Prospect Info: Zach Benson, LW/C, Wenatchee (WHL), Signed ELC- 2023, 13th Overall

[Chainshot]

Zach Benson! Competitive, high-skill, just doesn't quit... yes please.

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[La Cosa Nostra]

Great pick!!!

 

[Chainshot]

BlackBook at 12 -

Certain players stand out because of their mental game. Benson falls into a separate and rare category as a prospect. He merges his skill with an incredible level of determination and heart that’s not teachable. You can’t teach a player to play fearlessly, drive to the inside despite being physically disadvantaged; you can’t get a player to feel comfortable while playing at a maximum pace unless it’s embedded in their DNA. That’s the difference between Benson and many other players and it’s the reason he was dominant on one of the best teams in the WHL.

Benson plays a mature and very well rounded game that’s not predicated through overly flashy or dynamic plays, but instead plays that are filled with substance. He generated the right play, at the right time, both on and off the puck at a remarkably efficient rate, and it’s due to his single greatest gift, which is his on ice processor.

We separate processing into two components. One is adaptive, the other is pre-set. Adaptive refers to the ability of a prospect to make moment to moment adjustments dynamically. If a chaotic play occurs, it’s their measured response time and how fast it takes them to think their way through a situation in real time that’s not predetermined.

 

[toddkaz]

Savoie is happy right now.

 

[Kublakhan]

This guy is small and plays offense, wtf

 

[old kummelweck]

James Patrick connection.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Shocked he fell. Extremely happy with this pick

 

[Zman5778]

If this guy was two inches taller, he would have been talked about as just a hair behind the "top 5" of this draft

 

[TehDoak]

I get he’s high skill…but two top 15 picks on tiny forwards is a hilarious misallocation. It’s about building a championship roster not the highest scoring team.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

I've paid very little attention to this draft but this seems like a good pick. The Konecny comp? I like it.

 

[My Cozen Dylan]

Love the pick.

 

[Gabrielor]

Very happy!!!!

Welcome to Buffalo Zach!!

Top PP playmaker is something we needed.

 

[Chainshot]

Having had him as my 5/6 and liking him more than Will Smith, I am freakin' thrilled.

EP had him at 5OA:

Much has been made of the Big Four in this year’s draft, but Zach Benson’s play this season was such that we couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t more of a Big Five at the top of this class.

Certainly, his quality was more closely aligned with the players in front of him on our board than anyone from the No. 6 spot onward. He’s that damn good. And he’s been that damn good for a while now.

“Many nights last season, it seemed like 16-year-old Zach Benson was the Winnipeg ICE’s play-driver, on a team that eventually had three first-round NHL picks,” Elite Prospects Dir. of North American scouting Mitch Brown said. “He orchestrated the game with highpace manipulation, quick passing lanes, and a knack for being in the right place at the right time.” It’s Benson’s feel for the game and his ability to bend the opposition to his will that sets him apart from most players in this draft.

With the puck, he’s a cunning manipulator, selling false intentions with his subtle movements and his eyes to clear defenders from pockets of space, drawing them into his orbit before connecting with his linemate in that newly vacated ice

 

[TheMistyStranger]

I get he’s high skill…but two top 15 picks on tiny forwards is a hilarious misallocation. It’s about building a championship roster not the highest scoring team.

5'10" is tiny? Tell Point that.

 

[Yultron]

I can’t believe it , Like how did he fall ?? Buffalo simply going to be unstoppable up front

 

[Dirty Dog]

I get he’s high skill…but two top 15 picks on tiny forwards is a hilarious misallocation. It’s about building a championship roster not the highest scoring team.

Our top three D are big. Our top 2 centers are big. We have several large power forwards.

The team is already built big. So what if some of their prospects are small?

 

[Old Navy Goat]

He's immediately our best prospect. He was the Ice's best player the last two seasons, a few teams tried being the smartest guy in the room passing him up for lesser talents

 

[Fly Boy]

Working the bar and watching the draft, but with no sound. Saw KA mouth Winnipeg and I just fist pumped like crazy lol.

 

[Chainshot]

If this guy was two inches taller, he would have been talked about as just a hair behind the "top 5" of this draft

He was where he was in terms of height and I talked about him at 6 for months.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Also…could be a perfect replacement for skinner in a few years

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

Benson and Savoie right now:

 

[Paxon]

 

[Zman5778]

He's immediately our best prospect. He was the Ice's best player the last two seasons, a few teams tried being the smartest guy in the room passing him up for lesser talents

You think? I get that he's good, but you think that he's better than Savoie?

 

[Kublakhan]

Did a very large hockey player beat the crap out of Adam's in the past ? They are like oil and water to this guy..We will never win shit with a roster full of shrimpy sitter bugs..

 

[Chainshot]

You think? I get that he's good, but you think that he's better than Savoie?

By age, yes.