I think that Barkov is a big part of what makes Bennett work. Not directly, but Barkov is so good that it spreads out the teams they are facing too thin, leaving room for Bennett to be a bull in a china shop. Teams cannot focus on Bennett without Barkov's line taking advantage of them, and Barkov is so good at shutting other teams down and frustrating them.
Without an elite first line center on the team with him, I don't think Bennett will perform nearly as well. He would probably feel like a frustrating player who tries to do too much himself, but keeps getting burned for it and taking stupid penalties.
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