Quote:
Originally Posted by yourbestfriend
I didn't cherry pick anything. That was literally the only GDT from the beginning of 2016/2017 season I could find using google. Someone else can go search for other GDT's from that time period and post those lineups. But from that thread (CGY vs CAR) Tkachuk - Stajan - Chiasson was a line for the first 4 games of the season before Chiasson and Versteeg were switched because Versteeg didn't do anything on the top line.
My argument was that if somehow Tkachuk can force himself up the lineup despite his linemates, then the linemate argument shouldn't be holding Bennett back either.
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Bennett had to displace Mikael Backlund or Sean Monahan to "move up the lineup".
Tkachuk had to displace who exactly? Lance Bouma? Who probably isn't in the NHL next season?
You are not remotely comparing apples to apples.
Gulutzan's usage of Bennett in his first season here was nothing short of baffling, from replacing him with Frolik on PP2 - for almost no reason when Bennett was actually working out - to stapling him to winger combinations that had no chance of working out (Gaudreau - Chiasson never worked with Monahan OR Bennett as the center, Versteeg - Brouwer had almost identical results with Monahan as the center, and by the time Versteeg-Bennett-Chiasson was finally established Bennett's season was already well foregone).