Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
I agree, there are two Sam Bennetts. There's the one his fans and defenders see (40-50 point top six Bennett) and then there is the reality of Sam Bennett.
The reality about Sam Bennett is he has become the sum of his parts. Sam is not a top six player nor is he a player with any upside. What you see is what you get. Sam does not excel in any part of the game. NONE. He is an average skater. He's a below average puck handler and passer. He possesses a shot that struggles to break cellophane. He doesn't display a high level of instincts for the game and does not have a high hockey IQ. Sam doesn't use his line mates worth a damn and doesn't help them by making open ice. If we're being honest, Bennett peaked at 17 and has played at or below that level his whole career. The only reason he's been given opportunity is because of his draft pedigree.
Sam Bennett is not a good hockey player. Forget all the excuses and just look at the results, Sam is not a good player. He doesn't produce when played with skill players. He can't play a defensive role, because he's smart like potato. That's actually leads to a place where Sam is a clear leader. He's continually a leader amongst the forwards for the team's green jacket. The only area of the game he excels in is running around and hitting people, a role his body can't seem to take. He's been surpassed by other players on the depth chart and has watched his opportunities plummet. Sam is what Sam is, and it isn't a good player. I'm sure he's a fine upstanding citizen, a good team mate, and a genuinely good human being, but he is not a good hockey player.
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Can't say I disagree as harsh as that assessment is.
I don't see a player that lacks confidence. Quite the opposite in fact. I see a player that thinks he can still be an elite scorer and tries to do too much himself. He is a decent hitter, forechecker, good at crowding the net, and can be a pest to play against, but is not good enough on a consistent basis on the attack to warrant more than bottom 6 or bottom 3 ice-time. And while he is "good" at those things, he isn't elite enough to make up for the negatives. Plus he can't seem to do those things without taking momentum killing penalties. And this might be confirmation bias when watching games, but is there a forward on the team that goes offside more than him? As far as centers on the team go, I would take Lindholm, Monahan, Backlund, and Ryan over him every day.
I think the worst thing that happened to him was going right from junior to the NHL. He should have kept developing in junior and the minors. Looking at that 1st round in 2014, there are some pretty successful players that either went back to junior or the minors before becoming NHL regulars. For whatever reason, they thought Bennett was too good for that. Sam Reinhart, Draisaitl, Fabbri, Pastrnak, Larkin, Nylander, Ehlers, and Tuch all went back for some development before before being thrown into the NHL.
I think Conroy's comment about management always seeing him as a center, although coaches didn't want to play him there, is very telling. It tells me that that management was trying to wedge him in even if the coaches didn't feel he was ready for the grind.