GDT: Bears at Flames: Dec 15, 7pm MT on SN

[LUV Carti*]

19 year old Bennett was better than 19 year old Monahan

20 year old Bennett isn't producing like 20 year old Monahan, but 20 year old Monahan played in between Gaudreau and Hudler. I would love to see how Bennett would have done in between those two.

In my opinion, Bennett will be better than Monahan, I just like his tools better. Of course he hasn't put it all together at age 20, and that's ok. I'd be more concerned if he were being gifted copious amounts of top 6 minutes and pp time, and he were still struggling to produce.

The sophomore slump is a real thing. I wonder if Flames fans wanted to get rid of Jarome Iginla too when he had a 20 point drop from his rookie to sophomore season.

 

[MonyontheMoney]

I think the projections of an "elite offensive" player for Bennett are a bit of a stretch. Maybe it's mostly quibbling over phrasing, but when I think of truly elite offensive producers, I think Crosby, McDavid, Malkin, and company, which I don't think Bennett will ever reach, but I could see him becoming a David Backes type player (maybe not the strongest comparison, but the first that came to my head) in that he's going to bring physicality, defensive ability and will still produce well, just not elite.

Which isn't bad at all, but that's what I'd be comfortable in projecting at this point, as I'm not on the elite train yet.

 

[LUV Carti*]

He has all the other skills of an elite player except for his hands, which are average at best.

What? I'd say his hands are the least of his problems.

I think with Bennett, confidence is key. When he see's the puck go in the net a couple of times, he'll begin to feel and start playing much better. I agree with the other poster who said he should be holding on to the puck longer. He has to take the Gaudreau role on his line, because lord knows Brouwer is useless, and Versteeg is too slow and not strong enough to make plays happen along the boards 5v5.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I think a big change that I've noticed with Bennett this year is his skating. I'll never forget when Gio talked about 18 year old Sam Bennett, he said he was the fastest guy on the team. He said when he came at you, he was extremely hard to defend and was faster than Gaudreau. I don't know why, but I saw that Bennett this preseason and have not seen him since about game 3 of this NHL season. Bennett is great at getting the puck in the defensive zone, but when he takes off, he looks like he has average speed. As an extreme example, McDavid who has elite speed just takes off like a rocket and defenders cannot turn around fast enough and they flat out get beat even if they take an appropriate angle of pursuit to cut McDavid off. Now while Bennett is not McDavid fast, he isn't looking like the fastest guy on the team the player that Gio described. He's skating like Monahan, by comparison Ferland and Gaudreau look faster. I don't know why, but it's what I'm seeing, he isn't using (or can't), his speed to his advantage.

He also isn't getting proper support from his wingers. When he gets the puck and hits his outlet man, more often than not they cough the puck up. In Bennett's case, he's best just to get the puck deep and use his speed to forecheck. But I don't know if that is his strength or how he wants to play. I'd like to see him rush the puck more. He did it far more last season and even in his rookie year.

Overall though I'm really happy with his game all around. I still think and feel confident that he develops into a Ryan Kesler clone. That's exactly who he reminds me of and I think who he becomes.

 

[Sparky93]

19 year old Bennett was better than 19 year old Monahan

20 year old Bennett isn't producing like 20 year old Monahan, but 20 year old Monahan played in between Gaudreau and Hudler. I would love to see how Bennett would have done in between those two.

In my opinion, Bennett will be better than Monahan, I just like his tools better. Of course he hasn't put it all together at age 20, and that's ok. I'd be more concerned if he were being gifted copious amounts of top 6 minutes and pp time, and he were still struggling to produce.

The sophomore slump is a real thing. I wonder if Flames fans wanted to get rid of Jarome Iginla too when he had a 20 point drop from his rookie to sophomore season.

19 year old Bennett barely even played, due to injury. Draft +2 Monahan destroyed Bennett production wise, so did draft +3 Monahan, and it's not even close to comparable in terms of their impact on the franchise. I like Bennett but he needs to have a huge season next year. There's no reason he shouldn't be dragging dead weight alone with him, or at least making them look better at least, at this point.

