Player Discussion Is it time yet? (Benning)

[LTIR]

I knew very little about him, and was worried that he was forced in on a promise that he would get ice time if he signed here. Old management still haunts me. I love this kids game. He isn't a top 4 dman yet, but we are in a good spot right now where none of these kids get forced into top pairing minuted.

They can get bottom pairing minutes, rewarded with more when they're playing well, but we can afford to ground them back down when they're not.

This.. Benning is a good #6 and hopefully someone who can form chemistry with Nurse on the bottom pairing and work upwards.

These guys will have their struggles and slumps for a few yrs and need to be given room to work through them.

Sekera-xxxxx
Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Benning

Still hoping for a Byfuglien or Faulk for our top pairing

 

[McSuper]

Benning has look great . Davidson not as good this year but he was injured so lets give him the time to get back in game shape . Chia the man

Benning UFA free signing on a ELC playing great
Cagguila UFA signing a ELC he going to be good . You can see flashes of that
Ellis UFA signing a ELC and now our best goalie prospect .

3 very good assets on ELC that have all played well . As we become better and our draft picks are worse we need these type of signings to stay competitive as the cap causes us to lose players .

On a side note . I do not believe we make these signings if Mac T doesn't convince Chia to trade for Reinhart . So I think these signing make up for that with Ellis being the bonus .

Hearing Benning interview and the type of player he wants to be I can see him working hard and becoming a solid D for us for years . As another fan said . I hope we can keep Davidson as well . If he gets back to his level of play from last year we are looking good on D with out Russell

 

[nabob]

......

Really? One win without him and we're getting this already? I hated the trade and I still think this ridiculous. We very obviously missed him last night. Unless you're getting a Taylor Hall level player back AND adding another good top pairing dman somehow I want no part of this.

Hahaha it must be a joke. We struggled to beat a bad Flames team in extra time.

Benning is looking great and I think he and Nurse could be a great 3rd pairing next year and going forward. I think their skill sets compliment each other very well. Would like to see a legit #4RHD to play with Sekera/Klefbom on the 2nd pairing. Preferably one with a good point shot. I'm assuming that we'll lose one of Davidson or Russell to Vegas in the expansion draft.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Benning has been a revelation

if he keeps trending this way our future on the right side secure with Larsson and Benning

 

[Smartguy]

Benning has played well but see Brandon Davidson, he's been injured for the most part this year but he's been a shell of last years player. This board tends to hype these guys then when the falter you don't hear to much about them. Hopefull for Benning though I think he's much more mobile then Davidson

 

[Aceboogie]

He could play top 4 if needed yes. But his role has been bottom pairing and he's been killing it.

 

[SullivanT]

Boys! If you were to tell me at the beginning of the year that if we got into a defensive style game without Larsson and Nurse in the lineup and come out with 2 points I would of told you to take off the homer goggles. My expectations for a win last night weren't that high after hearing Larsson was out. Good teams find ways to overcome these things and I think we are trending I'm the right direction. Lost my voice at the game last night even though I probably should of brought my sleeping bag and pillow. Nets step we need to take is start finishing these games in regulation

 

[Dempsey]

I hope we can trade Larsson while his value is still high (they traded Hall for him so he must be good!)

He is injured but we don't really miss him. Davidson and Russell can play at his level defensively while adding other elements. If he could be packaged up with Lucic or Eberle for an offensively talented RHD we'd be great. Benning gives us some depth on RH but we can't really move Larsson without adding another natural RH.

Our D is improved this year because we have depth. The worst guy we are forced to play semi-regularly is Gryba, and he can hold his own against average NHL competition. Normally we'd have 3 AHL-quality guys in our top 6 by this time in the season.

McDavid got injured last season and our record didn't really suffer for it, so we could probably also trade him and be alright.

 

[MoneyGuy]

I hope we can trade Larsson while his value is still high (they traded Hall for him so he must be good!)

He is injured but we don't really miss him. Davidson and Russell can play at his level defensively while adding other elements. If he could be packaged up with Lucic or Eberle for an offensively talented RHD we'd be great. Benning gives us some depth on RH but we can't really move Larsson without adding another natural RH.

