Bennett has easily been one of our 6 best forwards so far this season.
Even if Neal finds his offensive game Bennett will still be one of our 7 most important forwards.
His game has defiantly taken a step forward this year and I keep picking him up in my pool because I just sense he is on the verge of busting out offensively. I will continue to patiently wait for that haha..
I agree with the OP that our 3rd line center has been the forward groups biggest weakness as I don't think Ryan or Jankowski have played well enough as of yet.
Perhaps trying him out at center again could make sense and if so I don't see why the Backlund-Frolik duo couldn't continue to do what they have in the past and help bring along a rookie:
Dube-Backlund-Frolik
Tkachuk-Bennett-Neal
We're gonna need to get some offensive production out of Neal and Bennett in order to stay competitive as the top 4-5 guys can't keep carrying the load.
To me the most obvious choice would be to:
a) put one of them with Backlund and Tkachuk
b) put them both with Tkachuk
c) find a better fit at center for the 3rd line (could be Bennett himself)
d) combination of a) and c)
Ryan, Jankowski, Czarnik, Frolik and Hathaway all seem to be struggling/are not natural offensively..
I know Bennett and Neal have similar numbers but it's different with them because they seem to be all around the net and are getting looks.
We need to find the right chemistry in our middle 6 and it starts with finding a fit at center on line 3 and RW on line 2 IMO.
What pieces fit with Backlund, Tkachuk, Bennett and Neal and how?
Until we figure that out I fear our depth will continue to struggle.
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