The Legend of Sam Bennett

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by CSharp

Yeah, but having deserved vs having earned it are two different matters. Entitlement is the bearer of illegitimacy. Does Bennett deserved to be place on a high pedestal? Nope. Did he earn it to be on the top line? Nope. Was he given ample chances? Yup. Even Sutter, the Flames saviour, tried putting our overwhelmingly beloved Bennett up in the top lines. Yet, by the end, he was put in the bottom 6 again. I know people like to argue that our top 6 are the worst top 6 and that Bennett is better or can be better if he is put on a line with better players - what a bunch of malarkey!

Look at players that started roughly the same time or after: Janko, Mangiapane, Dube, and Ferland. The latter 3 earned their spots on the top 2 lines. Janko never got past the bottom 6, however, he was a decent center for the 4th line that worked well for penalty kills. All of those players had their purpose. However, I don't think Bennett had a purpose in a Flames uniform. I still contend that if every player showed up in the all the playoff exits in past seasons, no one can make a sound argument that Bennett was far above anyone else and that he is a playoff performer.

Anyway, I still can't believe he's still garnering attention and making yet another super thread for a guy who the Flames wasn't supposed to pick up if the Flames would've just lose to the Oilers in the final few games of the season.

You might think that sounds like entitlement but it was absolutely manager bias and I think the fact that I moved on and have moved up into a leadership role at the next company I think I am vindicated in those thoughts. I didn’t mention the person that was hired for that promotion ran with the clique in the office that included my direct manager. I had more experience and success in my role than the person they chose. When I left that company I had 3 customers reach out to see if I could come join them but I wanted to stay in sales so switched industries all together. I fail to see how that is entitlement.


Maybe Sam Bennett is riding a new team bump and will revert back to the same player he always was for the Flames? Maybe he will hit the potential he had when he was drafted and hit 18 goals and 36 pts as a rookie. He was showing a lot better under Sutter putting up points and playing PK and PP under Sutter. Top 6 vs bottom 6 it doesn’t matter he was looking better under Sutter.

I am happy with the return and that they traded him but I am not surprised he is thriving with a fresh start and feels that he can now hit his potential.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by chedder

Number 4 overall who some experts projected to be the number 1 overall in a strong draft at the centre position wasn't supposed to be a franchise player?

Here's the list of franchise forwards drafted 4-6 in the last 30 years:
Jagr. Forsberg.

Kariya, Backstrom, Marner, Wheeler, Smyth, Pettersson are borderline (and another ~dozen very good complimentary players).

Odds of getting a forward as good as Monahan or Tkachuk are about 30-40%. Hitting 2/3 ain't bad.

Originally Posted by jayswin

What? Yes, fan expectations are out of whack sometimes, but Sam Bennett was not an example of that. He was fourth overall (highest pick ever for the Flames), could have gone higher depending on who was picking, and was projected to be a tough, number one centre.

He was protected as what every team is desperately looking for as a necessity to becoming a Stanley Cup contender.

Lots of teams highest ever picks don't pan out as hoped.

EDM had 4 cracks at 1OA and only got 1 great player + 2 who are good-very good.

STL - Erik Johnson - nice player, never a Norris contender

NJD - Jack Hughes TBD. Shanahan, Muller 2OA. Wolanin, Neil Brady, Niedermayer = 3OA

OTT - Daigle, Berard, Phillips

FLA - Jovanovski, Ekblad (very good, but probably not great?)

ANA - Bobby Ryan, Tverdovsky both 2OA; Kariya, Chad Kilger = 4OA, Vishnevskiy, Chistov 5OA

ARI - Turris, D Strome = 3OA

SJ - Falloon, Zyuzin, Marleau 2OA, Rathje, B Stuart 3OA

NAS - Legwand 2OA, Seth Jones 4OA, Brian Finley, Hartnell, Upshall 6OA

PHI - JVR, Nolan Patrick = 2OA (they also traded up to draft Bridgman 1OA in 1976...)

MIN - 3OA Gaborik, 4OA Pouliot, 6OA M Koivu = pretty similar to Tkachuk, Bennett, Monahan.


I don't have a particular point...I was mostly curious about other teams who've been disappointed.

[CaptainYooh]

Still trading Sam Bennett? Like a loser boyfriend obsessing over a girlfriend he broke up with...

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

Well, then apologies If I'm wrong.

When he was drafted I remember talk of depth in the draft, but no clear cut number one and none of them being "franchise players".

Hell, if Bennett was so highly touted, why did many want Reinhart instead?

edit: But like I said, it was a while ago now and maybe I just remember wrong.

At the time all three were considered pretty “can’t miss” centres. Not generational, but certainly future 1Cs. And IIRC many fans figured we did better than Edmonton.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by DazzlinDino

That is concerning, especially when it looks like we had the wrong pieces! Neal and Brouwer certainly were not the answer! To think that maybe all Bennett needed was the right tools and the right opportunity. The Flames could not provide that because as it stands we seem to be a poorly constructed team. We still need more pieces.

