Player Discussion #93 - Sam Bennett

[Anglesmith]

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.

The concern is that Sam is being Sam right now.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Backlunds struggles ... not being reliable defensively in his first few years.

If anything I'd say the opposite. He was always extremely responsible defensively. His original issues (aside from the injuries that you mentioned) were a lack of aggressiveness, particularly in the offensive zone. Rather than the player we see now who drives the net and forechecks hard, he would generally stay higher in the offensive zone and was often so concerned with his defensive positioning that he missed out on a lot of good offensive chances. But that was really only his first couple of seasons.

 

[Skobel24]

Keep him on the wing from here on out, and just let him develop with Jankowski. Slot Jagr with them when he's ready to go.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Bennett - Jankowski - Jagr

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

The concern is that Sam is being Sam right now.

Hopefully there’s more there. Looking at his game, there appears to be. Because if can’t score a point in 82 games, he’s probably not an NHL player and I don’t think that’s the case.

 

[Anglesmith]

I think if he plays the way he has these last few games, and the team starts playing better and getting into better positions, he'll end up with his two dozen points at the end of the year. Hopefully he has a strong second half he can build off of.

People talk about Bennett's linemates all the time, but the idea of Bennett was to be the linemate that other players would want to play with, not a guy who could succeed if and only if other players were put with him. Now, granted, he's still young.

 

[InfinityIggy]

If anything I'd say the opposite. He was always extremely responsible defensively. His original issues (aside from the injuries that you mentioned) were a lack of aggressiveness, particularly in the offensive zone. Rather than the player we see now who drives the net and forechecks hard, he would generally stay higher in the offensive zone and was often so concerned with his defensive positioning that he missed out on a lot of good offensive chances. But that was really only his first couple of seasons.

Perhaps, I more so mean relative to the defensive game he plays today. He improved hugely in that area under Butter.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I don’t know why Sam always needs to be put into a box

Maybe if he stopped taking stupid penalties....

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Maybe if he stopped taking stupid penalties....

 

[JGaudreau]

Issue with Bennett is slow reaction times. He's tough, good shot, good passing, good eyehand good everything except his reflexes are slower than Jagr's. A 45 year old man, more than twice his age, has better reflexes. It was sad watching Jagr throw passes to Bennett only to see him bobble the pass because his reflexes are so slow. He's a bust, I think.

With Backlund we had a player that had the reaction times but lacked strength before. Once he matured and got stronger he was able to compete, Bennett is not like Backlund. He is already strong but he's just so slow that he's always behind the play. I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see how he'll ever be able to play at an NHL level when he has the reflexes of Tim Jackman. Bennett got by on strength and hustle before but once he reached the highest level everyone is a half second ahead of him all the time.

 

[DFF]

I dont know if Bennett has good passing skills. Most of his passes go to players that are in no position to take the pass or make play.

 

[JGaudreau]

I dont know if Bennett has good passing skills. Most of his passes go to players that are in no position to take the pass or make play.

Because the play is so fast his pass releases a half second behind when it should. He handles the puck and releases it well, it's the timing that stinks.

 

[Baxterman]

Its amazing that he was able to score 18 goals and 36 points as a 19 year old with such terrible timing.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

The problem with Bennett is pretty clear. He is an east west player who is being forced to play a north-south game because a few elements of his game have physicality to them. But because he isn't inherently a north-south player there is hesitation everything he does(which some confuse as a lack of hockey sense, others confuse as poor timing). This has cascaded with a general lack of confidence from the lack of results from the contrived north south play.

He needs a coach that will unshackle him and let him play instinctively, youthful mistakes and all. No one can succeed playinf the way someone else wants them to play. We didn't draft him to be Ferland. We didn't put him down the middle to be Monahan, either. But those are the messages he is getting. Doubly so as a winger. The message he should be getting is go wild and trust your skill and talent. It's time to put him back down the middle and on a line with Jagr and Frolik. Call up Eatbread and Hathaway to join Janko. Let Stajan and Lazar duke it out for Tkachuk/Backlund checking duties.

 

[Mr Snrub]

Pretty sad to watch this happen. I really thought this kid was gonna be a great player. Now I'm not positive he'll even end up an average one.

