For all the "Bennett sucked here and it's his own fault" folks... the guy played center his whole life. Can you point to a time when we played him at his natural C position for more than a handful of games or a handful of minutes here and there?
Top-rated C prospect in the draft... we got ahold of him and turned him into a bottom-six winger. Did he get a few shifts with Johnny and Monny one year? He sure did... as a RW.
Succeeds as a C his whole life, sucks in Calgary as a LW/RW, excels again as a C in Florida.... but yeah, I mean it has to be all his fault right? Couldn't possibly be the fault of the only team that tried to make him a winger. Clearly all the other teams that played him at his natural position only got lucky that he played well for them.
I think one person here even said he just matured on his way to Florida, and was like... "this is my last chance, I better play better!"
That makes sense... I can see him sitting on the plane thinking, "I've been a top-six C everywhere I've gone except in Calgary where they made me a bottom-six winger. Florida's already told me they're giving me the #2C spot from day one. Gee, I sure hope I'm better at this top-six C role I'm getting than I was at that bottom-six W role I just had. I mean, I guess I have been a top-six C literally my entite career, so maybe this will be better for me? Gee, I just don't know. I mean, I sucked pretty bad in Calgary and that was 200% my own fault for being a horrible NHL player. I sure hope this change to a role I've only done for like 20 years turns out to be good!"
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