and really, there hasn't been any pain of note, at least team-wise).

Patience. If Jankowski comes in at some point and pushes his way into the top 9 (as in, is a better centre than Bennett), then you can start looking into that. The team's best interest is to develop Bennett into the high-end centre they clearly believe he can be.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Still want to see a Bennett/Tkachuk combo. It could be insanely great.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Still want to see a Bennett/Tkachuk combo. It could be insanely great.

Same, but it would sure be tough to split up Backlund and Tkachuk right now.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

His line still gets hemmed in their own zone too often for my liking.

That's usually because he gets the most ice time with the third defense pair. He's usually the one saving everybody's bacon with a timely takeaway or shot block. His line's real problem isn't that they get hemmed in too often, it's that they never gain the zone or hem the other team in.

By the way, this season:
5v5 Shot Attempts Against Per Hour (Score/Zone-Start/Venue-Adjusted)
Bennett - 57.24
Stajan - 46.10
Backlund - 49.31
Monahan - 61.32

Empirically, he's not even the center who sees the most shot attempts fired towards his goaltender. It just looks a lot scarier because it's usually the third D pair out there when he does get hemmed in. In fact his shot suppression numbers are pretty much identical to Jonathan Toews.

[Mass_nerder]

Yeah, I honestly think Bennett has looked great defensively in the last month or so.
He might not have put his offensive game together this year, but his defensive game looks to be coming along very well. He seems to be getting better and better on the draws. Maybe just due to his competitiveness.

[Gaudfather]

Nm

[Calgary4LIfe]

Bennett is for sure big enough to play center in the western conference. Kid is very difficult to handle. Johansen knows that first hand - all 6'3" and 220lbs of him.

Gilmour played center with loads of success in the west back in the day where things were so much nastier.

I see Bennett starting to fight through the physicality much more often now, and he is still not finished putting some more muscle on, or at the very least, still hasn't grown into his 'man-strength' yet.

Remember when he was drafted, and Hunter Smith let out that tidbit about him playing against him in the OHL? Something like: "I was told this kid was competitive, but he really shocked me once. We lined up for a face-off, and when the puck was dropped he just went at me and knocked me right down. I was embarrassed." Well, say what you will about Hunter Smith, but that is still one big kid. For Bennett to even attempt it puts a smile on my face.

Bennett will be fine in the west. I think once he just takes that next step (and I feel he has been taking several small steps this season, especially in the last 30 games) he will be considered as one of the more physical and difficult to play against centers in the west.

Kid is going to be highly disliked by the other teams, and we are going to love him even more.

[GranteedEV]

Some (prime age) Bennett-sized centers or smaller, to come out of the west this millenium:

2001 - Peter Forsberg - 6'0 / 205lbs
2001 - Joe Sakic - 5'11 / 185lbs
2002 - Steve Yzerman - 5'10 / 185lbs
2004 - Craig Conroy - 6'1 / 195lbs
2007 - Andy McDonald - 5'11 / 190lbs
2008/09 - Pavel Datsyuk - 5'10" / 194lbs
2008/09 - Henrik Zetterberg - 6'0 / 197lbs
2010/2013/2015 Jonathan Toews - 6'1 / 205lbs
2012 - Mike Richards - ~5'11 / 195lbs (also was on the 2014 team albeit in a reduced role)
2016 - Logan Couture - 6'1 / 200lbs

Bennett still has some filling out to do, but he'll be around 6'1" / 200+ lbs in his prime. He's not your ideal Kopitar/Getzlaf/THornton matchup C, but that's why we have a Jankowski and a Monahan. You still need someone to match up with skilled/speedy 1Cs like McDavid, Horvat, Seguin, Toews etc. If anything, a McDavid stopper is going to be our biggest piece.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

I disagree. Is Backlund too small to play to play against the centres in the East? In the West? Is Kadri? Dubinsky, Mi. Granlund, Pavelski?

And if your counter argument is that "Bennett is no Backlund", then I'd argue that Bennett is ahead of where Backlund was at the same time in his career - and that the Flames should continue down this development path because any short-term pain is worth the long-term gain(and really, there hasn't been any pain of note, at least team-wise).

Patience. If Jankowski comes in at some point and pushes his way into the top 9 (as in, is a better centre than Bennett), then you can start looking into that. The team's best interest is to develop Bennett into the high-end centre they clearly believe he can be.

Backlund is actually a very strong player. His balance and body position is actually one of his best attributes. He can also push the puck up the ice with ease as he proved in the skills competition that he's one of the fastest players on the team. It's not even just his physical attributes, Backlund has extremely high hockey iq at the center position. Something I haven't seen yet from Sam Bennett.

Sam's skillset just screams winger to me. He can use his strong puck pursuit abilities on the forecheck and can be physical on opposing defenders. I think he'd be able to pick up more speed as a winger and he'd be able to get his shot off more often as well. I just don't think we're utilizing his strengths at center. If he was bigger or faster or stronger he might be able mask some of his issues, but isn't the case.

Ultimately, I see us re-signing Mikael Backlund and that leaves Bennett as the 3rd line center or possibly pushed down even further depending on how Jankowski performs. I think it's a safer to push him to wing and move up a more experienced center in Matt Stajan. I doubt anyone wants to see another Markus Granlund situation where we force a player to fail at center only to see him thrive elsewhere as a winger.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

That's usually because he gets the most ice time with the third defense pair. He's usually the one saving everybody's bacon with a timely takeaway or shot block. His line's real problem isn't that they get hemmed in too often, it's that they never gain the zone or hem the other team in.

By the way, this season:
5v5 Shot Attempts Against Per Hour (Score/Zone-Start/Venue-Adjusted)
Bennett - 57.24
Stajan - 46.10
Backlund - 49.31
Monahan - 61.32

Empirically, he's not even the center who sees the most shot attempts fired towards his goaltender. It just looks a lot scarier because it's usually the third D pair out there when he does get hemmed in. In fact his shot suppression numbers are pretty much identical to Jonathan Toews.

What opposition is he matched up against though? He definitely is no Jonathan Toews, if the numbers are saying that then they're wrong. He looks like a deer in the headlights when I've seen him play against the opposition's top lines. He'll end up taking bad penalties or be severely out classed.

There's no shame in moving him to a position in which he can be sheltered and can be used more effectively. The fact that he gets hemmed in consistently and can't generate much of a counter attack is alarming. I foresee him being passed by Jankowski eventually at center anyway, so using him at wing now would help out the team out today and tomorrow.

[robaur]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

I disagree. Is Backlund too small to play to play against the centres in the East? In the West? Is Kadri? Dubinsky, Mi. Granlund, Pavelski?

Your point doesnt stand though. Pavelski doesn't play center. He plays RW and is also built like a tank with a wikkid shot.

Granlund was struggling massively in his career as a center until Boudreau came and shifted him to the wing, and he's taken off since then.

Kadri struggled for pretty much his whole career until Babcock came in and started moulding and shaping his game.

Dubinsky is the only player that you have mentioned in your list that has consistently played Center and has had decent success as one.