Has the OHL trade deadline past? I could see the Flames conditionally sending him back to Junior if traded to a contender.
I was wondering about this option as well. I would think it would be difficult for Doug Gilmour, the two are pretty tight by all accounts but they haven't had him all year anyway and the odds that he'll be back next year are miniscule.
If I knew he was going to a team like Oshawa to have a run at the memorial cup I'd choose to send him back down.
I don't see the benefit of rushing an 18 year old to the pros when he just had a significant operation on his shoulder.
Let him finish off the last month in the OHL where the average weight of players is closer to 160 pounds than the 200 in the AHL.
Kingston won't be going far this year, so he can join ADK to end the season and playoffs.
You're exactly right, there really is no benefit. A seasoned pro would be hard pressed to step into the playoff race after such a major injury and succeed. Bennett would be set up to fail if he was thrown into the fire. The last thing the Flames are going to need is passengers if they have ambitions of challenging for the playoffs.
Play out the string in the OHL and join ADK for the playoffs is definitely the best option I can see. At least at that rate he gets time to get himself into game shape in a familiar environment before he takes a big step into pro. The last thing we need is to have him get crunched by someone 50lbs heavier than him right away and get re-injured.
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Last edited by Hot_Flatus; 01-24-2015 at 01:05 PM.
I don't see the harm in allowing him to play a couple of games before making a decision on him for the balance of the season. He did make the team out of camp, so I think to just dispatch him to the OHL would not be sending the right message to him. He earned the right to be here before the injury. That doesn't mean you throw him out on the first line for those games, but allow him the opportunity to play.
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This Australian league doesn't pay their players. And you have to apply to join the team as a non-australian. I bet he could score 10 points a game. Imagine what it would do for his confidence! This gets better every time I look at it.
Give Bennett a backpack and send him over and point him towards a backpackers shuttle from the airport. Play his season, get some sun, come to training camp riding high. No surfing though (can be tough on your shoulder ... ask Luc Longley).
Why would a coach that has worked so hard to establish an identity of a hard working, never quit and fully accountable team atmosphere make that statement because he knew he did not have to follow through with it?
It's easy to say "he would have had a spot on the roster" when you don't have to worry about answering the question of "at whose expense?"
Of the Flames 23 man opening-night roster, Gaudreau was the only player who didn't require waivers to be sent down. If Bennett stays, does Gaudreau go down? Would Treliving have waived Setoguchi or McGrattan that early in the season to make room for Bennett?
We're seeing the same thing with the goalies. Ortio deserves to stay in Calgary, but there's a good chance he stays down until Treliving can move either Ramo or Hiller.
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I think i'm onto something here with this Australian league. It wouldn't cost much for the organization to set a team up, send the young guys down under with a backpack pointed towards the hostel.
We can start the Birdsville franchise. Call it the Birdsville Road Melters
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I don't see the harm in allowing him to play a couple of games before making a decision on him for the balance of the season. He did make the team out of camp, so I think to just dispatch him to the OHL would not be sending the right message to him. He earned the right to be here before the injury. That doesn't mean you throw him out on the first line for those games, but allow him the opportunity to play.
I'm not so sure Bennett made the team out of camp, except for some fancy administrative juggling. He was injured for the last week of camp. The last game Bennett played was the October 2nd win against the Jets, after only playing in the September 26th loss to the Canucks. Those were his only two pre-season appearances based on the NHL box scores. I think his shoulder injury was well known prior to that Jets game and the team was monitoring it. I think the only reason Bennett remained on the roster to start the season was so the Flames could control his surgery and rehab. If they had released him to the OHL they would not have had the same level of control over the process. Bennett 'made the club,' but was then immediately put on IR so he could have his should done.
I don't think you take a young kid that hasn't played a NHL game and push him into the lineup after rehabbing a shoulder injury. You have the best players in the world, playing at mid-season form. Bennett will already be behind these guys because of his age and experience factor. Add in the rust of not playing and you put the player in a situation where he is likely to fail and run the risk of being hit and re-injured. I could see the Flames sending him to the AHL for a conditioning stint to see what he could do, but the smart move is to send him back to junior and see him next training camp. Bennett is not going to be the difference between the Flames making or missing the playoffs this year. Don't pull an Oiler and force a kid into a position where he will not be successful.
