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

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

You are probably right, but I will say this: I remain much higher on Bennett than I do on Puljujärvi because of how many positive flashes of skill and instinct we continue to see from Bennett. Since he entered the League, and in all his time in the AHL Puljujärvi just looks lost and bewildered. He consistently looks like he has no clue where to be or what to do, and I have serious doubts that he can be serious and focused enough to overcome that at the NHL level. I think most of Bennett’s issues have to do with overthinking and getting into his own way. Puljujärvi on the other hand does not seem capable at all of thinking the game at a high enough level period.

I would agree Bennett has physically matured a lot already.

Draft:



Now:



You can clearly see, just from the face shot, he looks way thicker in the neck and shoulders. He's balding heavily. At 200+ lbs he's definitely physically matured. He just needs to play smarter.

[Strange Brew]

Balding heavily?

[Cactus Jack]

That´d be a great username

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by blankall

Great beard, though.

[MoneyGuy]

[/QUOTE]

Great beard, though.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

You are probably right, but I will say this: I remain much higher on Bennett than I do on Puljujärvi because of how many positive flashes of skill and instinct we continue to see from Bennett. Since he entered the League, and in all his time in the AHL Puljujärvi just looks lost and bewildered. He consistently looks like he has no clue where to be or what to do, and I have serious doubts that he can be serious and focused enough to overcome that at the NHL level. I think most of Bennett’s issues have to do with overthinking and getting into his own way. Puljujärvi on the other hand does not seem capable at all of thinking the game at a high enough level period.

You really watch a lot of Oiler hockey. Do you only watch when they’re awful, which is most of the time, or did you watch a lot two years ago too?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

You really watch a lot of Oiler hockey. Do you only watch when they’re awful, which is most of the time, or did you watch a lot two years ago too?

In do. It is a lot easier to watch the Oilers when they are awful, which fortunately for me is most of the time.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Balding heavily?

Lol. Maybe I could have left that out, but his hair is going quickly and he's only 22. From someone with a similar hairline, I can tell you that losing the ability to style the front is kind of lame...

If you click on the photo on this site, they've actually updated it every year, and you can see how much he changes each year:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...php?pid=160252

Maybe it's just the beard, but he seems to age 5 years, every year.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by blankall

He's balding heavily.

Don't be silly. Bennett isn't going bald, he's just taller than his hair. His hair used to be on top of his head, now his head is on top of his hair.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Look I agree with you. I bumped it with positive information. I think those that a) give up too early are doomed for failure as organizations and b) if you evaluate players based on how you got them you miss the big picture.

Bennett at 4th overall is irrelevant. He is what he is. Hanging an anchor around his neck that you don't apply to other young players is terrible asset management.

Good point, Pretty sure if Tkachuk had to learn a new position playing center and play with the same line-mates as Bennett he might not have progressed rapidly and with the same level of confidence. Same with Jankowski, if we had brought him up 2 years earlier at the age Bennett is now, he might not be ready. I think we can be safe to say that in both situations with Tkachuk and Jankowski there would be some labeling them busts. Looking forward to seeing what we have in Bennett this season. My impression is that management has been more focused on trying to develop Bennett as a complete player rather than have him worry about scoring so it will be interesting to see how he does with some complementary line-mates.

[Beninho]

This team would be extremely screwed if they didn’t land Tkachuk in ‘16. Hopefully Bennett can show some sort of progress this year and stop with his stagnation. Would be rough to see him have another extremely inconsistent season.

[pepper24]

I think all Flames fans hope he rebounds and starts to finally live up to some of his potential. He'll probably never pan out as he was drafted but hopefully with an improvement from last season he can find a regular place and can contribute on the 3rd line.

But.......if Bennett has another bad season what happens to him at the end of the season when his contract expires? He'll have Mangiapane, Dube, Foo etc ready to take over for him on the 3rd line. He's already played 200+ game litmus test and will have up to another 82 games added to that. Do they sign him for another similar contract to give him even more time or move on via trade etc? It'll be interesting to see what happens at trade deadline if he has another bad start to the season.

[CliffFletcher]

If Bennett has another season like last, I'd imagine both he and the Flames would want to move him to another team to see if a change of scenery would do him some good. Can't see Bennett resigning himself to being a depth winger making < 2 mil.

