Quote:
Originally Posted by ComixZone
You keep coming back and keep saying the same thing while not addressing some simple truths.
Sam Bennett's underlying numbers have been fairly strong for years, it just hasn't translated to points/goals due to horrid on-ice shooting % of his entire line. His entire line has been made up bad linemates for years. So bad that they were out of the league, being bought out, or are now Edmonton Oilers (hi James, Alex) leeching points off McDavid and Draisaitl.
The improvement in linemates alone will see Sam Bennett's strong underlying numbers translate to improved offensive performance, likely performance that lines up more closely to what those underlying numbers have told us for a while - that Sam Bennett isn't bad. The change to centre ice will also likely see his game improve because by the nature of the role - you're covering more ice and getting more touches of the puck (usually), something that should benefit what we've seen of Sam's game. "The same old Sam Bennett" has been the best player on his line every season since his rookie year ended. It would be foolish to remove the best part of the poor depth on a line - you should instead add to the best part you've got there. Do you think Sam Bennett actively made James Neal horrible? Or Mark Jankowski? Or Troy Brouwer? Brouwer and Neal were so bad they got punted out of the top-six because they were sinking those lines. You then asked Bennett to carry them when others couldn't. Mark Jankowski will likely be a PTO, if anything, next season.
I can't believe you bring up training camp when you ignore the playoffs as a small sample size. You're upside down and inside out. If the team does in fact throw Bennett on the 4th line wing with a non-NHL quality centre, yep he's going to struggle. Notice how Derek Ryan's 5v5 points dried up when he was cast onto the 4th line? Almost as if line-mates do in fact have an impact on performance.
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Yeah. I get a kick out of the “what if?” questions
We don’t need to even know the end of that question to know the answer.
If new information didn’t change the narrative, you can expect the same people will keep saying the same things.