Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden
Fancy stats people what do the numbers say about Sam Bennett's defensive abilities? Also could you please explain it like I am 5 because I'm not great with numbers  . |
As a center, the fancy stats typically had him as one of our better defensive players. In 2016-17 I believe only Stajan had better shot suppression, and Stajan was iirc seeing easier competition. To my eyes this lined up with his strengths - pressuring in the neutral zone, supporting his D behind and in front of the net with his hard-on-puck-and-body style, and being strong on zone exits with his vision and shiftiness. However his shot generation numbers suffered, which one may attribute to the lack of chemistry with slower, unskilled wingers like Troy Brouwer. The Versteeg-Bennett-Chiasson line had pretty strong all around numbers though
As a winger, it's actually been the opposite. The team typically gives up a lot of chances with him on the ice. This makes sense as he's a less natural North-South player than a guy like Frolik, and additionally it probably highlights the defensive weaknesses of his most common center, Mark Jankowski in the same areas Bennett excels at. Generally this line, wherher with Jagr or Czarnik, has excelled most by simply out-offense-ing the opposition. I'd also wager Bennett's propensity to overextend as the F1 on the forecheck gets him into trouble.