 

[LUV Carti*]

I think a big change that I've noticed with Bennett this year is his skating. I'll never forget when Gio talked about 18 year old Sam Bennett, he said he was the fastest guy on the team. He said when he came at you, he was extremely hard to defend and was faster than Gaudreau. I don't know why, but I saw that Bennett this preseason and have not seen him since about game 3 of this NHL season. Bennett is great at getting the puck in the defensive zone, but when he takes off, he looks like he has average speed. As an extreme example, McDavid who has elite speed just takes off like a rocket and defenders cannot turn around fast enough and they flat out get beat even if they take an appropriate angle of pursuit to cut McDavid off. Now while Bennett is not McDavid fast, he isn't looking like the fastest guy on the team the player that Gio described. He's skating like Monahan, by comparison Ferland and Gaudreau look faster. I don't know why, but it's what I'm seeing, he isn't using (or can't), his speed to his advantage.

He also isn't getting proper support from his wingers. When he gets the puck and hits his outlet man, more often than not they cough the puck up. In Bennett's case, he's best just to get the puck deep and use his speed to forecheck. But I don't know if that is his strength or how he wants to play. I'd like to see him rush the puck more. He did it far more last season and even in his rookie year.

Overall though I'm really happy with his game all around. I still think and feel confident that he develops into a Ryan Kesler clone. That's exactly who he reminds me of and I think who he becomes.

I don't know about "skating like Monahan", but I think it has to do with focusing too much on weight training and "adding 10 pounds of muscle" like every young kid plans to do during their first NHL offseason. He's just missing that one extra gear at top end speed to earn separation from his backcheckers. I'm sure he works on it this offseason.

 

[LUV Carti*]

19 year old Bennett barely even played, due to injury. Draft +2 Monahan destroyed Bennett production wise, so did draft +3 Monahan, and it's not even close to comparable in terms of their impact on the franchise. I like Bennett but he needs to have a huge season next year. There's no reason he shouldn't be dragging dead weight alone with him, or at least making them look better at least, at this point.

He was 19 all of last season. Monahan was 19 all of his rookie year.

Bennett outproduced Monahan at 19, and looked better as an 18 year old rookie in the PO's than Monahan did at 20.

 

[Sparky93]

He was 19 all of last season. Monahan was 19 all of his rookie year.

Bennett outproduced Monahan at 19, and looked better as an 18 year old rookie in the PO's than Monahan did at 20.

There's a 8 months between them, by your standards Bennett should be a 60 point player, well on his way to 60 points, if you really want to compare them. Bennett has had little to no impact on the franchise since his draft. Monahan is well on his way to being a perennial 30 goal centre man.

 

[Tofveve]

What? I'd say his hands are the least of his problems.

I think with Bennett, confidence is key. When he see's the puck go in the net a couple of times, he'll begin to feel and start playing much better. I agree with the other poster who said he should be holding on to the puck longer. He has to take the Gaudreau role on his line, because lord knows Brouwer is useless, and Versteeg is too slow and not strong enough to make plays happen along the boards 5v5.

He doesn't have soft hands. That was a great goal though.

 

[Tofveve]

I think the projections of an "elite offensive" player for Bennett are a bit of a stretch. Maybe it's mostly quibbling over phrasing, but when I think of truly elite offensive producers, I think Crosby, McDavid, Malkin, and company, which I don't think Bennett will ever reach, but I could see him becoming a David Backes type player (maybe not the strongest comparison, but the first that came to my head) in that he's going to bring physicality, defensive ability and will still produce well, just not elite.

Which isn't bad at all, but that's what I'd be comfortable in projecting at this point, as I'm not on the elite train yet.

I think you're bang on with this.

When I criticize him, it's more based on the lofty expectations of a high draft pick. It's not to say he's not going to be a good player. Ultimately, the first couple of years have been about hyper-analysis to see if we got a star or not. We could still be wrong on that, but I don't think he'll be that elite player many were thinking he might be..

