Player Discussion #93 - Sam Bennett

[InfinityIggy]

13 Games, 14 PIMs, 0 Points.

 

[DFF]

13 Games, 14 PIMs, 0 Points.

Yakupov

 

[JPeeper]

He's had some real good looks the last couple games with Janko; they'll start burying them soon.

Doesn't help though that Brouwer-Stajan-Versteeg get more ice-time than them, including PP time.

 

[FerklundCGY]

Very unlucky to still be pointless since being put on the wing.

Was brutal as a center to start the season, but he's been excellent on the LW.

Him and Janko are gonna make a very good combo me thinks even though I still want Tkachuk/Bennett to eventually be a combo.

 

[Baxterman]

Players like Monahan, and Backlund, are more talented, because they both possess great hockey IQ. But in terms of pure skill Ferland is special.

I know there are late bloomers and nobody likes to tout late bloomers more than Flames fans but at 25 and with 2 and half seasons in the NHL and another seasons worth of games in the AHL if you have "special" pure skill you have to have put up better numbers than 15 goals and 25 points and much below a PPG at the AHL level.

Monahan is a better player and more talented player than Ferland in large part because he is lightyears ahead of him in the pure skill department.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Main point —>

Your head

 

[InfinityIggy]

14 Games, 16 PIMs, 0 Points

 

[GuitarGuy]

He has all the bad luck right now.

 

[djpatm]

Another stupid penalty from him last game.

The pity parade needs to stop. He needs to be held accountable and watch the game from the press box. I honestly think he's hurting Lazar and Jankowski. I doubt they have zero points with someone else on that line.

Jankowski and Mangiapane (still has the best PPG of all scoring leaders in the A) had good chemistry in the A right? Bring him up. There is no chance he could be worse than Bennett.

 

[Baxterman]

Still don't see why Ferland gets gift points on the top line doing jack squat but the much better Bennett is stuck on the 4th line with two borderline NHlers (even though I love Lazar that is what he is at this point.)

 

[Anglesmith]

Still don't see why Ferland gets gift points on the top line doing jack squat but the much better Bennett is stuck on the 4th line with two borderline NHlers (even though I love Lazar that is what he is at this point.)

Can't argue with results, and Ferland is playing well AND producing right now.

I, too, wonder about whether Bennett would produce on the top line.

 

[Baxterman]

Can't argue with results, and Ferland is playing well AND producing right now.

I, too, wonder about whether Bennett would produce on the top line.

6 points in 13 games isn't really producing all that much. Last night as an example I don't think he did all that much to "earn" his two points.

I have a hard time believing Bennett couldn't have leached 6 points of Gaudreau and Monahan if given the same chances.

 

[Anglesmith]

6 points in 13 games isn't really producing all that much. Last night as an example I don't think he did all that much to "earn" his two points.

I have a hard time believing Bennett couldn't have leached 6 points of Gaudreau and Monahan if given the same chances.

I just whole-heartedly disagree. The pass to Monahan was a fantastic play. He helped make the whole play happen with the puck support along the wall, and then made a difficult pass perfectly through traffic to set up Monahan in the slot.

And with his goal and his penalty shot draw, those are both plays where hard work and timing his centre-lane drives leads to high-quality chances. If it was easy, everyone would have breakaways like that all the time. Great job by Gaudreau on both of those plays, but there isn't really anything that Ferland could have done better on the plays (penalty shot aside). What more would you ask for?

He's definitely not the best player on the team offensively. He has 6 points in 13 games, but I'd be interested to see what the points per game is among only the games with the Gaudreau/Monahan/Ferland line. I would guess that all 6 points have come from those games.

Entirely possible that Bennett could also produce this well with this opportunity, but by no means do you need to pretend that Ferland isn't contributing in order to state that opinion.

 

[djpatm]

I'm starting to get the sense that Bennett is a black hole and too often people blame his line mates when it's him thats the issue. GG probably sees that and doesn't want to drag down the top line which is absolutely flying right now.

I was saying put Bennett on their wing all season but you can't do it now. That line is clicking. Leave it alone. Bennett needs to join Freddie in the pressbox rotation. It's as simple as that. He's not playing well enough for a regular shift in the NHL.

 

[Baxterman]

He's definitely not the best player on the team offensively. He has 6 points in 13 games, but I'd be interested to see what the points per game is among only the games with the Gaudreau/Monahan/Ferland line. I would guess that all 6 points have come from those games.

