Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus
If you're pinning significant offensive replacement on Bennett you should probably re-evaluate. He might bring the intensity, but he has certainly shown no ability to finish anywhere near the level of a top 6 player or first unit PP guy, let alone a star like Tkachuk and it has nothing to do with deployment.
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Bennett finished at roughly the same rate as Backlund and Frolik last year, actually. Even with one massive blip of a year in 2017-18 his career shooting percentage isn't too far behind Gaudreau either. Obviously less ice time will result in less shots, of course, but per minute his shot rates have typically aligned with Gaudreau as well at ES.
Now first unit PP, maybe he's not a direct fill-in for Tkachuk's designated role. Maybe you need to rotate Lindholm or Monahan down there as the deflection/rebound guy, a smart PP coach should be flexible enough and able to figure out whose skillsets are suited for which roles. As a LHS, Tkachuk is not the rarest commodity on our PP, Lindholm is (but even there, Ryan, Andersson, and Czarnik are very skilled options). Tkachuk is an extremely important piece but it would take a Gulutzian effort for him to singlehandedly tank our PP by not showing up.
He's not Stamkos but he's not a stonehands either.