Quote:
Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix
They try him occasionally with better players but he brings them down. It would be a no brainer to play Sam as the 2L and move Chucky or Gaudreau to 1RW if it were that easy. Why don't they just do that? It would be like getting a free 40 point player.
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Well, if we are asking ‘why’ type questions...
Why did they put Bennett back on the wing of Jankowski when he seemed to perform better as C with Dube and Lucic?
Why did they try to turn Backlund in to a winger?
Why did they put Bennett / Lucic , etc. out down by a goal instead of calling a timeout and throwing back out Gaudreau et al. who had just scored?
Why did they deploy Buddy Robinson on the top line wing?
Why are the Flames playing dump and chase?
(Combining the above two, the consequence was a stupefying play I will never forget where Buddy Robinson dumped it in the corner for Gaudreau to go dig it out)
So yeah. It’s not like we don’t have a plethora of questions where we could point to ‘coaching IQ’
And people need to quit saying they try him with better linemates.
They don’t. The data is there and it is clear.
What would it even look like if they did give him some time at his natural position, C , with good wingers?
A lot of people complain about Monahan’s tenacity - well, given that Johnny likes to carry the puck, and Bennett plays a heavy game and can create space, given that Bennett was drafted as a C but has been asked to play wing, I think there is a good chance he could be quite successful in terms of complementary styles with Gaudreau and Lindholm.
Bennett is, after all, scoring even strength goals at the same rate as Monahan, with much, much worse linemates. He isn’t getting any assists with his main linemate Janko playing like a cream puff and shooting 5%.
70 points is a lot, but I don’t think it is even unreasonable. A motivated Bennett with good linemates and PP time could easily be 60 plus