Every time I look at the Bennett debate I think of Galchenyuk in Montreal - now 24.
For 3 years they said they didn’t know where he fit. Is he a winger or center? Is he going to be a top six or a fourth liner? He’s a bust. Progression, regression... Maybe trade him.
Fast forward to this year... now Montreal doesn’t really want to trade him.
Who thought Ferland would be playing top line minutes on his off wing and put up almost 20 goals 5 years ago? 5 years ago he put up 15 points in Adirondack...
What was Bennett’s downside when drafted? Size and physical maturity. From 21-25 my shoulder width increased 6 inches. Missed a full season basically with shoulder injury and surgery.
The real problem with Sam Bennett? Probably our own depth. If this was his first season up from the AHL maybe we’d all be salivating wondering what he’d be like next year. The real problem, our expectations that as such a high pick he’d already be making a difference and not admitting that despite a high ranking and pick it might take more time.
Would I trade him? Sure but the GM on the other end of the phone would be paying for his belief that he’s going to get a lot better and be a key asset over the next couple of seasons. Or it would be because I new something that others outside my organization didn’t - something to the effect of his attitude having soured and become incorrectable (I don’t just example).
The problem is really that the Flames always want to hurry to mediocrity and being on the playoff bubble instead of drafting and drafting and drafting and developing and developing and developing. Did anyone look at the Stockton lineup last night? Depth? What depth? What if our youngest Flame players were all still there instead of golfing because we took longer to build up a bigger more solid pool of upcoming players?
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