Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
The Flames 100% had the personal to win a cup. Tkachuk/Bennett actually are a first line forward pairing of a cup winning team. The arguments about drowning in mediocrity for decades, due to lack of high end drafting, kind of go out the window. The Flames spent the last decade in mediocrity because they refused to play Bennett and Tkachuk together in the top 6 and Monahan got injured.
Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm
Tkachuk-Bennett-X
This is a potential Stanley Cup winning combo. On top of that they had a Norris winning d-man in there too. Coaching and management were the issue, not drafting.
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And even that isn't entirely true.
Bennett and Tkachuk spent 20 less minutes together than Tkachuk and Lindholm.
They tried it. It never worked.
Bennett was the fifth most frequent linemate for Tkachuk from 2017-2020 ... he was on average 55.6% xGF% with the top four but only 51.03% with Bennett.
They just didn't click.