Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Derek Ryan is working on his third straight +35-point season. Sam Bennett hasn't hit the 30-point mark since his rookie year. I like him and I think he can be a middle-six player in the long term, but you are badly underrating Ryan to make this point.
Derek Ryan is NOT a fourth line centre.
|
Bennett supporters are in a bind because, in order to boost their guy, they have to denigrate another player higher on the depth chart. Before they would have been saying he needed to play top six, but with Mangiapane lighting it up and Backlund back at C, that argument is gone. So Ryan is the new guy to aim at.
The answer isn't putting Bennett with Lucic and Dube instead of Ryan, since that line seems to work well together. The answer is to get Bennett better wingers and have another third line. Jankowski isn't cutting it and the team can do better than Reider or Rinaldo. Maybe Czarnik at RW?