 

[JGaudreau]

Its amazing that he was able to score 18 goals and 36 points as a 19 year old with such terrible timing.

With the Hartley run and gun system not so surprising. The long stretch passes would favor slower reflexes more than close support tiered passing systems. Just watch Sam's play closely, you'll notice he's always reacting after the fact and never anticipating. The passes almost startle him because they always get to him before he's ready, his passes are off because he sees the passing lane as it's starting to disappear without any anticipation abilities. He's always a few strides from where he should be and a half-second too slow when receiving or making passes.

Add in the defensive responsibilities of Gulutzan's system and it effectively crippled Bennett's ability to make timely plays. It's why he takes bad penalties, he starts to move the other direction by the time the entire play is already going the other way and gets caught reaching trying to catch back up.

It's very similar to Brouwer, put either guy with the elite offensive players on our team and they just can not keep up with the play at all. It's why plays always die on their sticks. Brouwer actually seems to have a little more defensive anticipation, Bennett has none. The slowest reflexes on our team. I want to defend the kid but objectively it's looking like he will be a bust. If not then great, atleast we didn't sign him for 6 years.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I dont know if Bennett has good passing skills. Most of his passes go to players that are in no position to take the pass or make play.

It's because he doesn't look to pass until he is out of options. Thus, bad passes. Goes back to the oft mentioned 'doesn't use his linemates'.

 

[Flameshomer]

Reinhart is struggling to start the year too (still has 5 more points than Benny but is getting more minutes). I wonder if the Sabres would consider a swap. Bennett needs a fresh start.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

The problem with Bennett is pretty clear. He is an east west player who is being forced to play a north-south game because a few elements of his game have physicality to them.

Really? Who's forcing him to play north-south? As far as I can see, GG lets players play as they need to in the offensive zone, so long as they can actually get results. From day 1 in the NHL Bennett was a tunnel vision drive-the-net player. This is why he was not performing well at centre, and it's also why he had "chemistry" with Gaudreau (because Gaudreau just has to find the person driving the net, and good things will happen).

 

[Baxterman]

The problem with Bennett is pretty clear. He is an east west player who is being forced to play a north-south game because a few elements of his game have physicality to them. But because he isn't inherently a north-south player there is hesitation everything he does(which some confuse as a lack of hockey sense, others confuse as poor timing). This has cascaded with a general lack of confidence from the lack of results from the contrived north south play.

It seems unlikely that the solution is this simple and yet GG, Cameron, Treliving, Conroy, Burke, all the analysts other there, other GMs, all the fans here, even Ryan Huska all are missing it.

I am not a huge fan of GG but i have hard time believing that he is so stubborn that he would continually force Bennett to play a style that doesn't work for him and if he only unleashed him would have a more productive "Hart level" player.

 

[djpatm]

Reinhart is struggling to start the year too (still has 5 more points than Benny but is getting more minutes). I wonder if the Sabres would consider a swap. Bennett needs a fresh start.

Not a chance Buffalo does it. Reinhart has shown more than Bennett.

Bennetts value is at best a 2nd round pick imo.

 

[FlamesFan18]

Not a chance Buffalo does it. Reinhart has shown more than Bennett.

Bennetts value is at best a 2nd round pick imo.

Who would give up a 2nd round pick for a bust who fell off a cliff in their third season?

Oh yeah.

 

[lightstorm]

For all the vitrol Bennett gets, where's Janko criticism? How is he helping the team win? Dont forget he's older than Sam as well. All his "beasting" in the AHL has translated into a big fat 0.

 

[Baxterman]

For all the vitrol Bennett gets, where's Janko criticism? How is he helping the team win? Dont forget he's older than Sam as well. All his "beasting" in the AHL has translated into a big fat 0.

He is a golden goose so you won't see much, if any, criticisms of him and just a lot of talk about "how close he looks" and "how unlucky" he is.

 

[Anglesmith]

He is a golden goose so you won't see much, if any, criticisms of him and just a lot of talk about "how close he looks" and "how unlucky" he is.

This is true of both Bennett and Jankowski right now.

 

[lightstorm]

Thats such an HFOil thing to say, they too believe their Corsi Gods are just unlucky.