Quote:
Originally Posted by nemanja2306
This may be a bit of revisionist history, but wasn't it a basically consensus at the draft that Bennett would need at least 2-3 years to bulk up to be effective at the NHL? Not that he's small but the way he plays requires him to be stronger.
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Yup, that was the consensus at that time. The whole pull up, shoulder surgery thing probably didn't help his progression with that.
I've personally always felt that Bennett was rushed a little bit into the NHL. Not that he's not skilled, smart, or quick enough, but because the style he plays dominates juniors but takes time to adjust to the NHL. He is the definition of a guy who needed AHL time.
Even up until a few months ago, it still seemed that he was trying to play a jr. game in the NHL. I don't know how many times he'd try to dangle past a defender off the wall or from the blue line and get stopped. Again, he's a skilled player and i'm fine with him doing that, but it takes some seasoning in the minors to learn to pick your spots. Him getting stuffed every time he tries those movs in the NHL not only deflates his own confidence but coaches aren't gonna reward those types of plays.
With that being said, I'm still extremely high on him and wouldn't trade him, not even for Simmonds. I think the whole "he's gonna be better than Monahan and maybe even Johnny" statements people were saying during training camp really wasn't good for expectations.
I still think he'll turn out to be somewhat of a grittier version of couture