 

[Dack]

I think a big change that I've noticed with Bennett this year is his skating. I'll never forget when Gio talked about 18 year old Sam Bennett, he said he was the fastest guy on the team. He said when he came at you, he was extremely hard to defend and was faster than Gaudreau. I don't know why, but I saw that Bennett this preseason and have not seen him since about game 3 of this NHL season. Bennett is great at getting the puck in the defensive zone, but when he takes off, he looks like he has average speed. As an extreme example, McDavid who has elite speed just takes off like a rocket and defenders cannot turn around fast enough and they flat out get beat even if they take an appropriate angle of pursuit to cut McDavid off. Now while Bennett is not McDavid fast, he isn't looking like the fastest guy on the team the player that Gio described. He's skating like Monahan, by comparison Ferland and Gaudreau look faster. I don't know why, but it's what I'm seeing, he isn't using (or can't), his speed to his advantage.

He also isn't getting proper support from his wingers. When he gets the puck and hits his outlet man, more often than not they cough the puck up. In Bennett's case, he's best just to get the puck deep and use his speed to forecheck. But I don't know if that is his strength or how he wants to play. I'd like to see him rush the puck more. He did it far more last season and even in his rookie year.

Overall though I'm really happy with his game all around. I still think and feel confident that he develops into a Ryan Kesler clone. That's exactly who he reminds me of and I think who he becomes.

I agree especially about him looking noticeably slower.

 

[LUV Carti*]

He doesn't have soft hands. That was a great goal though.

This is a player that "doesn't have soft hands"?



0:18
1:14
1:38
2:10
2:33
3:19
3:37
3:49

Watch Anthony Cook's 20 minute video on him if you still aren't convinced afterwards.

 

[LUV Carti*]

There's a 8 months between them, by your standards Bennett should be a 60 point player, well on his way to 60 points, if you really want to compare them. Bennett has had little to no impact on the franchise since his draft. Monahan is well on his way to being a perennial 30 goal centre man.

Development isn't linear. Bennett was better at 18 and 19, and has struggled at 20. I think he'll be better in the future as I like his tools better. You disagree, that's fine. I think Bennett will be a 70+ point elite centre, in the mould of a Giroux.

 

[Sparky93]

Development isn't linear. Bennett was better at 18 and 19, and has struggled at 20. I think he'll be better in the future as I like his tools better. You disagree, that's fine. I think Bennett will be a 70+ point elite centre, in the mould of a Giroux.

Well there you go! I see Bennett as a 50 point, hard checking, 2nd line centre

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I don't know about "skating like Monahan", but I think it has to do with focusing too much on weight training and "adding 10 pounds of muscle" like every young kid plans to do during their first NHL offseason. He's just missing that one extra gear at top end speed to earn separation from his backcheckers. I'm sure he works on it this offseason.

Monahan's skating isn't holding him back anymore. He's not a super fast skater or he won't get separation on a defender, but he's got average speed and more than gets by. I know Bennett is faster, but watching him you don't see it. We aren't seeing that explosiveness and attacking defenders with his speed. He's coasting a lot and skating with the tempo of the play, a lot like Monahan does.

 

[Tofveve]

This is a player that "doesn't have soft hands"?



0:18
1:14
1:38
2:10
2:33
3:19
3:37
3:49

Watch Anthony Cook's 20 minute video on him if you still aren't convinced afterwards.

I have to admit, that was a pretty damn convincing highlight reel. But maybe when he scores 99% of the time it's beautiful?

I don't know, I'm just going by what I see game in and game out. It just seems his puck control is choppy and at times reckless.

You may have convinced me though. I've been known to be wrong once

So what's your main concern then for his progression? Line-mates?

 

[LUV Carti*]

I have to admit, that was a pretty damn convincing highlight reel. But maybe when he scores 99% of the time it's beautiful?

I don't know, I'm just going by what I see game in and game out. It just seems his puck control is choppy and at times reckless.

You may have convinced me though. I've been known to be wrong once

So what's your main concern then for his progression? Line-mates?

I think Bennett's struggles are all mental. And also, like JH mentioned, I think his explosiveness isn't where it should be for the playing style he tries to play. When Bennett is on his game, he's nearly unstoppable... We've seen this first hand against the Canucks in the playoffs. This season I feel like he's trying to overthink the game instead of letting it come natural. He'll be fine in time. I think playoffs this year will be great for him to get back to his wrecking ball of physicality and skill (and hopefully transfer over to a great offseason of training) and a huge year next season.

