I'm no expert but I think Bennett has established himself as a below-average offensive player in the NHL. He has speed, and is decent along the wall, but he doesn't really have the skill to create chances, the vision to make his teammates better, or the finish to put it in himself. He generates offence by being a wrecking ball in the o-zone and picking up scraps around the net. That works in the playoffs but less so during the regular season. I also don't see that changing regardless of where you play him or who you play him with -- the sample size is big enough for me and there have been enough opportunities to show what he can do at this level. I think it's obvious Dube and Mangiapane have both passed him on the depth chart.
The one area that he did have some success with in the bubble was on PP2 -- it might be worth using him instead of Lucic in front of the net. But five-on-five, I think he is what he is. It would also be nice if he could develop some PK skills -- it might be a way to get him some more minutes without the pressure to generate offence.
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Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
Honestly the biggest mistake is that I don't think he's actually gotten a run of 10 consecutive games with the better players on this team since his rookie season playing with Backlund.
And I think that hurts him because then he either tries to do too much in order to make an impression (usually taking bad penalties in the process, example Game 2), or he tries to not take any risks in order to not make a mistake and plays too timid (the last three games)
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He is starting his 6th season in the NHL. If he hasn't figured out how to play on that edge, then I'm not sure putting him with better or more consistent linemates will make any difference for him.