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I don't see the harm in allowing him to play a couple of games before making a decision on him for the balance of the season. He did make the team out of camp, so I think to just dispatch him to the OHL would not be sending the right message to him. He earned the right to be here before the injury. That doesn't mean you throw him out on the first line for those games, but allow him the opportunity to play.
This is exactly how I see it playing out. He will get in a few games and he very well may get 2 weeks in the AHL as well. You do not lose a job because of an injury if you belong to a well run franchise in any professional sport.
It's easy to say "he would have had a spot on the roster" when you don't have to worry about answering the question of "at whose expense?"
Of the Flames 23 man opening-night roster, Gaudreau was the only player who didn't require waivers to be sent down. If Bennett stays, does Gaudreau go down? Would Treliving have waived Setoguchi or McGrattan that early in the season to make room for Bennett?
We're seeing the same thing with the goalies. Ortio deserves to stay in Calgary, but there's a good chance he stays down until Treliving can move either Ramo or Hiller.
I'm not so sure Bennett made the team out of camp, except for some fancy administrative juggling. He was injured for the last week of camp. The last game Bennett played was the October 2nd win against the Jets, after only playing in the September 26th loss to the Canucks. Those were his only two pre-season appearances based on the NHL box scores. I think his shoulder injury was well known prior to that Jets game and the team was monitoring it. I think the only reason Bennett remained on the roster to start the season was so the Flames could control his surgery and rehab. If they had released him to the OHL they would not have had the same level of control over the process. Bennett 'made the club,' but was then immediately put on IR so he could have his should done.
I don't think you take a young kid that hasn't played a NHL game and push him into the lineup after rehabbing a shoulder injury. You have the best players in the world, playing at mid-season form. Bennett will already be behind these guys because of his age and experience factor. Add in the rust of not playing and you put the player in a situation where he is likely to fail and run the risk of being hit and re-injured. I could see the Flames sending him to the AHL for a conditioning stint to see what he could do, but the smart move is to send him back to junior and see him next training camp. Bennett is not going to be the difference between the Flames making or missing the playoffs this year. Don't pull an Oiler and force a kid into a position where he will not be successful.
Actually, the reason they should try him out and see where he is, is precisely because he might just be exactly that.
For you to say he is not, like it's a fact, is silly. They are a bubble team right now and adding his talent, energy and tenacity just might be the difference. Unlikely, sure. But what on earth do they have to lose in seeing?
Yes he is 18 and coming off shoulder surgery. So obviously you tread carefully, move slowly, and shut things down if there are any concerns. Also, it should go without saying that if he doesn't show - in advance - that he has the health, strength, and game necessary to be successful, then it's a non-starter. But if he keeps passing all the tests, then it only makes sense to keep going.
To blindly and stubbornly dismiss him outright with a prior-made decision that ignores how he is actually doing, is managerial failure.
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For purely selfish reasons I would like to see Bennett play in the NHL this year.
However, due to injury I think the best thing for the kid is to go to juniors, finish the year there, get stronger and come up next season.
St.L Blues do not win playoff series... If they catch Nashville the #8 seed looks to be a primo upset spot
Flames will play within the division in the first round.
But regardless of how their recent playoff history appears, I wouldn't want any part of the Blues in the post season this year. They look much better than last year, and the Flames have not matched-up against them very well over the past couple of years. These things have a tendency to correct themselves in due course; there was a time when Pavel Datsyuk was widely considered as a non-factor in the post season, and then in the space of a calendar year or two was a Conn Smythe calibre player.
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Just because a young player is good enough to crack an NHL roster doesn't mean it's in his or the team's long-term interest to play in the NHL right away. RNH was good enough to crack the Oilers's lineup straight out of the draft. But does anyone now really think the Oilers made the right decision by playing him in the NHL right away? I'm confident Treliving is smarter than that.
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