Sam Bennett at center - Why I Do Not Believe It Was A Failure

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Way to revive this echo chamber of Sam Bennett awesomeness. This postseason has done nothing more than upped the trade value.

Can't wait until the thread gets bumped 40 games into the regular season when the laments for Playoff Bennett are a thing for yet another year.

Yes, the individual player threads on this fan site seem to lean towards liking the player.

Hoping for a player to revert to their old ways so that you “were right”... awesome.

[robertsfanatic]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Even if the odd man out is Mikael Backlund or Sean Monahan, at this point the team needs to see what they have in Sam Bennett.

I agree with your argument except for the quoted part, how would losing Backlund or Monahan for Bennett be any kind of upgrade?

I can understand if you said Jankowski or Ryan would be the odd men out but your 1 and 2 centers?

[SportsJunky]

I have slowly come around on Bennett at C. I think if he can find some stability with Dube or someone else on a line and he is allowed to remain at center right from camp next year, Calgary may have found a nice top 9 center.

Kudos to posters here that have stuck to their guns on Bennett. Looks like they were right.

[flamesgod]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Way to revive this echo chamber of Sam Bennett awesomeness. This postseason has done nothing more than upped the trade value.

Can't wait until the thread gets bumped 40 games into the regular season when the laments for Playoff Bennett are a thing for yet another year.

And I can’t wait till he makes posters like you look silly. He hasn’t been utilized properly. Part of that maturation. The other part is bad coaching. He will be better next year if he’s used properly.

[foofighter15]

if Bennett is staying at centre I can't see it being with Lucic for the entire season. Looch can't play like that for 82 games.
Next year I want to see Pelltier - Bennett - Dube. That line will be deadly

[Lanny_McDonald]

What the team believes - and what that is ultimately determines the outcome - that Sam Bennett is more the player we see for an abbreviated period during the post season, or the player we see during the regular season, then the decision is easy. Bennett has shown that he might be able to contribute in the third line center role (with Lucic taking the draws). He does not have the offensive upside or talent to play in the top six, and definitely does not have the ability to win a faceoff when it matters, so his effectiveness is limited to that crash and bang role. That means he can't replace Monahan in any shape or fashion. If the team believes that they need to improve on Monahan, then the natural target is Backlund for replacement. He has a fairly hefty salary that is not suited for the third line. He also doesn't have that offensive consistency to be the second line guy. So if Bennett is the answer to a question, it is the third line. That is where he can re-invent himself and contribute to winner. Anything higher is people really kidding themselves. Again, this is all on what the team believes. They have to weigh his history and his performance to determine the length of rope they are willing to give him. They've seen this movie before, so I think if they have any optimism it is well guarded.

Just a reminder of a major deficiency for Bennett. Faceoff winning percentages in his 9 games of awesomeness. 28.3% OZ, 50.0% NZ, 46.2 DZ For comparison, Monahan: 59.3% OZ, 51.9% NZ, 57.1 DZ. Lucic: 72.2% OZ, 33.3% NZ, 87.5 DZ.

[flamesgod]

Originally Posted by New Era

What the team believes - and what that is ultimately determines the outcome - that Sam Bennett is more the player we see for an abbreviated period during the post season, or the player we see during the regular season, then the decision is easy. Bennett has shown that he might be able to contribute in the third line center role (with Lucic taking the draws). He does not have the offensive upside or talent to play in the top six, and definitely does not have the ability to win a faceoff when it matters, so his effectiveness is limited to that crash and bang role. That means he can't replace Monahan in any shape or fashion. If the team believes that they need to improve on Monahan, then the natural target is Backlund for replacement. He has a fairly hefty salary that is not suited for the third line. He also doesn't have that offensive consistency to be the second line guy. So if Bennett is the answer to a question, it is the third line. That is where he can re-invent himself and contribute to winner. Anything higher is people really kidding themselves. Again, this is all on what the team believes. They have to weigh his history and his performance to determine the length of rope they are willing to give him. They've seen this movie before, so I think if they have any optimism it is well guarded.

Lucic was taking the face offs because Bennett tore his tricep.

[Enoch Root]

I agree that Bennett and Dube make a good pair. They play the game the same way and both like to use the whole ice surface (no up and down the wing here).

There are two ways to build a winning team: better top-end talent, or more depth. If they can elevate a 3rd line, they are going to look a lot better.

Not sure that Lucic can play at that pace all year, but we'll see I guess.

The other point to consider here is that, if Bennett settles in to the role, Ryan could be movable if you need the cap space.

[flamesgod]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I agree that Bennett and Dube make a good pair. They play the game the same way and both like to use the whole ice surface (no up and down the wing here).

There are two ways to build a winning team: better top-end talent, or more depth. If they can elevate a 3rd line, they are going to look a lot better.

Not sure that Lucic can play at that pace all year, but we'll see I guess.

The other point to consider here is that, if Bennett settles in to the role, Ryan could be movable if you need the cap space.

