Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
A shame we never truly exhausted that idea
- When he rarely did center Gaudreau, it was also with AHL caliber chumps like Jooris, Chiasson, and Lazar. And even then, one of those stretches centering Gaudreau just happened to be a rough individual stretch for him period in terms of puck luck.
- He was never as good at faceoffs as he was this year, and yet this year he didn't play a lick of the position
- He only ever centered Tkachuk for about five games when Tkachuk was an 18 year old rookie still adjusting to the speed of the game. And even then, the winger opposite was Troy Brouwer.
- He hasn't seen top PP time since the old days of Bob Hartley
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I've often been beating on the drum that Bennett has never had a fair shake with quality linemates to truly see what he is capable of. He seems to get short stints but if it doesn't work out in a game or two then he's back down the lineup. I really think he needs a chance on the top line, perhaps at C. Or put Lindholm at C and Bennett on the wing. Give them 10+ games to build some chemistry and figure it out. This might be able to spread out some of that top end scoring as well. I also know he wouldn't put up points like Monahan but he can be effective when he's not doing that so his linemates still have plenty of opportunity. Maybe we don't see those big dramatic peaks and valleys throughout the season?
I'm sure the coaching staff has talked about this. We can't be the only ones thinking about it. I just wonder why they have never pulled the trigger and if maybe this playoff series is what does the trick.