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by pepper24

I think all Flames fans hope he rebounds and starts to finally live up to some of his potential. He'll probably never pan out as he was drafted but hopefully with an improvement from last season he can find a regular place and can contribute on the 3rd line.

But.......if Bennett has another bad season what happens to him at the end of the season when his contract expires? He'll have Mangiapane, Dube, Foo etc ready to take over for him on the 3rd line. He's already played 200+ game litmus test and will have up to another 82 games added to that. Do they sign him for another similar contract to give him even more time or move on via trade etc? It'll be interesting to see what happens at trade deadline if he has another bad start to the season.

I don't think that any of those three have the upside to replace Bennett, all are bottom 6, 30 point forwards at best. The question for me is whether Bennett can prove he's more than a 3rd line winger.

The problem with trading him is that unless he has a breakout year, you won't get any more than a 3rd line winger in return, so it's a lateral move at best. The only trade I might consider if I were Treliving would be for another player with an unrealized high ceiling who could also use a change of scenery.

[GranteedEV]

At this point someone has to knock Bennett down to even being the second best player on the third line. He's still the best player on his line as it projects. Talks of B prospects passing him are premature. Even Jankowski was clearly the lesser player on that line last year.

[Brick]

I believe that Sam Bennett will be staying a Flame for the long haul.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

At this point someone has to knock Bennett down to even being the second best player on the third line. He's still the best player on his line as it projects.

Debatable.

At this point I'm not convinced Bennett is better than, or even equal to, Jankowski, Ryan or Frolik no matter how you cut it. It would not be shocking to see Czarnik Dube and/or mangipane pass him on the depth chart before long either. Clocks ticking for Sam.

Untill Bennett shows he is able to play at a level that would actually indicate he is a third line winger, let alone a top 6, I don't much reason for optimism here. It's 'show us' time.

For context, Anthony Duclaire has scored as many points as Bennett in 28 fewer games. I know there is more to the story than counting stats, but it is telling. The Flames have been more than patient with Bennett. Wouldn't be hard to dig up more comparisons that are not flattering to the player.

If Sam can't take a meaningful step forward by the deadline, I would deal him for a second. I hope it doesn't come to this, I am a Bennett fan but, obviously, losing faith.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by DazzlinDino

Good point, Pretty sure if Tkachuk had to learn a new position playing center and play with the same line-mates as Bennett he might not have progressed rapidly and with the same level of confidence. Same with Jankowski, if we had brought him up 2 years earlier at the age Bennett is now, he might not be ready. I think we can be safe to say that in both situations with Tkachuk and Jankowski there would be some labeling them busts. Looking forward to seeing what we have in Bennett this season. My impression is that management has been more focused on trying to develop Bennett as a complete player rather than have him worry about scoring so it will be interesting to see how he does with some complementary line-mates.

Bennett wasn't playing a new position at centre. Or were you comparing Bennett's time as a winger with Backlund? In which case he had exactly the same linemates as Tkachuk.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by TOfan

Debatable.

At this point I'm not convinced Bennett is better than, or even equal to, Jankowski, Ryan or Frolik no matter how you cut it. It would not be shocking to see Czarnik Dube and/or mangipane pass him on the depth chart before long either. Clocks ticking for Sam.

Untill Bennett shows he is able to play at a level that would actually indicate he is a third line winger, let alone a top 6, I don't much reason for optimism here. It's 'show us' time.

For context, Anthony Duclaire has scored as many points as Bennett in 28 fewer games. I know there is more to the story than counting stats, but it is telling. The Flames have been more than patient with Bennett. Wouldn't be hard to dig up more comparisons that are not flattering to the player.

If Sam can't take a meaningful step forward by the deadline, I would deal him for a second. I hope it doesn't come to this, I am a Bennett fan but, obviously, losing faith.

Would you trade Jankowski for a 2nd?

Bennett is younger and has more upside. Yet, just because he was a high pick and people are disappointed that he hasn't (yet) become what they hoped, people want to dump him.

I just don't get it.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Would you trade Jankowski for a 2nd?

Bennett is younger and has more upside. Yet, just because he was a high pick and people are disappointed that he hasn't (yet) become what they hoped, people want to dump him.

I just don't get it.

Why does Bennett have more upside than Jankowski? If you think Bennett has it in him to be a #1C, why wouldn't Janko also have as high a ceiling, given that he's bigger and debatably already better.