Quote:
Originally Posted by pepper24
Bennett started out good as a Flame if I recall ala 18 year old Bennett. Let's give him some time to regress back to his usual self.
We had the same with James Real Deal Neal as well and Lucic now is looking like the better player while Neal is a press box regular.
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The problem with this narrative is that the underlying metrics have, for the most part, been rather good for Bennett. It hasn't been for Neal.
He might regress to his 'usual self' or he might just end up being a really good player. One of these statements will end up being correct. I don't think his production is going to remain at this level, but I do think he will be productive.
There were plenty of angry people after Savard was traded. Not so much for St. Louis who never really got an opportunity here to see what 'may be one day'. I am not angry about the trade, and I don't see it as the Flames losing or winning anything in the future based on Bennett's production.
The one thing that I have always taken issue is how he has been managed here. Hartley had him on the right path. Gulutzan comes in and seemingly threw a wrench into the whole works. Bennett should have started that season as the third line centre playing with Tkachuk and a vet like Versteeg that year, and Jagr the next. Tkachuk - Bennett should probably have been a thing. Would it have worked for sure? I don't know, but it makes no sense not to have tried it back then.
Hartley had Gaudreau-Monahan together in Monahan's second season (and Gaudreau's first), paired with a good vet (Hudler). Monahan's first year, Hartley tried pairing him with Baertschi too, but Baerstchi sucks.
X-Backlund-Frolik would have been solid no matter what. Tkachuk - Bennett - X should have been a logical pairing in my mind, but it was never tried.
