[belsarius]

The first two "exceptions" that I think of are St Louis and Iginla. Both had a first 200-250 games that were no where indicative of their career numbers. They both went from mid 40 point players around 250 games played and ended their careers as 70 point players.

It was their dedication in the off season after this mark that really made them improve. Iginla focused on his skating and started to come into seasons as a beast that couldn't be knocked over and had some speed to him. St Louis' tree trunk legs are the stuff of legends.

Now I'm not trying to compare Bennett's stats to these guys or anything, more that they didn't really get into their elite game until they got a little older. Iginla was 22-23 when he really started to come on and St Louis was 26-27. They also had the maturity to know they needed to improve and did the work to make it happen.

I don't think we should limit Bennett by statistics, but hope that management has the awareness of his character to know if he can put that work in that players like Iginla and St Louis did to improve his game. They are proof you can make a jump after the 250 game mark, but it takes a special kind of player and competitive mindset.

I feel that Bennett may have the same problem as a lot of kids who breeze through high school, they lived on natural talent but found that wasn't enough in University. I think his eyes might be a bit more open now and with a new coach and proper motivation should be able to make the changes to succeed. I just don't think pointing at an imaginary statistical line can judge the player he is still capable of.