Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Last year, AS A 19 YEAR OLD ROOKIE, Bennett got 15 minutes of ice-time and had 18G and 18A. He had what can only be described as terrible puck luck, with multiple posts hit and what? 5 or 6 goals disallowed? Imagining that he will improve from 18 to 22 goals this year, at the veteran age of 20, does not seem like too much of a leap to me.
He also had no wingers. Like none. He might as well have had me on his line. Yet he still managed 18 assists. Despite the fact that his linemates did squat all year. He will have better wingers this year - guaranteed. So it is not hard to imagine that his assist totals will rise. From 18 to 30ish? Not all all difficult to imagine, IMO.
He will also almost certainly get more ice-time this season than he got last year. Getting 15 minutes of TOI as a 19 year old is actually pretty impressive. And he deserved more. He will definitely get more this year and I would bet that it is probably going to be in the 17-18 minute range. And it is probably safe to assume that his PP TOI will rise as well, from the 1:57 he got last year.
Based on these factors, it is not at all unreasonable to assume 50 pts this year. And personally, I would be disappointed if he didn't get at least that many.
Bennett is not a comparable for Schenn. He is on track to be significantly better.
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Whose ice time is he going to take?
Monahan 18 (after 19+ minutes the last 160 games) plus
Backlund 16 (after 17:30 in his last 200 games) and
Bennett 16
leaves only 10 minutes for the 4th line.
Have to figure that Gaudreau stays with Monahan and is likely joined by Brouwer.... Backlund and Frolik stay together. So Bennett's line mates will be not be elite scorers.
If you set it as 50 or bust for Bennett you may be setting up for a let down.