Quote:
Originally Posted by TOfan
He wasn't a bad draft pick. He was the No.1 ranked skater by central scouting. There was a clear top-4 in that draft. I bet vast majority, or every, team in the league makes the same pick at that time.
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If he was the #1 ranked skater for that draft this means 3 other teams passed on him, and it doesn't change the fact that he was still a bad pick. At the time I certainly thought it was a good pick, but it turned out Bennett was a colossal bust for someone who should be an elite scorer taken at that point in a draft.
A franchise can't ruin a player alone, so blaming the Flames is way off base, especially when they've done a solid job with players like Tkachuk in somewhat similar circumstances.
Looking back on it, Bennett leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth for being unwilling to evolve into something more when it was clear his skill set was nowhere near top 6 NHL player level. As a player you'd have to be pretty dim to think you're still a high end talent (which he seemed to infer more than a few times) when you can't even hold the puck, score with a clean shot or execute basic passes in traffic.