Is Bennett the real deal?

[Dutchess]

http://twopadstack.net/lets-not-rush-beau-bennett-hysteria/

Click to read more...

 

[wgknestrick]

After 1 good game? No

Needs to prove it over an entire season.

 

[Rectify]

After one good game in the NHL? I will answer the question without reading the link...who knows?

 

[Son Goku]

Pointless article revolving around something we already know.

 

[1penzfan]

I like what I saw the other day but the sample size is still too small to project going forward.

 

[Gold Diamond]

Dude needs to stay healthy. We'll see.

 

[Ugene Magic]

After 1 good game? No

Needs to prove it over an entire season.

Exactly.

It'd be so much better if he does, and the entire fan base wants him to do it.

Go Beau...!

 

[wgknestrick]

Big debate going on here with lots of differing opinions

 

[Randy Butternubs]

The real deal is James Neal.

 

[Winger for Hire]

The real deal is James Neal.

I vote for Neil Walker

 

[Giskard]

After one good game in the NHL? I will answer the question without reading the link...who knows?

Beau knows

 

[Jag68Sid87]

We'll never really know until the likes of Pascal Dupuis, Nick Spaling and Blake Comeau stop playing above him on the depth chart.

 

[Dupree13]

Yes, he is the real deal. We've seen enough to know that.

The only question mark is health. If he can stay healthy and find some continuity in the line-up, he is a legitimate top 6 forward, no doubt about it.

 

[Crafton]

wasn't this cat affiliated with another website? i don't seem to remember "two pad statck.net" but i remember the asinine article titles.

 

[Ogrezilla]

After one good game in the NHL? I will answer the question without reading the link...who knows?

After 1 good game? No

Needs to prove it over an entire season.

He's had more than one good game. He's had one great game where he looked like one of the best players on the ice. He's had enough good games to sit a point and a half shy of a .5 point per game pace for his career to this point.

Its early. He needs to stay healthy. He needs to keep playing well. But if he stays healthy, he is at worst a 3rd liner in the NHL. And he's shown that over 51 regular season games and 18 playoff games. Not a huge sample, but its enough to know he's an NHL player.

 

[BobCole]

Yes, he is the real deal. We've seen enough to know that.

The only question mark is health. If he can stay healthy and find some continuity in the line-up, he is a legitimate top 6 forward, no doubt about it.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

He needs to stay healthy more than anything. The talent is there, the game is there and the effort is there. The NHL experience isn't, getting in a groove isn't and he's lost a lot of development time. There's also him having to get past any psychological problems about his injury problems.


In comparison Maatta has played more NHL games than Bennett overall and he's even played more this season. You can count Bennett's playoff games and not Maatta's, Maatta still has more with one less NHL season; Maatta managed more games in regular one season than Bennett has in his NHL career. That's pretty damn awful.

 

[bathroomSTAAL]

wasn't this cat affiliated with another website? i don't seem to remember "two pad statck.net" but i remember the asinine article titles.

Yes. He had a classic "Toews>Crosby" article the other day on the main board. Crosby is an egotistical whiner and skates on eggshells because of concussions, so Toews is better was the jist.

 

[UnrealMachine]

Bennett should be getting consistent time on PP#2 (currently known as 'the powerkill') now with Dupuis out. He may even be able to run that unit and help turn things around.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Talent, a high hockey IQ (offense and defense), strength, physicality and character have never at any point been a problem with Bennett at the pro level. I didn't have much doubt from the first time the guy stepped on NHL ice that he was a player. Health and a guy with a room temperature coaching IQ have been the only major roadblocks for him, so far. That and possibly the buddy system. But we'll see.

Side note -- anyone have any idea why they are using him currently on the LW? Hasn't Downie played both wings comfortably in the past? And as a veteran player, you'd figure they'd want him handling that potentially uncomfortable (for such a young inexperienced guy) situation.

 

[Heliarclee]

He has very good hands and hockey IQ no doubt. My cousin was his coach when he was a kid in Socal. Beau even gave me tickets to our last home game against Philly last year. If he can stay healthy he is no doubt a top 6 forward

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Beau Bennett is a fine left-winger. I really don't know where that comes from. I've never seen him anything other than comfortable on the left side.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Beau Bennett is a fine left-winger. I really don't know where that comes from. I've never seen him anything other than comfortable on the left side.

The only reason I ask is because it seems like a move made with eyes on the near-future. I'm pretty sure Bennett was playing on the right side in camp and pre-season and the coaches were saying they think that's his natural spot. But I don't quite remember.

Up until yesterday, the biggest need in the top six (arguably) was a left winger. At least that's my hunch as to what the team was thinking.

I still think those who are convinced he's third-line-bound all season are completely out to lunch. And I doubt the team truly thinks that's the case, either. Why go spend assets on a top six wing when you have one in house?

But I'm probably seeing things that aren't there.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I prefer Bennett on the RW.

I still think those who are convinced he's third-line-bound all season are completely out to lunch. And I doubt the team truly thinks that's the case, either. Why go spend assets on a top six wing when you have one in house?

tbh, in an ideal world Bennett most likely gets more time to develop on the 3rd line, but this isn't an ideal world because Shero thought he didn't need 4 real top 6 wingers and right now we only have 1 who acts like it. I'm also not sure how much more time that would be.

 

[spcastlemagic]

Bennett looks good on both wings to me. Right shot guys with his vision and intelligence can be deadly on the left side, so we will see how he develops there.

Beau is a talented, smart, physically gifted hockey player. But those attributes alone aren't enough to sustain a career. He needs to stay healthy and most importantly develop game-to-game consistency.

I see no rush for him to be in the top six. Him and Sutter seem to really bring the best out of each other. Learning how to be a guy who just crushes it on the third line would be great for his development, confidence, and career trajectory. I'll take a physical, responsible, two-way, genius-level passing winger any day of the week. He just needs to stay in the game!!