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Originally Posted by Monahammer
The Kent Wilson article in the athletic last week did a good job dispelling the Bennett's age position.
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No I don't think it did at all. A lot of the players he compared weren't really similar at all in their upside at the time to Bennett's upside. They aren't a ton of great comparables really because Bennett should only be compared to other top picks like Yakupov. And I think the Yakupov comparison fails because Yakupov was always seen as a puck hog, create his own opportunities type player and Bennett didn't have the same concerns. You could compare him to Gilbert Brule but Bennett is bigger than Brule and had a higher skill level. There really aren't enough great comparables to make a compelling statistical argument. And individual players aren't averages either, they are each their own person with their own development, own struggles, different skills sets. Just because another pick failed to regain his offensive stride in his early 20's does not mean Bennett cannot. You don't have to believe he will but to write off the possibility is foolish IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monahammer
So, because its most likely bennett does not improve notably from now, the question really has to be: is a marginally better bennett (i.e. a 40 point Bennett who plays decent defense) a bust as this organizations highest ever draft pick?
I think Yes, given the players picked after him, the need in our roster for exactly the type of player he was billed as, and the relative lack of success for this franchise post selection. It is also very discouraging that Sam seems to have taken two straight seasons of steps backwards rather than improvement.
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Quite the opposite actually. It's very likely Bennett can still improve notably from now. MOST young NHLers continue to significantly improve in their early 20's. It would be an aberration or an exception if he did not improve.
Bennett isn't a "bust" as he's likely to be a long time NHLer. You can call that a disappointment if you want but bust is the wrong word to be using there. A true bust is a player that didn't turn into a useful NHLer at all. This talk of him being a bust is ludicrous.
Is it discouraging Bennett has not taken steps forward under GG? Yep. But IMO he wasn't frequently put in situations to succeed. He's clearly a streaky player who loses confidence in his offence when it dries up. It does not mean he can't break out and find his offensive game again. His skill level is still there. He has the size, skating, puck handling and shot to be a top two line NHLer. Does he always make the best decisions? No, but part of that comes with confidence, with not overthinking things, with realizing limitations, with getting in the groove, trusting your instincts and reacting and trusting your teammates instead of doubting yourself and the right play. Some people don't seem to realize how much of succeeding at the NHL level is psychological. Some people underrate how much a young player can start to doubt parts of their game and their instincts when they fail to experience the success the expect. Heck look at Paul Byron who so many on here lament losing. The kid looked to have zero offence on our team. He failed at breakaway after breakaway. In a different situation on a different line in his mid 20's and suddenly he breaks out and regains his offensive confidence at the NHL level and becomes a productive offensive NHLer. It wasn't too late for Byron in his mid 20's to massively improve so it certainly isn't too late for Bennett who is only just turning 22 this summer. Bennett has a big skill and size advantage on Byron. I've seen way too many kids blossom in their early to mid-20's to write kids with his skill level off.
It's not reasonable to think that he's peaked in those areas by age 21. At age 21 most players haven't even made the NHL yet. Very few players are fully developed by that age.
I think your statement that he's unlikely to significantly improve to be extremely questionable. I fully believe the opposite. Almost every young NHLer makes significant improvements in the age range from 22-25. And that's what we should expect from Bennett. To think he's peaked or must continue to go backwards is to take a very pessimistic view of the situation. I think some people are seriously jaded and not looking at him objectively because they are so disappointed that he didn't succeed as quickly as Tkachuk and Monahan did.
Gotta give Bennett more time to find his groove. His upside is too high to give up on at this point. All this talk of him not be able to improve, being a bust is pure foolishness IMO.