Our D is improved this year because we have depth. The worst guy we are forced to play semi-regularly is Gryba, and he can hold his own against average NHL competition. Normally we'd have 3 AHL-quality guys in our top 6 by this time in the season.

Seriously?

 

[Musashi]

Love his compete level out there but I want to see him and guys like Nurse/Davidson spend a couple years growing their game and developing on the bottom pairing. When injuries strike, they will get their looks in the top 4 but we got time so let's not rush it.

 

[Arpeggio]

I don't care where he plays in the lineup, he's definitely an NHLer and the Oilers are lucky to have him. I think the writing's on the wall for one of Davidson/Russell going to another team this summer. Nurse was looking primed for a breakout so once he comes back I think Davidson probably moves to the 7 spot.

 

[oobga]

I think this kid is the surprise of the season. Damn lucky that he could step up and and a righty playing some top 4 minutes and look pretty good doing it. Been a long time since the Oilers found a guy like this on D that can go from unknown to good contributor. Hope he can keep improving. Not much reason to think he can't.

 

[MessierII]

He's been sheltered a lot by tmac but lately he's been given more responsibility and has handled it well.

 

[hallhopkinseberle]

Benning has look great . Davidson not as good this year but he was injured so lets give him the time to get back in game shape . Chia the man

Benning UFA free signing on a ELC playing great
Cagguila UFA signing a ELC he going to be good . You can see flashes of that
Ellis UFA signing a ELC and now our best goalie prospect .

3 very good assets on ELC that have all played well . As we become better and our draft picks are worse we need these type of signings to stay competitive as the cap causes us to lose players .

On a side note . I do not believe we make these signings if Mac T doesn't convince Chia to trade for Reinhart . So I think these signing make up for that with Ellis being the bonus .

Hearing Benning interview and the type of player he wants to be I can see him working hard and becoming a solid D for us for years . As another fan said . I hope we can keep Davidson as well . If he gets back to his level of play from last year we are looking good on D with out Russell

I wouldnt say Ellis is our best goalie prospect.

Brossiot still pretty good.

Wells also have been very good too in the Ohl 3.22GAA .914sv% are pretty good numbers on a poor team.

I say as of right now its a three way tie between these three prospects.

 

[McFlyingV]

I wouldnt say Ellis is our best goalie prospect.

Brossiot still pretty good.

Wells also have been very good too in the Ohl 3.22GAA .914sv% are pretty good numbers on a poor team.

I say as of right now its a three way tie between these three prospects.

My couple viewings of Ellis the past week indicates he's a guy who still has a lot to work on. He moves well, but still has rebound control issues and has some positioning and fine tuning that needs to be done. He could end up an NHL goalie someday, but I don't think it will be for at least another 2 years unless he makes some big strides.

 

[MuzzaFuzza]

Benning has been awesome, loved how he stood up for Lander. As for him vs Davidson, I think Davidson was better last year than Benning has been this year, but Benning being a righty makes him much more important.

Benning has look great . Davidson not as good this year but he was injured so lets give him the time to get back in game shape . Chia the man

Benning UFA free signing on a ELC playing great
Cagguila UFA signing a ELC he going to be good . You can see flashes of that
Ellis UFA signing a ELC and now our best goalie prospect .

3 very good assets on ELC that have all played well . As we become better and our draft picks are worse we need these type of signings to stay competitive as the cap causes us to lose players .

On a side note . I do not believe we make these signings if Mac T doesn't convince Chia to trade for Reinhart . So I think these signing make up for that with Ellis being the bonus .

Hearing Benning interview and the type of player he wants to be I can see him working hard and becoming a solid D for us for years . As another fan said . I hope we can keep Davidson as well . If he gets back to his level of play from last year we are looking good on D with out Russell

Yep, 3 very good college signings in this last offseason.

 

[Dorian2]

He's looking very solid so far for a what? 22 year old. Looking like a really good find so far. Some of these College kids seem to be working out nicely. Great to see him working out so far.