Quote:
Originally Posted by ComixZone
Then you act accordingly, why would you waive him?
Bennett had a very strong rookie season, and then two “stalled” years under a head coach who is no longer a head coach, while spending the majority of those two years playing with players that are no longer in the NHL or are actively on their way out. Do you think that’s good player development? Do you see any other teams taking their young players after a strong rookie season and almost actively try to weigh them down with dead weight on their lines? Good teams generally help young players by having them play with good veterans. The Flames actively went out and signed bad veteran players and slapped them on Bennett’s line. (I know it was by mistake, but the poor building of the bottom 6 in the past few years can’t be ignored).
This is an important year for Bennett. I’m hopeful he can put up 40 points while not getting much in the way of PP ice time.
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There seems to be this running narrative/excuse that Bennett has not progressed due to poor linemates. Bennett actually spent only 5.6% of his time on a line with Brouwer. The majority of his TOI was spent with Jankowski, Hathaway and Jagr. Say what you want about Hathaway as a player but somehow Jankowski was still able to put to put up just 1 less point than Bennett (in 10 less games) while playing with Hathaway and with way less PP time than Bennett had. Bennett has spent more time playing with Johnny and Mony than he has with Brouwer. His lack of production is not the fault of “bad line mates.”