I’d like to see an upgrade to the Flames top line. Something like:

Gaudreau Monahan Hall
Tkachuk Backlund Lindholm
Dube Bennett Mangiapagne

[Jiri Hrdina]

I think people are being light on Hall's contract. I think he's 9-9.5M

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think people are being light on Hall's contract. I think he's 9-9.5M

Between his position and the flat cap I just don’t see how he pulls in more than Duchene.

[ricosuave]

Originally Posted by flamesgod

Lucic was taking the face offs because Bennett tore his tricep.

and he was good at them, surprisingly. so why didn't/doesn't he do them more often?

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

and he was good at them, surprisingly. so why didn't/doesn't he do them more often?

because Bennett is actually pretty solid at face-offs, but yeah - Looch was a freak on the dot this post-season - definitely something you don't ignore going forward.

[Wood]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think people are being light on Hall's contract. I think he's 9-9.5M

I believe Hall when he says all he wants at this point is to win

If he wants to be on a winning team he's going to have to take a reasonable contract and avoid putting his new club in a situation like Toronto

With the flat cap, the uncertainty this off-season, and Halls desire to be a part of a winning team I can see him taking a fair contract

[Jiri Hrdina]

Every free agent says he wants to win. And when he signs with whatever team, he will say he signed there because of the chance to win.
It's meaningless baffle-gab.

[Poe969]

I think the roster will look different next year. Backlund will be traded, Monahan will be #2C and Bennett will be #3C and Ryan #4C

[Poe969]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Every free agent says he wants to win. And when he signs with whatever team, he will say he signed there because of the chance to win.
It's meaningless baffle-gab.

Every free agent says they signed wherever because they want to win and the team has a good chance blah blah blah.

It's just like garbage day interviews, I want to stay here, this place is great, the team is going in the right direction.

These guys have a list of things they read from and just about all of it can't be taken at face value.

[bubbsy]

I really want Bennett to succeed, so I am definitely an optimist when it comes to #93. Loved his play in the playoffs. The kind of play every team would consider to be in high demand.

That being said, the playoff game is just so different. I am really unclear if Bennett can be an effective forward in the regular season. If the flames are going to keep him around, a) they must keep him at C, b) they gotta give him high end line mates, and 2nd Line minutes, even when he struggles.

I think the kid needs to find some confidence during the season and ride that wave to establish himself a bit. That means giving him quality line mates that are expected to produce, and give him the leash to succeed, fail, learn from it, and grow.

If the flames organization can't provide the 2 points listed above, they might as well take the spike in value from "playoff Sam Bennett" and move him.

[Robbob]

I think Bennett as the opportunity to grab that 3rd C. He still needs to grab it from Ryan. Ryan is a bit of a question mark for me. Ryan will be 34 this December when in all likelihood the season kicks off again. I am a bit on the fence as he historically has done a lot of the little things right and him with Dube and Lucic was a successful line.

With him going into the last year of his contract a decision needs to be made whether to keep or move on from him to clear up cap space. If you don't need salary I think he is a very effective 4th line centre/PK specialist. Hopefully some kids push to help bolster the 4th line, but Bennett needs to be effective enough to push him to the 4th.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by New Era

What the team believes - and what that is ultimately determines the outcome - that Sam Bennett is more the player we see for an abbreviated period during the post season, or the player we see during the regular season, then the decision is easy. Bennett has shown that he might be able to contribute in the third line center role (with Lucic taking the draws). He does not have the offensive upside or talent to play in the top six, and definitely does not have the ability to win a faceoff when it matters, so his effectiveness is limited to that crash and bang role. That means he can't replace Monahan in any shape or fashion. If the team believes that they need to improve on Monahan, then the natural target is Backlund for replacement. He has a fairly hefty salary that is not suited for the third line. He also doesn't have that offensive consistency to be the second line guy. So if Bennett is the answer to a question, it is the third line. That is where he can re-invent himself and contribute to winner. Anything higher is people really kidding themselves. Again, this is all on what the team believes. They have to weigh his history and his performance to determine the length of rope they are willing to give him. They've seen this movie before, so I think if they have any optimism it is well guarded.

Just a reminder of a major deficiency for Bennett. Faceoff winning percentages in his 9 games of awesomeness. 28.3% OZ, 50.0% NZ, 46.2 DZ For comparison, Monahan: 59.3% OZ, 51.9% NZ, 57.1 DZ. Lucic: 72.2% OZ, 33.3% NZ, 87.5 DZ.

He played very well for ten games.

Many of us think that they should investigate what that means in a regular season by giving him the role he had in the playoffs.

I don't see too many suggesting he should take over the second line to start camp.

But picking on his face offs? Bennett was ahead of Backlund and nestled right into the mix with Derek Ryan, only Monahan and Lucic were above the 50% point.

If you look at the the last three regular seasons Sam Bennett is 2nd to only Ryan at 53% in the dot.

Face offs aren't a Sam Bennett issue ... when his arm isn't mangled anyway.

Honestly don't get why anyone would want to throw cold water on the chance a disappointing high pick may have righted the ship and may have a bigger contribution than fourth line energy player going forward.