Quote:
Originally Posted by shutout
Think that it is best for development for Bennett to go down to the OHL.
However, what if the Flames could time it just right and keep him with the big club?
Flames have 25 games remaining.
If they could keep Bennett on the IR for two more weeks to the beginning of March.
If they were to send him to Adirondack on March 2 they would be able to keep him down for 14 days.
From March 4 to March 15 the Adirondack Flames play seven games.
Bennett could play in all of those games and not count towards his 9 game NHL limit.
His 14 days would end on the 16th and he would come back up to the Calgary Flames.
http://www.adirondackflames.com/schedule/
After the 17th the Flames have twelve games remaining on the schedule.
All they would have to do is sit Bennett for three of them.
There is one back to back game in the schedule so that is an easy one to justify him not playing, along with say the first game back the 19th.
Give him one more game in the press box after 4-5 games for a learning/observing opportunity and then you can keep him with the club and not burn a year off his entry level contract. Plus it allows for the team (not his junior club) to watch over his health and his recovery and reconditioning.
http://flames.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm
Helps the team out with added skill for the stretch drive to the playoffs and allows the team to move out assets like Glencross without feeling that they are short changing the clubs current chances.
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This means that Bennett would not play for the Flames in the playoffs, should they make it, without burning his ELC year. No value in doing what you suggest IMO.
And based on how Hartley needs to build trust with players before deploying them regularly, I don't see how Bennett could possibly stick this year. Bennett needs to play. 15-20 games in Kingston playing 20min a night is FAR better than 6-8min in 8-9 NHL games and 8-9 AHL games.
It is asking a lot for an 18yr old who has not played any meaningful hockey for 11months to play pro hockey for the first time in a playoff race and contribute anything. Give the kid a chance to succeed, by starting fresh in the fall.