The more I watch Sam play, the more I realize the flashes of brilliance are still there, but he struggles to do the little things that puts him in position to display his high end skill. His hockey iq is definitely not his strongest attribute, his skating is average and he’s not particularly strong protecting the puck. So he needs the type of player on his like who can drive play, create space for him and do the heavy lifting that he can’t do. I’m talking about zone exits, zone entries, puck retrievals, down low battles and etc.
That’s why I think he’s seen the most successful with guys like Gaudreau, Backlund, Frolik and even Jagr has been helping him in this regard. These guys all do some heavy lifting in some way and they give Sam Bennett the freedom to just focus on trying to generate offense in his way. Right now, he doesn’t have anyone who can do the heavy lifting and that’s why he has struggled immensely to put up points.
Maybe Sam will develop the ability to do some heavy lifting of his own as he matures, maybe he doesn’t, but that’s why I don’t think we need to trade him just yet, I think there’s a lot of untapped potential here. We just need to find the right partner for him to formulate chemistry with.
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