Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
A lot of that time on the top line was when the team was showcasing him before the trade. He played well in that time and Sutter lamented the trade. The real missed opportunity was not pairing him and Tkachuk though...
|
Not really. He said a couple nice things about Bennett before the trade but he was pretty nonchalant about it afterwards.
BTW, Bennett wasn't a healthy scratch in Sutter's first game (March 11, 2021), so it wasn't a matter of copying Ward's lineup. Whoever said that was making it up. He played and got a couple points in that game. In fact, in hindsight I think he wasn't scratched, just benched, by Sutter.
He definitely played better, especially in the last 4 games under Sutter - the first game he had a couple assists, but then went ice cold until 4 games before the trade. Sutter still played him mainly third line (also 4th) and on the wing. Again, the issue was the makeup of the team as far as position went.