Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathgod
I just wish people would cut it out with the "3 points" bullcrap.
Sam gets 0 powerplay time, limited minutes, and has played the majority of his minutes this season with scrub linemates. Put him on the top line and he scores 2 even strength goals in 4 games.
There's more to analyzing a player than just looking at his stat line and drawing hasty conclusions.
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That has been tried. When we actually attempt to discuss Bennett's skill set one of his defenders is certain to quickly jump to the points per 60 minutes played fallacy to show how good Sam is or how effective he could be, completely ignoring the fact that coach-after-coach-after-coach quickly realizes that Bennett cannot be trusted to amass the ice time needed to meet these lofty expectations. So let's give this one more try.
Observationally Sam Bennett, like all hockey players, is a culmination of his parts.
Sam's skating is pretty average. He doesn't have blinding speed or a second gear that catches defenders on their heels. He isn't overly agile or what you would call a water bug. While he doesn't spend as much time on his ass when he first came up he still isn't the most stable guy on his blades. His skating is average.
Pucks skills are pretty limited for Bennett. He's not a great stick handler and his go-to move is the toe drag. All too often Bennett will try to stick handle past a defender and end up losing the puck. His stick handling is way below average.
Bennett's passing skills are also way below average. Every now and then he makes one that is magical, but for the most part he struggles to make simple passes that don't miss his target or end up in someone's skates. His inability to distribute the puck is probably why he instead tries to beat multiple players on a rush.
Sam's shot is terrible. This is his worst skill IMO. Sam's shot struggles to break cellophane. Not only is it weak, but he has problems getting it off and has zero accuracy. There is a reason why the Sam Bennett high light videos are pretty much filled with deflections and jamming rebounds home, its because his shot is so poor.
Hockey IQ also holds Bennett back in a big way. The game is really too fast for him. He doesn't read plays and his anticipation is non-existent. More often than not Bennett skates into coverage or finds his way into the same piece of ice his line mate is already occupying. Finding the soft spot or creating open ice is a foreign concept to Bennett. He could get away with this in junior hockey where his motor could cover some of these flaws, but in the NHL he doesn't have that advantage. He needs to be smarter and read plays, which Sam just does very poorly.
So when you add all of these parts together you get a very substandard player that peaked in junior and has not developed beyond that level. Bennett's best tools are his motor and fearlessness, but he doesn't have the skill to play in a meaningful role with any level of consistency. For short bursts Bennett's motor allow him to have some success, but it is fleeting at best and he is quickly figured out. The sad thing is that if he had some form of hockey IQ his motor would make him the perfect defensive center. But his lack of instincts makes him horrible in that role as well.
Sam Bennett is the sum of his parts and not a very good hockey player. He tries hard but that is the extent of his skill set. Benny is a complimentary player at best, and to date the team has not found a situation where Bennett can be successful with any level of consistency. That's on the team, but it is also on Sam Bennett and his inability to make himself into a successful player in some shape or form.