Sam Bennett Value: Have the Flames held on TOO long? OR is he awesome?

[Flash Walken]

wrong thread

[Love]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Weird.

Frolik has exceptional hockey sense.

he isn't the most physically gifted or skilled player, but he thinks the game so well he is a huge asset to any team he has been on.

I don’t agree. I think Backlund has exceptional hockey sense, Frolik a notch below. Hockey sense is hard to quantify but just by watching them play, Frolik is a very by the book player. He knows what he has to do and he makes sure he does it every shift. Coaches and teams love those kind of players. Backlund has the ability to control shifts at a time with his decision making and plays. He can slow down the tempo of the game. Now that’s pretty arbitrary reasoning, but it’s the best i can do.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by The Boy Wonder

Honestly would be nice to just see him given a chance in a top6 role. It would require switching either him or tkachuk to RW since he can't seem to get bumped up top 6 ever and he never gets a full stretch of time say 5 games with competent line mates. Brouwer is awful and is almost solely responsible for a lot of bennetts hardships. Not to mention he's the guy that gets moved up the lineup when there's an opening

Honestly would be nice to see him earn a spot in the top 6.

He was aweful against Chicago the other night and next to invisible tonight. Aside from a spike after his move to the wing he has been consistently bad all year.

Here's to hoping the Flames can make a move to make the third line a stronger unit and prop Bennett up because apparently he needs it. I'm not seeing many encouraging signs here, in fact it's looking pretty grim.

Seems like many want to say Bennett is a victim of circumstance, but the player has to accept responsibility for his own play. He creates very little for himself or his linemates. To think some supposed linemate or a new coach is going show up and sprinkle some magic dust on Sam and he's going to suddenly turn into the second coming of Doug Gilmour is a little misguided. It's looking more and more like what we see is what we get.

Again, Hope I'm dead wrong here. I'll gladly admit to it when the time comes. All the moves the Flames have made seem to suggest they also thought Bennett was going to emerge. If they thought he was going to be this ineffective, they would not have traded the picks/future assets they did.

[Darth Tkachuk]

Be patient with him. I think the only reason to loose patience is based on where he was picked in his draft year. At least BT didn't oilers him, and pay for "potential". He's being payed what he's worth, and things can only get better (cause they sure as hell can't get much worse). I think he needs to figure out what's going on this off season to turn his career into what everyone thought it would be. It's like he's lost his mojo.

[DeluxeMoustache]

It’s in his head.

http://calgarysun.com/sports/hockey/...-things-around

He is 21. If the Flames were not woeful and rebuilding when he was a rookie he likely would not have stuck.

I said it somewhere else, look at December - he and Janko playing with Jagr in the few games Jagr was healthy, they were arguably the best line on the ice for that stretch of games.

It’s like Weekend at Bernie’s. Two kids that are, I suppose, finding their way, and not terribly watchable left to their own devices. You pair them with a guy who is like a carton of milk whose date has passed, and all of a sudden these guys are a lot more interesting and compelling.

I think that he has the character and compete that need channeling and opportunity. He could be successful if put in the position to be successful. Being able to play up the the level of elite linemates can be worthwhile. Ferland does this. He is either the complementary piece to Johnny and Monny or a 4th liner.

[GullFoss]

Id love to see a line of: Bennett - Janko - Zuccarello

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

It’s in his head.

http://calgarysun.com/sports/hockey/...-things-around

He is 21. If the Flames were not woeful and rebuilding when he was a rookie he likely would not have stuck.

I said it somewhere else, look at December - he and Janko playing with Jagr in the few games Jagr was healthy, they were arguably the best line on the ice for that stretch of games.

It’s like Weekend at Bernie’s. Two kids that are, I suppose, finding their way, and not terribly watchable left to their own devices. You pair them with a guy who is like a carton of milk whose date has passed, and all of a sudden these guys are a lot more interesting and compelling.

I think that he has the character and compete that need channeling and opportunity. He could be successful if put in the position to be successful. Being able to play up the the level of elite linemates can be worthwhile. Ferland does this. He is either the complementary piece to Johnny and Monny or a 4th liner.

not only is this article a piece of fluff, it was written in November. So far, you would have to say Bennett hasn't figured much out between then & now. If anything this is an indictment on Bennett. What would one expect bennetts former coach to say publicly, 'he sucks'?'