Entirely possible that Bennett could also produce this well with this opportunity, but by no means do you need to pretend that Ferland isn't contributing in order to state that opinion.

My concern is that his limited contribution is more of a factor of him being on the ice with Gaudreau-Monahan, not because of his good play.

I am not sure how much credit he deserves for leaching off those two, especially when it is entirely possible many others could produce more in that spot.

I don't have to prented that Ferland isn't contributing because I can see him not contributing when I watch him on the ice and look at his stats.

 

[TychoFan]

Sorry, I haven't read all of the replies and I don't know all of the rules. Does he have to pass through waivers if we want to have him play in the AHL (also, does anyone have a site where I can see that? I can't seem to find that information on CapFriendly)?

EDIT: Never mind, only players on ELC's are waiver exempt. I'm tired, always confused about 18+3 year old Sam Bennett

 

[SmellOfVictory]

6 points in 13 games isn't really producing all that much. Last night as an example I don't think he did all that much to "earn" his two points.

I have a hard time believing Bennett couldn't have leached 6 points of Gaudreau and Monahan if given the same chances.

lol your bias is ridiculous. If you think Ferland is "leeching" points, you haven't been watching the games. If you think Bennett has been clearly better, you're also not watching the games. Answer a question for me: Who's the player who takes stupid penalties in the offensive zone on a regular basis and has zero points? Is it Ferland? Because it sure doesn't seem like it's Ferland.

 

[FerklundCGY]

All I know is that Bennett as a winger as been a really good player for us. The points still aren't there but all the signs point towards him and Jankowski being a great duo since they've been put together

 

[Anglesmith]

Real question is why Mark Jankowski hasn't been able to leech any points these last few games while getting to play with Sam Bennett.

 

[BigRangy]

Since the Janko callup (6 games) Bennett is

1st in shots/60
4th in individual corsi for/60
2nd in individual scoring chances/60
3rd in individual high danger scoring chances/60
6th in hits/60
Positive in all relative shot/corsi/chance generation metrics
Last in PDO

Among Flames forwards

Bennett has been playing well for his role. The top line upside is probably not there anymore but he is definitely an NHL player just going through a slump.

 

[Kanye]

Bennett may never score again

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Since the Janko callup (6 games) Bennett is

1st in shots/60
4th in individual corsi for/60
2nd in individual scoring chances/60
3rd in individual high danger scoring chances/60
6th in hits/60
Positive in all relative shot/corsi/chance generation metrics
Last in PDO

Among Flames forwards

Bennett has been playing well for his role. The top line upside is probably not there anymore but he is definitely an NHL player just going through a slump.

He is only 21, so I think he could be a top line winger still, but man I wish people would stop trying to tout him as the Flames' future first line C. He would have to improve exponentially at C for that to happen.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I don’t know why Sam always needs to be put into a box, and to be frank that pressure is probably what is affecting him so much. Is he a topline winger or C, or is he a 3rd line winger or C? Just let Sam be Sam and find his way. This is exactly the same situation that Backlund went through and the comments are almost identical. He’ll figure it out and he’s trending in a good direction.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I don’t know why Sam always needs to be put into a box, and to be frank that pressure is probably what is affecting him so much. Is he a topline winger or C, or is he a 3rd line winger or C? Just let Sam be Sam and find his way. This is exactly the same situation that Backlund went through and the comments are almost identical. He’ll figure it out and he’s trending in a good direction.

I really disagree with you there. Backlunds struggles were primarily due to his constantly being injured, and not being reliable defensively in his first few years. He for the most part always has produced at a reasonable clip.

Bennett I would argue has the exact opposite issue in that he is fine in every other facet, save for production.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I really disagree with you there. Backlunds struggles were primarily due to his constantly being injured, and not being reliable defensively in his first few years. He for the most part always has produced at a reasonable clip.

Bennett I would argue has the exact opposite issue in that he is fine in every other facet, save for production.

That’s fair, but almost no 2 players are the same or identical. A comparison is just that, and it’s more the circumstances that I find to be eerily similar. As players, I do not think Backlund or Bennett resemble each other a ton (maybe defensively long term), so I’d argue their on ice development would not be linear.

But struggles early on, slumps, inconsistencies, over reactions from fans, lack of patience, all remind me of the same circumstances. Bennett should have ideally been playing in the AHL for a season and it’s really hurting his development now.