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Originally Posted by Flamescuprun2018
Very interested in your first line centre projection for Janko. I still see Bennett there. Please elaborate.
The rest of the season is the time to evaluate Bennett as 1C with Gaudreau. Bennett has showed up to play every game this season to earn that chance.
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Here are my thoughts from the Jankowski thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
I want to start by saying I have no idea how any of our young players will turn out, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
BUT, seeing Monahan struggling with top line responsibilities this year, and noting how Bennett is being used a lot on the wing so far, I wonder if there's still an opening for Jankowski to come in and compete for that #1 center spot.
He's clearly developed his defensive game on a top notch defensive club at Providence. He's filled out already, but likely to fill out even more projecting to being around 210-220 and 6 foot 4. I haven't watched him enough to know, but apparently he's really good on the face-off dot. He's been relied upon in all situations by the coaching staff. He's always had great vision and good hands, not to mention being a pretty good skater, and he's now using that to put up points at a high rate. He's also had the experience of winning a national championship.
We all knew this kid was going to be a project, so it's taken some time to get here, and a lot of people were hoping he would be a 3rd line center in the NHL. I definitely wasn't overly impressed by him in the past and you could put me in the group that was skeptical of him ever being an NHL player. BUT, I think at this point you might just see this kid become a complete #1 center that does everything you need on the top line. Is it possible he becomes some version of Ryan Getzlaf? Kopitar? I really don't know. But the mere fact that it's a possibility gets me very intrigued in his progress.
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Bennett is going to be an top talent in the NHL, I'm just not sure it will be as a center. It's his natural position, but he's played much better at wing so far. Will he gradually learn the defensive game well enough to be a top line center? That's the part I'm not sure of. He's adequate defensively right now, but he's not a guy that I would rely on to shut down the other team effectively enough to turn it into offense.
Jankowski might only end up being a 3rd line center in the NHL, but I'm convinced at this point that he will make it in some capacity. It's just the way he's been developed that makes me think he has the ability to be a good #1 center, but not as offensively dynamic as guys like Gaudreau and Bennett. He was always a very good offensive player, he just had to catch up to the rest of his age group in terms of defensive acumen, size, systems play, and just the general level of competitiveness. He's just 21, and could easily take another year or two to develop properly, but he could be a better fit than either Monahan or Bennett for #1 center.
Just my thoughts. Speculation and projection is always full of doubt, so take it for what it's worth.