[Drunk Uncle]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Id love to see a line of: Bennett - Janko - Zuccarello

This would be amazing! IMO one of the key ingredients missing from that line is speed. Add Zuccarello and you get a little jam and a lot of speed with a skill upgrade over anyone who's played there to date.

I'm not sure the Rangers would take Gillies for Zuccarello straight up but I'd sure be trying to push that agenda if I was Tre.

[IgiTang]

The inconsistency, the stupid penalties, the pouting and the look of being completely miserable on the bench.. anyone else seeing this from Bennett?

With that, does anyone else get the impression that Bennett may not be happy playing for the Flames? Pure speculation on my part but it’s a legit question that I’ve been wondering for a while now..

[taynton]

He's had a tough gig - missed most of his rookie year with injury, then has been stuck fairly deep in the depth chart with Monahan and Backlund ahead at centre and Gaudreau and Tkachuk ahead on LW. Probably would have benefited having an extra year in the minors, but his progress is actually ahead of Backlund's at this point in his career.

Second line centre next year: Backlund @ $5M or give Bennett a chance @ $2M? Extra $3M could go a long way in improving depth on the 3rd and 4th lines, along with cap space to re-sign Thachuk in 2019/20.

[djsFlames]

Oh man, repetitive topic that didn't need it's own thread.
"Should have picked x. Should've traded for x. Hindsiiiight."
"He's still x age. He hasn't got an opportunity. It's not him!"

[Winsor_Pilates]

He seems more likely to turn into a solid 2 way, 3rd line player than an offensive top 6 at this point.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, just not reflective of his draft position. A Backlund type mold is his max potential IMO.

[Timbo]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

The inconsistency, the stupid penalties, the pouting and the look of being completely miserable on the bench.. anyone else seeing this from Bennett?

With that, does anyone else get the impression that Bennett may not be happy playing for the Flames? Pure speculation on my part but it’s a legit question that I’ve been wondering for a while now..

Bennett is not unhappy playing for the Flames I think he’s unhappy with the way he is playing for the Flames.
He is frustrated with himself and is lacking confidence.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Oh man, repetitive topic that didn't need it's own thread.
"Should have picked x. Should've traded for x. Hindsiiiight."
"He's still x age. He hasn't got an opportunity. It's not him!"

and then the age old question of having to ask why you bothered to open the thread and post, if you have no interest in this repetitive topic?

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Have you seen bennett on the power play?

There's a reason he plays less than minute per game there, and it's not because of a conspiracy to keep him from producing.

Yes, yes I have.

His puck retrieval on the PP is very strong. His zone entry seems pretty damn good as well. He does a lot of things right on the PP.

I get that you are really down on Bennett, but your rationalization of Bennett is clearly becoming absurd. Kid is doing a tonne of things right out there (see Bingo's post). Relax. Kid is 21. There are a lot of other higher range prospects that took time to develop, and it hasn't been like the Flames have placed him in an easy situation to succeed.

I am still predicting that the existence of this thread will bring some laughter down the road with so many definitive statements.

[Flamefan1]

Bennett and Jankowski kept the puck in NJs end for close to a minute with less than 2 minute left in the game. They played a big role in preventing NJ from scoring a late goal.

[Flamefan1]

Bennett will play a big role on this team. We should not be talking about trading this guy or we will quickly become another Edmonton Oiler team (see Hall, Schultz and Eberle).

[Flamefan1]

Bennett was one of the best Flames in last springs playoffs and I think he will do the same this year.

[TheIronMaiden]

I think that trading a player who will probably become a scoring winger for an aging scoring winger is very near sighted. This team is not a cup contender yet, and they shouldn't be forced into a position where they have to act like a contender. There is no quick fix in the NHL. I think that patience is very important for the management, and the fans.

[Flamefan1]

Brouwer has to play somewhere so unfortunately the third line does the least harm. Brouwer cannot play on the 4th line with Stajan as this line due to lack of speed would get stuck in their own end. So in the meantime the production on line 3 will be affected by Brouwer despite Brouwers recent improved play.