Player Discussion Jordie Benn

[SquiddFX]

He's been impressive so far so kudos to him. What I like the most from watching him is his ability to keep a guy off him and maintain control of the puck when he wheels behind the net. He makes simple plays and doesn't try to do too much, very solid defensively. Exactly what we needed on the third pairing with Beaulieu.

 

[Hoople]

The members of this community ALWAYS over value our own players and prospects.
There was a huge outcry on this board when we unloaded guys like Diaz (remember him) and Sekac.
According to some Sekac was supposed to solve all of our scoring problems. He's not even in the NHL anymore.

Patteryn was a 6-7 D-man at best, borderline NHLer. Benn is an NHLer.

Andrew Berkshire effect.

 

[hototogisu]

Andrew Berkshire effect.

I'll have you know Sekac, Diaz and Andrighetto are all-stars in the HERO Chart Hockey League and they'd be NHL all-stars too if they could just find a coach who would use them properly

 

[Adam Michaels]

Anyone else notice when he is fending off someone pressuring him with one hand, he holds his stick lower with the other hand to manipulate the puck?

You can't see it clearly in the picture, but you can tell he's holding his stick lower. It helps him play the puck more steadily.

 

[Bieber fever]

Paul Mara 2.0

 

[Treb]

Paul Mara 2.0

Rich man's Paul Mara

 

[Hackett]

Why did Dallas bother trading him? Not suggesting he's untouchable but is there any reason?

He's playing alot better than I ever remember him in Dallas, although my assessment is probably outdated and a smaller sample size too.

What is an obvious upgrade over pateryn thus far is his ability to get pucks on net. He may not have that big shot that pateryn has but what's the point when pateryn has yet to prove that he can deliver it often enough, or even get it through traffic on a consistent basis.

On the defensive side, he's been reliable for the most part. There's not too many head scratching moments so far, and he is looking like a luxury as a 3rd pairing guy right now.

A seemingly low mistake rate and ability to get pucks on net has been Benn's stamp so far IMO.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

A while back I posted in the Pateryn thread (before his trade) saying he was an average, if not below average, bottom pairing defenceman. I got called out to explain what I meant as it apparently makes no sense, but I think the performance of Jordie Benn shows what a good bottom pairing defenceman is.

People liked Pateryn and felt he deserved more of a shot. I thought he had very questionable decision making with the puck and wasn't the best skater. Benn gives the Habs 3 solid pairings. No longer do we wince when we see Johnston and Barberio on the ice. Think of how simple and important it is to be able to trust any pairing in any situation.

Ditto. I thought Pateryn was over-rated on these boards and said so many times. I liked him better than Johnston/Hanley though!

He did too many stupid things with the puck instead of making the safe play. If you provide offense like P.K. Subban than going for the odd low percentage play sometimes can work, but Greg Pateryn? Yeah, no.

Benn brings - so far - stability to that bottom pairing. Keep it simple, make the smart play, that's what you want from your bottom pairing.

 

[ultraboy]

Love the guy, brings stability and is physical when needed. Love how he plays without the puck, very smart..

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

He's playing alot better than I ever remember him in Dallas, although my assessment is probably outdated and a smaller sample size too.

What is an obvious upgrade over pateryn thus far is his ability to get pucks on net. He may not have that big shot that pateryn has but what's the point when pateryn has yet to prove that he can deliver it often enough, or even get it through traffic on a consistent basis.

On the defensive side, he's been reliable for the most part. There's not too many head scratching moments so far, and he is looking like a luxury as a 3rd pairing guy right now.

A seemingly low mistake rate and ability to get pucks on net has been Benn's stamp so far IMO.

I think he has been pretty good in his role too, but would you believe that getting pucks through has actually been a weakness of his pretty much since joining the league? Hard to believe that he's pretty consistently a 38-40% thru guy, which always ranked low even among Dallas defensemen. Seems to me he's a fit for what we need so far, and likely to improve on that 38-40% (his current 67% is probably unsustainable, lol) among other things.

 

[Adam Michaels]

I am a fan of this guy. He won me over the first game when he jumped on Hartnell when he was trying to get rough in front of the net with Beaulieu at some point.

And also the play where Hartnell took out Price's leg (with the help of Price, who sneakily placed himself in that position purposely). He and Beaulieu didn't waste time passing the message to Hartnell.

 

[calder candidate]

Maybe he was ask to play a bigger role in Dallas, maybe he just on a high from getting traded, maybe everyone had extremely low expectations...
I expected better puck skill and maybe a bit more agility or mobility but I didn't expect it to translate into such a upgrad. He gain a lot of points in my book. If he keep up is play and considering is contract he might even get drafted in the expansion draft.

 

[hototogisu]

You seriously believe that?

I thought it was so obvious I was being sarcastic that I didn't need to put the smiley

 

[Dominator13]

I thought it was so obvious I was being sarcastic that I didn't need to put the smiley

It was very obvious...

 

[Hackett]

I think he has been pretty good in his role too, but would you believe that getting pucks through has actually been a weakness of his pretty much since joining the league? Hard to believe that he's pretty consistently a 38-40% thru guy, which always ranked low even among Dallas defensemen. Seems to me he's a fit for what we need so far, and likely to improve on that 38-40% (his current 67% is probably unsustainable, lol) among other things.

It sounds more like the jordie benn I remember in Dallas, but I'm willing to look at this with a clean slate.

Yes, that Percentage will likely come down, but hopefully it isnt a total tease like Mitchell and his early season goal scoring over the last two seasons.

By the way, where did you get those numbers? It sounds like a pretty decent resource to refer to.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

By the way, where did you get those numbers? It sounds like a pretty decent resource to refer to.

It's the last column of the "skater advanced statistics" of team pages on hockeyreference. Annoyingly, it's not part of individual player pages, so you have to skip from roster year to roster year to see how players progress.

 

[zzoo]

Benn had another solid game yesterday night. He's pretty reliable. Good acquisition, MB !

 

[Toene]

Id try him with Weber for a few shifts if I was CJ. Really liked who he played. He controls the puck well and makes ok-to-good passes.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Id try him with Weber for a few shifts if I was CJ. Really liked who he played. He controls the puck well and makes ok-to-good passes.

I'd pump the brakes a bit on that one... If you really want to start hating a player, throw him in over his head for a while and watch him flounder. Dallas basically already tried to do this with him, and the results were disastrous. You can hope to find a "fit", but...

 

[kris]

He just blocked 3 shots in the first minute of the Hawks first PP.

 

[rhinoshawarma]

Thought he had a very solid game yesterday, even when he turned the puck over he came back to stop a breakaway from behind the player. I've Benn pleasantly surprised by his play

 

[Le Barron de HF]

This guy has been even more solid than Weaver when we acquired him. Didn't like the fact that we added a 4th round pick for a swap that seemed like a lateral move but I am glad to be eating crow on this one!

 

[Habs100]

Should we protect Benn and Trade Beaulieu for a top six forward?

I think yes, but it will be hard to find a team that wants Beaulieu in a package for a top 6 forward.

 

[G0bias]

Not something you'd see from Weber.
Mind you he messed up the shot but he's got some underrated speed and instincts.

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

Should we protect Benn and Trade Beaulieu for a top six forward?

I think yes, but it will be hard to find a team that wants Beaulieu in a package for a top 6 forward.

Wouldn't you need to protect the player you acquire in exchange? Don't really have room for protection at offense.