 

[Tofveve]

I think Bennett's struggles are all mental. And also, like JH mentioned, I think his explosiveness isn't where it should be for the playing style he tries to play. When Bennett is on his game, he's nearly unstoppable... We've seen this first hand against the Canucks in the playoffs. This season I feel like he's trying to overthink the game instead of letting it come natural. He'll be fine in time. I think playoffs this year will be great for him to get back to his wrecking ball of physicality and skill (and hopefully transfer over to a great offseason of training) and a huge year next season.

I don't know . . . I still feel like I'm not convinced at his elite level hands, even after that video. It's like a gut thing. Maybe the kid just needs more time, a little bit like how Drouin was written off early on.

 

[Sparky93]

I don't know . . . I still feel like I'm not convinced at his elite level hands, even after that video. It's like a gut thing. Maybe the kid just needs more time, a little bit like how Drouin was written off early on.

Drouin was never written off, that's why he's still a member of the Lightning and that's why there was so much interest in him when it was rumoured he wanted out. Much like Drouin, it's very possible that Bennett could have benefited from some time at the AHL level.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

On totally another note, remember Hartleys motto "Always earned, never given". When the guys on the Fan refer to Lazar, they say "Always ready, never given".

I don't know why, but I find that so funny

 

[Mr Snrub]

This is a player that "doesn't have soft hands"?



0:18
1:14
1:38
2:10
2:33
3:19
3:37
3:49

Watch Anthony Cook's 20 minute video on him if you still aren't convinced afterwards.

God, what a frustrating video. Guy has all the skill in the world.

He still has a shot at being a 70pt big-time first-liner, but every day I get more worried that the lack of consistency is gonna turn him into more of a Huberdeau type offensively.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

God, what a frustrating video. Guy has all the skill in the world.

He still has a shot at being a 70pt big-time first-liner, but every day I get more worried that the lack of consistency is gonna turn him into more of a Huberdeau type offensively.

Not a style wise comparison, but Huberdeau isn't an awful projection for Bennett from a production standpoint. I think last season Hubs got 59 pts. So he's basically a 60pt forward with some more room to grow. Bennett will likely end up being in that range. Huberdeau is also a huge part of the Panthers. Just ask their fanbase how much they missed him when he was out this year.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I think the only reason people question Sam Bennett is because his niche is occupied by two pretty good centers who haven't played their way out of that niche. If Bennett were taking on tough checking assignments like Backlund, we'd be raving about him like Canucks fans rave about Horvat. If Bennett were sandwiched between Gaudreau and Ferland/Hudler while getting primo PP time, his even strength slumps would be non-existent to our perception.

Sam Bennett is the most talented forward in the Flames organization, quote me on it. No, he doesn't have the experience of Stajan or Backlund, or the easy-to-point-to counting numbners of Monahan, or the vision and anticipation of Tkachuk and Gaudreau... but there's really no player I am less worried about. With this kid it's a matter of when, not if. It's easy to be patient when Backlund, Stajan, and Monahan are doing fine in their roles.

 

[BigRangy]

Sam Bennett is the most talented forward in the Flames organization, quote me on it.

-OKG, 2017

I don't quite agree, I have Tkachuk and Gaudreau ahead but not by much. Obviously there is a cause to be worried with Bennett because he should be doing better than he is. I'm optimistic that he will be able to work through it and that he will become a quality 1st line caliber player.

There's two (three) ways to go about winning puck battles. Get there first or outmuscle guys once you're there (or be a hockey genius like Tkachuk). Bennett doesn't seem as fast as he did in the past, and he doesn't seem strong enough to win battles against men yet. Of all the players on the team, I would say Bennett's off-season training will probably be the most important. He needs to get faster while increasing his strength, which is no easy thing to do.

 

[LUV Carti*]

I think peak Bennett will be like a Gaudreau x Tkachuk hybrid. Very interesting to see how he turns out.