Player Discussion Matt Benning

thadd

Oil4Life
Jun 9, 2007
26,717
2,718
Canada
In the AHL?

Because there's certainly nothing in his game that points toward that in the NHL.

He shouldn't have been in the NHL yet.
Dude was way out of his league last year and didn't seem to be drowning. Caught up to him big time this year.
He probably needs 2-3 years in the AHL.
 

MessierII

Registered User
Aug 10, 2011
27,644
16,187
Benning is still an important prospect for us. (and unfortunately that's what he kind of is)

If Nurse can turn into what he just turned into this season, then Benning could be our next Vatanen or Barrie if he can break out
I think it’s a stretch to say he’ll put up numbers like those guys but I sort of agree in a sense that I haven’t given up on him. HF oil loves writing off players careers after one down season. All of these guys Caguila, Slep, Benning Brossoit could still become good nhl players.
 
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t0nedeff

Registered User
Jun 29, 2010
9,985
4,198
At no point has Davidson been as good as Davidson was 2 years ago either.
Difference being one player getting game after game to improve while the other one has a bad game and has to sit for 5+ games until the head coach removes his head out of his ass. Even last year Davidson went down with an injury and even when he was healthy he was in and out while Benning got all the rope in the world and the record of the team masked his average to garbage play and Davidson never got the opportunity or a fair chance at least to regain his form from the previous year. Hell look at what he has done for the Oilers this year he's clearly been a better defenseman than Klefbom/Benning/Sakera/Russel (imo) and yet he doesn't get any rope at all from Mclellan.
 
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MessierII

Registered User
Aug 10, 2011
27,644
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Difference being one player getting game after game to improve while the other one has a bad game and has to sit for 5+ games until the head coach removes his head out of his ass. Even last year Davidson went down with an injury and even when he was healthy he was in and out while Benning got all the rope in the world and the record of the team masked his average to garbage play and Davidson never got the opportunity or a fair chance at least to regain his form from the previous year. Hell look at what he has done for the Oilers this year he's clearly been a better defenseman than Klefbom/Benning/Sakera/Russel (imo) and yet he doesn't get any rope at all from Mclellan.
Benning played really good last year on the bottom pair. He was sheltered like crazy but he did well with the minutes. Davidson hasn’t really played any stretch of good hockey in two years here or elsewhere.
 

FlameChampion

Registered User
Jul 13, 2011
13,521
15,047
He hasnt been good this year. Its really as simple as that. Nurse is the only defender whos been better than he was last year. Kids still young though, so I am not going to go out of my way to crap on him. Maybe the team should send him down to the AHL to get some confidence and play Davidson, Auvitu more or bring up Gryba, Simpson etc. Seasons pretty much lost anyway.
 
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nabob

Big Daddy Kane
Aug 3, 2005
34,291
20,670
HF boards
He shouldn't have been in the NHL yet.
Dude was way out of his league last year and didn't seem to be drowning. Caught up to him big time this year.
He probably needs 2-3 years in the AHL.
If he needs three years in the AHL then he'll never make it back to the NHL.
 

CycloneSweep

Registered User
Sep 27, 2017
47,831
39,718
Benning isn't awful, just needs AHL time. It's been obvious since game 1 his game was off and has suffered all year and the team has suffered a bit because of it as well.
 

Shane Goudie

Registered User
Jul 8, 2009
202
44
I really feel that Benning is the man to go if/when a proper power play QB is brought in. The other candidates to move either have bad contracts and/or NTCs getting in the way.
 

Bryanbryoil

Pray For Ukraine
Sep 13, 2004
85,950
34,067
I really feel that Benning is the man to go if/when a proper power play QB is brought in. The other candidates to move either have bad contracts and/or NTCs getting in the way.

I keep getting the feeling that it will be Klefbom.
 

Spawn

Something in the water
Feb 20, 2006
43,587
14,944
Edmonton
Of course it would depend on the return. But what about our GMs past trades make you think he'd get good value in a deal for Klefbom who is in the midst of a poor season? He'll trade him for some other teams underwhelming former top 5 pick, claim the player has more to give and then in a years time when Klefbom is back to being a top pairing d-man and we'll be stuck with yet another underwhelming player.

This shouldn't be rocket science. You do not trade a 24 year old d-man who has played at the level Klefbom has proven he can play at in the past when he's playing at his worst. It's how you end up getting taken behind the wood shed. You just don't do it.

The only scenario you can consider trading him is if you are getting a legitimate upgrade for his spot on the roster. You certainly don't trade him for a winger and then hope some over the hill guy like Mike Green is going to come in and replace him long term.
 

