Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
Lets not forget, Sam had many a turn in Froliks spot with Backlund last year and was not a very good fit(hence the Walsh tweet iirc)...so its not like it is some magic elixir and we all know what that looked like.
He was tried on the top line...failed.
Tried on line 2...failed.
Found a niche role on line 3 late in the year.......so...3rd liner? 27 pts is a 3rd line player offensive output in this league. And enough of the excessive PP time for him...he is simply unable to bring anything in that regard.
Simple.
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I don't think it's that simple.
I think the basic counting stats of goals and assists are certainly simple, and for whatever reason the player doesn't finish and with that he can't hold a top six role.
No point in debating that.
But good things happen when Bennett is on the ice, which makes things less simple and more of a head scratcher as to where he fits.
The Flames had 12 line combinations that had more than 50 minutes of ice time together this past season. Eight of those combinations had positive expected goal totals.
Sam Bennett was on three of the positive combinations and none of the negative trios.
His second line work was actually good, as the trio had a 55% expected goal split (59% with Frolik), but actuals were 67% with Frolik and 55% with Bennett ... pucks just went in with 3M.
So what do you do with this guy? Will he ever produce? Is he a play driving compliment player in the top six or a really good third liner that can move up in a pinch?
Tough guy to figure out.