Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part XVIII

[Edge]

Agreed on that point. Bennett can still take a step forward, but I'd hesitate to say he *is* a middle-6 guy. His production is pretty low. He's only hit 30 points once. Last year he paced it. This year, he has 5 points in 21 games.

That's the kind of thing we see out of Fast, who is a 3rd line option when we don't have enough top-9 depth, but he's best suited to the 4th.

I "think" he can be a third line guy for us, especially with a moderate step forward.

I'd actually be really interested to see if we can get Bennett and Lemieux to keep progressing a bit and hit that 15 goal, 35 point level. I also think they'd be a nasty and annoying line to play against, especially if you can add a complimentary RW to the mix.

But it's funny how perception creeps in again. Lemieux is the same age, from the same draft, and we have a lot of hope tied to him continuing to progress. Likewise, we still expect to see growth from ADA, also from the 2014 draft. But somehow, at least on some level, there's probably the perception that Bennett is done. I don't know if that's the case though. Again, we wouldn't be the team that took him 4th overall. We wouldn't be the team hoping for top six production. So yeah, I think Bennett does have some upside, within the proper context of course.

I know Calgary is definitely one of the teams that has pinged the Rangers. I do not know if Bennett was a player they discussed though.

 

[Edge]

I mean, they got three prospects along with it, but none of them are good.

I feel that much like Duchene last year, there was an assumption that the price tag for the prize player was multiple tiers above the second or third best option. But it's worth noting that a rental is still a rental, even if it's Corvette vs. a Camaro. So while the rental price is indeed higher, I don't think there's as much of a difference as people initially think.