Stoneman89

Registered User
Feb 8, 2008
27,204
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I wouldn't go more than a year or two and 1.2 mill if they decide he might be salvagable. But I won't lose sleep if he's moved for a piece at TD or in the summer. Not the best skater, and size can be an issue with getting pushed off pucks. Seems to be able to get his shot through, but there's not a lot of mustard on it. To be fair to him, he's been thrown in a tough situation, way above his punching weight this year, and he's crumbled. No question, he is the weak link on defence right now for us. I doubt he's anything more than a bottom pairing guy at best during his peak years, so no big deal to me.
 

Stoneman89

Registered User
Feb 8, 2008
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Benning played really good last year on the bottom pair. He was sheltered like crazy but he did well with the minutes. Davidson hasn’t really played any stretch of good hockey in two years here or elsewhere.


Davidson has actually put in some decent stretches. Going into the season last year, he was a solid pencil in for the bottom pairing based on his play the latter part of the prior year and TC, but the unfortunate injury in game one due to that POS from Calgary pretty much sewered his season, and he never found any traction coming back from it. When acquired this year, he put together some good stretches, but like all guys on the bubble in the bottom pairing, he crapped the bed in a game or 2, and when you're that far down the totem pole, it usually means PB for a bit. I think he and Benning should be sharing that spot the rest of the year, and Avatar should get a few games in there as well. Leave every guy in Backo down there to continue their development.
 

nexttothemoon

and again...
Jan 30, 2010
29,257
16,432
Northern AB
Benning is better than Klefbom (yes I know... low bar and all)... but I'll stand by that. Klefbom has almost zero defensive awareness and his offense has gone somewhere far, far away (whereas he used to be decent in that category).

Benning is clearly the better 2-way dman.
 
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Bryanbryoil

Pray For Ukraine
Sep 13, 2004
85,950
34,067
I'd sign him on the cheap for 2 years. Worst case scenario we send him to Bako.
 

Porkleaker

Registered User
Mar 19, 2017
9,708
8,304
Onterrible
This is on Chia and Todd, Chia knew Sekera would be out and not 100% even coming back and sat on his hands and did nothing. Then you've got Todd playing this horrible pairing nightly at key moments in the game as if he's trying to lose. The way Chia loses trades and with Todd's refusal to match lines and the crap he does after commercial breaks etc...Zero faith in either and at least one of them needs to go, preferably both.
 

Mr Positive

Cap Crunch Incoming
Nov 20, 2013
35,794
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This is on Chia and Todd, Chia knew Sekera would be out and not 100% even coming back and sat on his hands and did nothing. Then you've got Todd playing this horrible pairing nightly at key moments in the game as if he's trying to lose. The way Chia loses trades and with Todd's refusal to match lines and the crap he does after commercial breaks etc...Zero faith in either and at least one of them needs to go, preferably both.

it is true that perhaps Chia should have made some deal with Vegas for one of their D rentals. Before the season started probably everyone outside of maybe 5-6 guys were up for sale.

However, remember that Chia didn't get someone because he was gambling that Nurse or Benning could take the next step. That did happen with Nurse, so Chia's gamble paid off. What Chia could not have predicted was that Klefbom would have played much worse, and perhaps the same goes for Larsson and Benning.

I'm on the side that we still should have got someone from Vegas or elsewhere for the D. At the time, it would have been the prudent thing to do anyway, and in hindsight it would have been a move that could have helped us anyway, although for a different reason.
 

Mr Positive

Cap Crunch Incoming
Nov 20, 2013
35,794
16,183
More moronic than giving Russel a NMC?
For sure that NMC is just poison on that, and I don't get it.

I will say that Russell has been worth every cent of his contract and then some. I would have no problem with Russell staying with the team for his whole deal, and he'd likely be an effective player for the whole thing.

However, there is the cap. Cap flexibility is EXTREMELY important for us now, and of course Russell's NMC hurts that a lot. Russell is a depth player, not a core player, and that's how he's paid. The problem is that there are core players that will need to be re-signed over the course of Russell's deal. Puljujarvi, Talbot, Larsson, Nurse. The cap is all about good teams having to cough up good players once in a while. As good as Russell has been, I'd rather the team have to cough up Russell than RNH or Nurse.

I know Russell's got a limited NTC for the last two years of his deal, but imo it's not quite limited enough. I think he could pick strategically and basically treat it like a full NMC
 

Porkleaker

Registered User
Mar 19, 2017
9,708
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it is true that perhaps Chia should have made some deal with Vegas for one of their D rentals. Before the season started probably everyone outside of maybe 5-6 guys were up for sale.

However, remember that Chia didn't get someone because he was gambling that Nurse or Benning could take the next step. That did happen with Nurse, so Chia's gamble paid off. What Chia could not have predicted was that Klefbom would have played much worse, and perhaps the same goes for Larsson and Benning.

I'm on the side that we still should have got someone from Vegas or elsewhere for the D. At the time, it would have been the prudent thing to do anyway, and in hindsight it would have been a move that could have helped us anyway, although for a different reason.

