The problem for me is that over his last 82 games bennett has only 14 goals and 32 points.
It's not a trend of a great rookie season with a stinker sophomore slump, it's a trend of a guy who scores in bunches not really scoring otherwise.
He scored 8 of his 18 in a 5 game span last season including the awesome 4 goal game, but on either side of that streak there are large goal and point droughts. This year, it is more of the same but so far without the 4 goal game.
The problem is, it's not like he's beating defenders and ringing them off the post or setting up his linemates with glorious opportunities and having them all flub his chances. He's not really dazzling offensively at all this year, to the point where I question whether he's been hurt all year long.
Either way, there isn't much tangible evidence from his pro career that he will put up offensive numbers in the NHL. I hope he does, but so far the only thing to base that on is his junior career, draft pedigree and optimism.
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