The Legend of Sam Bennett

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by FBI

So he would be leading our team in goals now

If somehow we got Jonathan Huberdeau on the Flames to play with Bennett, that may have been a possibility, but with out the league's #2 scorer (1 point from leading the league) that is laughable to suggest. Bennett ain't scoring remotely close to this pace with Backlund as his center.

[The Fisher Account]

Sam doing his best Anson Carter impression

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Ok some one please explain it again for the last time. Sam thought he would be staying once Darryl became boss. Said so last week. And he’s a Darryl type guy. So why did Tre still pull the trigger?

At the time the Flames did not view him as one of their top 7 forwards under contract so Backlund, Dube and Monahan were considered more fundamental to the team's future success. They'd probably like a do over on that now.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

If somehow we got Jonathan Huberdeau on the Flames to play with Bennett, that may have been a possibility, but with out the league's #2 scorer (1 point from leading the league) that is laughable to suggest. Bennett ain't scoring remotely close to this pace with Backlund as his center.

I guess we'll never know, Bennett was generally playing so far down in the line-up, he was given little chance to succeed.

[FBI]

It will be interesting to see if Bennett scores more goals than any flame this year. Probably going to be close. He has missed a ton of games but looks like 30 is almost a lock. Probably 30 from Tkachuk too and maybe Johnny?

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

If somehow we got Jonathan Huberdeau on the Flames to play with Bennett, that may have been a possibility, but with out the league's #2 scorer (1 point from leading the league) that is laughable to suggest. Bennett ain't scoring remotely close to this pace with Backlund as his center.

Huberdeau's awesome. But your whole "Bennett is a leech" narrative is getting tired. He'd produce just fine with Gaudreau or Tkachuk or Mangiapane. Three guys he NEVER got to centre for a significant sample size.

Heck, his little hot streak right now?



Hardly much contribution from Huberdeau.

[GioforPM]

^^ Unless you saw those goals, you can’t dismiss Huberdeau. He’s on the line whenever you see Duclair and Bennett together. For all you know he carried the puck and got the zone entry.

He won’t be on the powerplay goals because they are on different units.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

^^ Unless you saw those goals, you can’t dismiss Huberdeau. He’s on the line whenever you see Duclair and Bennett together. For all you know he carried the puck and got the zone entry.

He won’t be on the powerplay goals because they are on different units.

The vice versa equally applies to the vast majority of Huberdeau's points. Alas, there is no tertiary assist in hockey

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Huberdeau's awesome.

Goddamn right he is. Most under-rated player in the league. A fire hydrant could score 40 points playing with Jonathan Huberdeau.

But your whole "Bennett is a leech" narrative is getting tired.

Naww, its completely accurate. Bennett continues to play north-south Bennett hockey and cash in on opportunities from the goal mouth, off the work of others. Hey, garbage men have their place in the NHL. It would just be nice if people would acknowledge a garbage man when they one is action.

He'd produce just fine with Gaudreau or Tkachuk or Mangiapane. Three guys he NEVER got to centre for a significant sample size.

Sure he would. How many coaches, including Sutter, would not play him at center? Accept the fact that Sam Bennett was destined to be a winger on the Flames and he was never going to work his way onto a line where he could be of consequence. He fell into a really great situation in Florida, but he is not a play driver, he's a passenger who gains benefit of playing with an elite player who makes everyone on his line look good.

Heck, his little hot streak right now?

Hardly much contribution from Huberdeau.

Hardly much contribution? You should check the tape rather than relying on the scoresheet. The video presents a much different story. Huberdeau is the play driver on most of Bennett's points. The Legend continues.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Some people here do watch a lot of Florida games

He has scored on a lot of good shots from the high slot. Yesterday’s goal, sure, he banged in a close rebound, and Huberdeau was on the ice and had nothing to do with the rush. They do play on different PP units as was noted

It would be absurd if Huberdeau wasn’t in on a good number of his goals, but he is contributing

If you watched Florida regularly you would know

[SuperMatt18]

Honestly when I watch Florida games Bennett still looks like the same Bennett that he was here from a skill set perspective but with a couple of major differences that have helped him thrive.

1) System: The Florida system works with his style. High pace, high event hockey, and they attempt to attack quick off the rush in transition. Playing him in the middle of the ice has just magnified this because he allows him to use his skating in transition.

For whatever reason this org thought we needed to turn Bennett to a below the goal line grinder. That's not his game and it's no surprise his play really dropped off when the Flames moved to that style in 19-20, after playing higher pace in 18-19.

2) Usage: He's getting given the high ground. Florida has tried to let him play his game, and he has 80%+ offensive zone starts which is crazy high ground. They are really leveraging the Huberdeau-Bennett-Duclair line as their "offensive line" and are giving them a ton of offensive opportunity.