Totally happy with Nurse, he's stepped it up big time and is only going to get better. A D rental would've been the smart idea but I guess going into next season they know what they've got to deal with and where the real issues are...Trouble is its exposed so many holes on the team. Special teams, scoring, D and goaltending all need help.
 

Messier11

Registered User
May 9, 2016
207
124
This is the biggest problem IMO. How many times does the opposition come at him on a 2 on 1 [which is another problem with Klefdum pinching so often despite clueless offensively] and he just freezes? Like I dont care if he goes on 1 knee, belly flop ala Russell, just do something. He just stands and stares cluelessly.

Totally agree. He sucks on 2-1's. You figure, if he was motivated to improve, that he could perhaps get some tips on using his body to block shots or passes from Russell, the league leader on blocked shots. They guy is just useless.

It's unfair to blame this guy for anything. He is what he is, a young inconsistent NHL defenceman who is barely being paid anything. It's Chia who expected everybody to automatically improve to fill the Sekera void this year.

Completely disagree. He isn't being blamed for the entire defence corp's issues, but he certainly needs to be held accountable for 1) poor skating; 2) being pushed off pucks by opposing forwards and subsequently stripped of the puck which then ends up in our goal; 3) piss poor hockey IQ for blind passes along the boards that end up as turn overs. They guy has had 50 games to work this crap out. How hard is it? I cut and suture people every day for a living. If on the first surgery I notice that my sutures don't hold and people bleed, do you think that maybe I could figure my sh*t out by the 50th surgery? Laughable.

He is very young for a defenceman so I believe he still has time to fill his frame with more muscle. He's one of few defenceman on this team not afraid to grind it up at any given time.

Totally not true. He is a poor skater. Put 10-15 more lbs of muscle on him and he will suck even more. To be honest, that it is true of most players on this team. Compare to Calgary where the Flames players are always buzzing around and skating fast. Watching Maroon trail a play back into our zone or watching draisaitl trying to get back to the bench makes you think they just raced Bolt in the 100m sprint.

I haven’t given up on the kid but currently he should not be in the lineup.

Nurse Larsson
Sekera Russell
Klefbom Davidson should start next game.

110%. But Klefbom sucks too. Time to package that guy up and dump his salary. Again, another clueless millionaire who doesn't want to work on his game. Same mistakes 50games into the season means you are either cosmically stupid or just don't care to improve your game. Either way, that's a fatal flaw.

He's been absolutely terrible this year and at no point last year was he ever as good as Davidson was the previous year.

Absolute truth. McLellan is the biggest idiot for not playing Davidson more. Better shot, better physical play in our own end, fewer mistakes.

I think there's a very clear difference between Nurse's struggles from last season and Benning's struggles this season.

Nurse was consistently getting the puck, getting his head up and giving himself a chance to make the correct play, but ended up making a late or wrong read. That's the kind of problem a lot of young defensemen have.

Benning, on the other hand, consistently gets the puck and sweeps it in some direction without even looking. That, to me, is an actual sign of having low hockey IQ. Combine that with his below average size and poor skating and I have a hard time being too optimistic about his future.

Couldn't have said it better.
 

Tobias Kahun

Registered User
Oct 3, 2017
41,649
50,491
Totally agree. He sucks on 2-1's. You figure, if he was motivated to improve, that he could perhaps get some tips on using his body to block shots or passes from Russell, the league leader on blocked shots. They guy is just useless.



Completely disagree. He isn't being blamed for the entire defence corp's issues, but he certainly needs to be held accountable for 1) poor skating; 2) being pushed off pucks by opposing forwards and subsequently stripped of the puck which then ends up in our goal; 3) piss poor hockey IQ for blind passes along the boards that end up as turn overs. They guy has had 50 games to work this crap out. How hard is it? I cut and suture people every day for a living. If on the first surgery I notice that my sutures don't hold and people bleed, do you think that maybe I could figure my sh*t out by the 50th surgery? Laughable.



Totally not true. He is a poor skater. Put 10-15 more lbs of muscle on him and he will suck even more. To be honest, that it is true of most players on this team. Compare to Calgary where the Flames players are always buzzing around and skating fast. Watching Maroon trail a play back into our zone or watching draisaitl trying to get back to the bench makes you think they just raced Bolt in the 100m sprint.



110%. But Klefbom sucks too. Time to package that guy up and dump his salary. Again, another clueless millionaire who doesn't want to work on his game. Same mistakes 50games into the season means you are either cosmically stupid or just don't care to improve your game. Either way, that's a fatal flaw.



Absolute truth. McLellan is the biggest idiot for not playing Davidson more. Better shot, better physical play in our own end, fewer mistakes.



Couldn't have said it better.
Did you say we should dump klefboms contract? One of the dumber posts I’ve seen in awhile
 

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