Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdonkey
Honest question, would you still believe this if Bennett were an Oiler or a Canuck, or would you be having a good laugh about him being another one of their draft busts?
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Depends completely on the player, their skill set, why they are struggling, etc.
For example I think those who write off Puljujarvi are being completely ridiculous. I still think there's a very good chance he turns out into a good top two line player. I think a lot of the stuff said about him in the E=NG thread is fans hoping he sucks.
Nurse I think still very much has top pairing potential. Again I think some of the stuff said about him in the E=NG doesn't give him enough credit or refuses to see his upside.
Virtanen? Don't have much faith in him. He was criticized for things in his draft year and rushed to the NHL. I'm not sure he has the vision and hockey sense to be an impact top two line player. Craig Button had him ranked as a 2nd rounder in his draft year you'll recall.
Yakupov? He was always a one-way selfish puck hog who could only score individual efforts. In a league (the NHL) where he was below average size and his speed was nothing to write home about he was going to struggle to play the same game. His lack of a two-way game and inability to use his line mates well pretty much spelled his doom.
Each player is an individual case. Bennett has good puck handling, speed, physicality, tenacity. I think his shooting struggles last year had more to do with confidence than anything. I think if he gets on a roll and gains confidence in his own ability you'll see a much different version of him. Like many players Bennett is an instinctive player and his instincts are off when he doesn't have any confidence.
You really can't generalize in life or in hockey as much as people really want to. Fans judge Bennett differently because he was rushed to the NHL but we've seen many players who break out in their mid 20's. Having just turned 22 Bennett still has a lot of room and time to improve and work on his weaknesses. He's already a solid NHLer and not much confidence will be needed to take his game to the next level.
The Bennett discussions on this board are frankly ridiculous. I understand that people had high hopes for him and have been disappointed. Some posters now lash out at him or hate on him because he disappointed them. You really have to take the longer view a lot of the time with young players. Scouts will talk about not being able to properly judge drafts for 5-6 years. Even though Bennett was a top pick the same long term view needs to apply.
But whatever really. I'm not going to convince the haters. The impatient fans clearly think they've been patient enough and now they just want to rage and hate on Bennett. Only time will tell. You can kind of tell how impatient people are when they are hating on Bennett after the 1st preseason game. I think its quite telling about their patience levels isn't it? Some posters really just can't view him objectively either. Too much emotion caught up in his being a high pick and him disappointing them.
Bennett will get some chances this year to impress. Lets see how he does under a much more competent coach playing on a better team.