The Legend of Sam Bennett

[Locke]

Bennett was okay, he was no Agostino though.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

He's more than just a rebound pusher IMO.

And I think he works well with gifted playmaking wingers like Tkachuk and Huberdeau because his speed and ability to drive the middle of the ice opens up space for them.

But he doesn't show much playmaking ability or elite hockey sense at the NHL level at all IMO.

The bolded was a big issue last season IMO. I recall that last summer Gaudreau's agent asked who was going to be the other puck transporter on the team. If Gaudreau was the only option and then he left ...

Treliving put all eggs in one basket in this regard. In today's game need this quality especially on the PP.

Hopefully Savard has some ideas.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

https://twitter.com/user/status/1681472600260706304



I wish we had a player like Sam Bennett. Lindholm - Bennett would be a pretty good 1-2 punch. Hell, throw in an affordable Sean Monahan as a 3rd line centre and we may have the bones of a contender…

Lol. Obviously these idiots don't know a good damn thing about regular season derpface.

[Samonadreau]

Sometimes Players just need a change of scenery. I could see Sharangovich having a similar bump here.

[memphusk]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Lol. Obviously these idiots don't know a good damn thing about regular season derpface.

What does that mean?

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by memphusk

What does that mean?

You can't project playoff numbers into Bennett's regular season. He takes it off for his legendary playoff runs.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

You can't project playoff numbers into Bennett's regular season. He takes it off for his legendary playoff runs.

He produced at a 52 point pace last season and a 57 point pace the season before. That's solid for a 2nd line centre. He has 104 points in 144 regular season games for the Panthers.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

Sure, but this thread is about what could of been. And even for one year of cap hit for old man Kadri (who has a reputation of bad character) it could of been Bennett +, which I take 11 times out of 10.

All we've seen in the crappy Kadri under Sutter. If Kadri continues to play this way, and likely eventually get worse, 10/10 times he's a cap anchor with negative value. If Kadri rebounds, however, things look different. Kadri was our best player before things in the locker room imploded, so it's worth giving him another chance.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

He produced at a 52 point pace last season and a 57 point pace the season before. That's solid for a 2nd line centre. He has 104 points in 144 regular season games for the Panthers.

true but getting injured every single season isn't exactly a plus

durability is also an asset

career high is 49 points

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by blankall

All we've seen in the crappy Kadri under Sutter. If Kadri continues to play this way, and likely eventually get worse, 10/10 times he's a cap anchor with negative value. If Kadri rebounds, however, things look different. Kadri was our best player before things in the locker room imploded, so it's worth giving him another chance.

He was also an amazing player the season before and had a monster playoffs including a hatty and a SCF OT winner that was all him

[blankall]

Originally Posted by dino7c

He was also an amazing player the season before and had a monster playoffs including a hatty and a SCF OT winner that was all him

Exactly. Comparing a summer 2023 Kadri to Bennett looks awful. Comparing a 70+ point Kadri and things look differently. People go on about him only having 1 good year and returning to career averages, but in Toronto he was largely a third line center. He wasn't getting a lot of the best ice time and deployments. Given that, his numbers were excellent, and his point total alone from Toronto clearly don't tell the whole story.

[FBI]

Ooh maybe we need a Kadri vs Bennett thread. I would LOVE if Kadri plays better than Bennett this year.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Why do we assume Bennett would have become the player he is in Florida if he stayed here? There are hundreds of examples of NHL players finding their game after a change of address. It doesn’t mean the original team mismanaged the player. Sometimes it takes a new team, a new city, a new role - a total reset - for a player to find another gear.

I want to quote this post every time I see this thread bumped.

People need to be happy he found his game.

But in true CP fashion, the masses sitting behind keyboards are right and every single person in hockey ops during his time in Calgary was wrong.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

He produced at a 52 point pace last season and a 57 point pace the season before. That's solid for a 2nd line centre. He has 104 points in 144 regular season games for the Panthers.

Pace... Lol. Wolf was on pace to go 82-0 last year. Haha

Bennett is on pace to stick someone in the crotch 15 times next year though....

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by FBI

Ooh maybe we need a Kadri vs Bennett thread. I would LOVE if Kadri plays better than Bennett this year.

For 3M more per year and costing a 1st I would certainly hope Kadri outplays Bennett...

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

I want to quote this post every time I see this thread bumped.

People need to be happy he found his game.

But in true CP fashion, the masses sitting behind keyboards are right and every single person in hockey ops during his time in Calgary was wrong.

Which mass sitting behind their keyboards are you part of?

We don’t really know what every single person in hockey ops thought. We know the Panthers thought differently. Guess they were all just mimicking true CP fashion.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by dino7c

true but getting injured every single season isn't exactly a plus



durability is also an asset



career high is 49 points

Yeah, I'm happy he's found himself down in Florida more and become a productive player, but he's still not what he was expected to be when he was first drafted. Him and Draisaitl were basically seen as a toss-up going into that draft. Now had he turned into Draisaitl-calibre when he went to Florida, I'd be sick to my stomach right now..

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

For 3M more per year and costing a 1st I would certainly hope Kadri outplays Bennett...

by that logic Bennett "cost" the Flames 4th overall
its also 2.57M

And if we are going to make "pace" arguments Kadri has played over a 100 point pace recently

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Yeah, I'm happy he's found himself down in Florida more and become a productive player, but he's still not what he was expected to be when he was first drafted. Him and Draisaitl were basically seen as a toss-up going into that draft. Now had he turned into Draisaitl-calibre when he went to Florida, I'd be sick to my stomach right now..

Unrealistic expectations are our problem, not Bennetts. He is essentially the median forward drafted 4OA since ~1990.

OTOH Draisaitl is top 2 or 3 of the 19 forwards taken 3OA in that span.

Originally Posted by dino7c

by that logic Bennett "cost" the Flames 4th overall
its also 2.57M

And if we are going to make "pace" arguments Kadri has played over a 100 point pace recently

Harder argument when picks 5 6 and 7 busted that year. You get your players one way or the other...it's rare that you pay an extra premium on top of an ugly UFA price tag.

[The Fisher Account]

I still wouldn't take Bennett after this season