3) Linemates: Huberdeau is elite, and Duclair is a really good player (it's still crazy Ottawa didn't re-sign him). This is a big improvement from his linemates here in Calgary. These are by far the most talented offensive players he's played with on a regular basis....and that includes when he got regular time with Tkachuk and Backlund, they weren't at these guys offensive levels.

I still don't think Bennett is the best distributor of the puck (his assist rates are still low even in Florida) but he's playing with two high end playmakers now which really suits his strengths.

4) Overall Team Skill: It's crazy that even though Bennett is having such a good season, he still sits 7th on the team in points per game. Skill needs to play with other skill to flourish.

5) Luck: Bennett's 5v5 on-ice shooting percentage is 12.95% which is 13th in the NHL. Part of that is playing with other skilled finishers in an offensive role, part of that is just being a bit lucky.

[Royle9]

Bennett having success on another team, playing the way we all knew he could (Rookie season) and yet are still trying to find a way to downplay his skill.

The kid was good, he was mismanaged in calagary and saddled long term with borderline plugs and depth guys with low minutes every game.

Why are we shocked he’s playing well with skilled line mates and extended ice time/PP usage? I swear some of you just love to hate on the kid cause you can…

Calgary didn’t want to give him more time, failed to utilize him properly and have moved on. It is what it is, but I too would prefer he was given a longer shot with Sutters system.

[SuperMatt18]

To me it shows the fine line of being an NHL star, and being seen as a "bust".

Florida has two top prospects that were previously written off thriving on that team right now (Duclair & Bennett), and two other guys who had to scratch and claw in the ECHL/AHL just to get a shot who are thriving now (Verhaeghe & Marchment).

Team system, coaching, ice time, deployment, linemates...these are all factors in a players success.

You even see it with an established players. Sean Monahan looks like he should retire when he's playing with Trevor Lewis and Brad Richardson...play him with other guys with a bit more skill and he starts to look a bit more like his old self again.

[GioforPM]

IMO it could be compared to Conroy, though he was obviously not a high draft pick. Stuck behind a bunch of Cs in St. Louis and not looking like a future piece, but he had skills enough to be a 30-40 point guy there. Moved to Calgary and clicked with more ice time and a great player. Boom - 75 points.

You’d never say Conroy wasn’t a good player - he was. But sometimes you need the right situation. It may never have been replicated in St. Louis and similarly IMO it’s not worth fretting about what Bennett may or may not have done here. At the time, there was just zero chance Bennett was going to be centre for Gaudreau, which is the only similar position to what he has now. He wasn’t displacing either Monahan earlier or Lindholm later. No coach, not even Sutter, was going to do that, just to experiment. And just being moved and the motivation that comes with that could easily have played a part. Both wanting to make a big impression with the new team and not wanting to blow a new opportunity.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

If somehow we got Jonathan Huberdeau on the Flames to play with Bennett, that may have been a possibility, but with out the league's #2 scorer (1 point from leading the league) that is laughable to suggest. Bennett ain't scoring remotely close to this pace with Backlund as his center.

There he is again with the "Huberdeau carries him".

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Some people here do watch a lot of Florida games

He has scored on a lot of good shots from the high slot. Yesterday’s goal, sure, he banged in a close rebound, and Huberdeau was on the ice and had nothing to do with the rush. They do play on different PP units as was noted

It would be absurd if Huberdeau wasn’t in on a good number of his goals, but he is contributing

If you watched Florida regularly you would know

Yes, thank you.

To that point, Huberdeau was playing with Barkov and Verhaeghe last night as the lines were shuffled a little bit.

Bennett still scored a key goal playing with Duclair and Tippett.

'nuff said.

[activeStick]

An interesting thing about the Panthers is that they've maintained their high level of play after having their former head coach removed. If Quenneville was still there, he'd be getting a lot of credit for their success.

[FlamesAddiction]

I don't think it is crazy to say that Florida is a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. Based on Bennett's history, we know he isn't going to light it up on just any team. Looking at Florida's roster, there are a few players that really elevated themselves when they got there and a few that are on pace for career years. I am sure it is a combination of many things, but I would bet that for many of their current players, their individual success wouldn't be replicated on any other team.

[PeteMoss]

I admire the dedication of this discussion.

[dino7c]

Bennett's biggest issue is going to be staying on the ice...people got all butt hurt when I mentioned it last year but he will be constantly injured playing this style and I'm not sure how long it's possible.

He has already been hurt like 5 times or so in 50 games or whatever. I see a lot of stats/gp posts in here in our future because he will only play 60-70 a year tops IMO.

It's not even really a knock just a reality for me...that is why I think 40-55 or so points will be his high water mark.