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

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

It's because he is noticeable this year for the wrong reasons.

He is much worse this year than last IMO. Some of the penalties he has taken...woof.

I agree, he is noticeably worse to start this year - which is a huge bummer because of how good he was in the playoffs. Something is off with this team as a whole though. Gaudreau is a disaster, Monahan can't score, Backlund isn't defending as well as he has recently. I'm hoping as the team works out these kinks, Bennett will get back on track as well (to being an effective 3rd line player).

This year has just sucked in general so far.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

I'm painting context for Bennett's slow start. The focus comment was on the fact that game threads are still littered with Bennett talk, disproportionally so when comparing him to most of the rest of the roster.

Slow start?

This is what he has done for going on 5 years now. He has improved...none. It now looks like he may actually be regressing a bit, which is hard to do when you start so low. What was it? 280th in offense in the league last year?

Just to repeat a comparison done before

Nail Yakupov 1st overall, 350 GP, 136 pts, .39 PPG, 142 PIM

Sam Bennett 4th overall, 331 GP, 121 pts, .37 PPG, 284 PIM

At what point is Bennett actually going to be held responsible for his position in the game?

Yakupov ends up in Siberia for good reason, meanwhile we have a poster on this board thinking Bennett should be a 1st line center.

Mind boggling stuff to me.

[Brick]

Sam has to stop taking dumb penalties that hurt the team.

Otherwise, I like him a lot.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Slow start?

This is what he has done for going on 5 years now. He has improved...none. It now looks like he may actually be regressing a bit, which is hard to do when you start so low. What was it? 280th in offense in the league last year?

Just to repeat a comparison done before

Nail Yakupov 1st overall, 350 GP, 136 pts, .39 PPG, 142 PIM

Sam Bennett 4th overall, 331 GP, 121 pts, .37 PPG, 284 PIM

At what point is Bennett actually going to be held responsible for his position in the game?

Yakupov ends up in Siberia for good reason, meanwhile we have a poster on this board thinking Bennett should be a 1st line center.

Mind boggling stuff to me.

Bennett has found a way to be effective as a 3rd line player.

Yakupov never showed any interest in figuring anything out.

I think at this stage, those who want Bennett to be played higher in the lineup are likely just tired of having to watch Frolik get played in the top six, or just spitballing ways to maybe get the offence going by creating a new line with Lindholm as a centre. This type of talk I think has more to do with the fact that we only have four top six forwards slotted correctly. The team really would be better off with Kadri and Zucker in the fold, so at least we know Tree sees the lack of depth as well.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Brick

Sam has to stop taking dumb penalties that hurt the team.

Otherwise, I like him a lot.

How do you fix a player with a hockey IQ of a yam?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Bennett has found a way to be effective as a 3rd line player.

Yakupov never showed any interest in figuring anything out.

I dont know how "effective" he is, but yes at least Bennett can bang bodies at times and with results.

He is still a guy that should be looked at to upgrade on though, and he most certainly shouldn't be getting the PP time he is, but that can be said for others as well.

[Harry Lime]

Yakapov didn't bring anything else to the table. Bennett backchecks, decent defense, works the boards, sticks up for teammates, finishes checks, strong work ethic, cycles well. Flames fans just need a home town player to hate, and this season it's Bennett. It's just a little odd because poor play abounds for the first 20 games.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I dont know how "effective" he is, but yes at least Bennett can bang bodies at times and with results.

He is still a guy that should be looked at to upgrade on though, and he most certainly shouldn't be getting the PP time he is, but that can be said for others as well.

I'm not sure. I think Bennett as our 3rd line LW or RW is fine slotting, it's just our top six is weak enough that we need our bottom six to be way better than it is. I'd hope they fix the top end of the roster, rather than keying in on the bottom six. Adding in the likes of Kadri/Zucker would have been huge for the teams overall depth.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lidnholm
Tkachuk - Kadri - Zucker
Mangiapane - Backlund - Bennett
Lucic - Ryan - Czarnik
Rieder

I think we're effectively short two players in our top six. It'd be awesome if Bennett could have developed into one, but that seems incredibly unlikely.

The real bummer for me is I'm not sure how any of this stuff gets addressed in-season.

[Yobbo]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

I'm not sure. I think Bennett as our 3rd line LW or RW is fine slotting, it's just our top six is weak enough that we need our bottom six to be way better than it is. I'd hope they fix the top end of the roster, rather than keying in on the bottom six. Adding in the likes of Kadri/Zucker would have been huge for the teams overall depth.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lidnholm
Tkachuk - Kadri - Zucker
Mangiapane - Backlund - Bennett
Lucic - Ryan - Czarnik
Rieder

I think we're effectively short two players in our top six. It'd be awesome if Bennett could have developed into one, but that seems incredibly unlikely.

The real bummer for me is I'm not sure how any of this stuff gets addressed in-season.

That would've been a very hard team to play against. Great lines throughout.

[BigRed]

Bennett is extremely limited in his uses and the league knows it. No-one's taking him off our hands for anything better than a 3rd round pick.

Haven't seen many games this year but does he PK much? He'd seem to have the tools for at least that, but his tunnel vision is at least as worrying there as anywhere.

At this point, I don't know if Bennett gets a QO. Might be like Byron a few years back -- no QO, goes FA and gets signed for lower. I don't think there's much dnager of anyone swooping in and stealing him from us.

[Flash Walken]

Instead of Yak, I think the comparison is actually Cam Barker.

Had lots of promise, a year of development lost, finally appeared to be doing something in his 21-22 years. Peaked with 40 points and then was out of the league, what, 3 years later after the Hawks ended up cutting bait and he bounced through a few other organizations.

[Jiri Hrdina]

^that's not a bad comparison because Barker's biggest issues were also between the ears.

[BigRed]

^^ between the ears for Barker was a desire/compete level thing. For Bennett, it's the wind whistling through the void in there ...

[Jiri Hrdina]

I disagree...like Sam, Barkers problem was very low hockey iq that his physical gifts could not overcome

[BigRed]

Fair enough. I barely remember him. He's still playing in Europe.

To bring it full circle, Sam's very low hockey IQ basically precludes further development. Flames need to come up with a contract that reflects that if he's to stay. But, noone will take him at this price so >shrug<

[DeluxeMoustache]

Cute conversation, nodding heads together about Bennett’s hockey IQ, and that he has no hope of being coached to improvement.

The people who saw him as the best skater in the playoffs still aren’t wrong.

Carry on

[blender]

Yeah, the whole "Hockey IQ" thing has always always seemed like a canard to me. It is a recent catchphrase that has caught on in current parlance and I've always felt that it is suspect at best when it comes to describing players.

Don't get me wrong, Bennett has issues, and it is unfortunate that he can't seem to improve his game, but I agree with DM that it is a bit comical to read this thread and see all the pro scouts and expert analysts here on CP definitively explaining poor Sam's condition with a nebulous term. Sounds good, but what is it, really?

[TOfan]

'Sam Bennett is a top six forward' = 'The earth is flat'.

[BigRed]

Originally Posted by blender

Sounds good, but what is it, really?

It means Sam's a straight ahead player. Doesn't see the ice well, doesn't anticipate, can't envision the play developing. As a result, he's not very good at using his linemates, or being useful to them.

In junior, he could take the puck and charge the net -- do it all himself -- because he was physically superior to the opposition.

In the NHL, he's not. That means old tunnel-vision Sammy's main shtick doesn't translate. And he's no good at finding a new one.

[BigRed]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

The people who saw him as the best skater in the playoffs still aren’t wrong.

Rico Fata was a tremendous skater. Man, could he move.

Carry on.