That said, maybe the organization doesn't have a good blueprint?

Well the other problem is that Sam Bennett isn’t really a driver and the Flames pegged him as one. He’s a really good complimentary piece and will probably continue to be successful with Huberdeau and Duclair, but the Flames don’t have a lot of dynamic play drivers on this team. That’s why they struggle to score year after year (regular season and playoffs).

If there’s one thing that should haunt Treliving throughout his time here as GM, it’s his inability to find enough goals. He’s hunted down defenseman after defenseman and goaltender after goaltender. Now he’s finally got his man in Markstrom, but this team is in an even worse position. If he did a deep dive on where he screwed up, it’ll definitely be at forward. Just a shallow waste land up front.


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[jlh2640]

I am real happy for Sam Bennett, it is good to see him have success. We got way more than I expected his value was. However time will tell whether this pace can be sustained. History would suggest no chance that it will. But his time in Calgary was over so we moved on. Monahan is next

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by dino7c

2 seconds for a 40 point player isn't a bad return at all

Unless Bennett starts putting up 50-60+ I think the Flames should still be pleased with the return.

Depends on the 40 point player.

A 40 point player who doesn’t get PP time and plays a very good defensive game at a good cap hit is worth a lot.

A 40 point player who gets premium ice time and PP time at a big cap hit is likely playing for a bottom team and may have negative value.


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[heep223]

I ####ing hate this season.

[Roof-Daddy]

Flames organization is such a pathetic pile of garbage.

[dino7c]

No points for Sam tonight in a 4-2 loss

[DeluxeMoustache]

Wow, he didn’t keep up the 1.67 ppg pace. Shocking

Drew 3 penalties

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by dino7c

No points for Sam tonight in a 4-2 loss

Also a -1. What a bust!

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Wow, he didn’t keep up the 1.67 ppg pace. Shocking

Drew 3 penalties

I was honestly astonished the Panthers went 1-9 on the power play tonight. That's crazy.

Also, the Hurricanes had 24 blocked shots to the Panthers 8, and the Panthers had 20 giveaways to the Hurricanes 7.

I don't think these two teams could ever play each other again and produce those kinds of weird stats.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by dino7c

No points for Sam tonight in a 4-2 loss

How did he do outside of that?

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Also a -1. What a bust!



I was honestly astonished the Panthers went 1-9 on the power play tonight. That's crazy.

Also, the Hurricanes had 24 blocked shots to the Panthers 8, and the Panthers had 20 giveaways to the Hurricanes 7.

I don't think these two teams could ever play each other again and produce those kinds of weird stats.

That Carolina goalie made one heck of a glove save on that one PP, I think it was on Huberdeau

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by DazzlinDino

How did he do outside of that?

Pretty darn good IMO. The Cats had a bunch of PPs in the last 10 mins, including a 5 on 3 where Barkov scored (Sam gave a bit of a screen, but mostly just a snipe). Sam was on PP1 the whole time, made several nice plays.

He had [at least] 3 pretty good chances on those PPs - a wrister from the right dot wide, a one timer same spot blocked, and a wrister from the slot just high. No replays on any of those shots so not sure how close they were.

One minor penalty; a little ticky-tack, but fair enough. Offset by the 3 he drew.

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

That Carolina goalie made one heck of a glove save on that one PP, I think it was on Huberdeau

Bennett was net front on that...very little contact with Ned###ik (mostly pushed in IIRC), but maybe enough to warrant a challenge. Obviously he didn't have any trouble making an amazing save.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Right hand shot. Reinharts family connection to the Flames. He'd have been the 3rd Reinhart to be a Flame. Plenty of reasons. Had nothing to do with skillsets at the time.



Heck, that draft I recall even pushing for Nylander a bit. Bennett and Draisaitl and Reinhart were all great pucks and we were lucky to get at least one, but Nylander should have went higher too.

I was pushing for Nylander hard with that pick and was ridiculed mercilessly.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Sam was on PP1 the whole time, made several nice plays.

he was PP1 for the final ~3 powerplays. He was PP2 for the first six.

[FanIn80]

So here's my brilliant take on the whole thing:

It doesn't really matter if he does good in Florida or not. He was horsesh*t here. Maybe he's a better fit in Florida than he was here, but that's another thing that doesn't matter. This isn't a guy you rebuild your entire organization around just so he can maybe get 20 goals at his peak.

He's gone. It's over. Move on.

[Wolfman]

I can't wait til this thread is on page 2

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Wow, he didn’t keep up the 1.67 ppg pace. Shocking

Drew 3 penalties

Just posting his stats...it has been done after every other game he has played