Dreger: Sam Bennett and Flames contract rumors [MOD WARNING: 235]

[DJJones]

if there's bad blood i don't completely blame sam. he wasn't put it any position to put up points last year in a contract year. it almost looked like they were trying to keep his stats down for cap reasons, which i'm not saying they did, but it might seem that way from bennet's pov

He was in a ****** spot but he plays center and LW.

Gaudreau, Monahan
Tkachuk, Backlund

Where the hell is he going to play in the top 6?

Every coach would have done the same thing. They even brought Brouwer in to help him, which turned out to be a bad move but the thought was there.

 

[madmike77]

Bennett really has no leverage. Even if he decided to hold out, the Flames would likely just slot Jankowski into Bennett's spot in the lineup and not miss a beat.

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

Someone said he wants a Brodie (4.65M x 5) like contract, which is outrageous.

I would give him a Klefbom contract though. That would be unreal.

But this is just an agent making some noise after he got shutdown by the Wizard haha. Bennett would be an idiot to miss training camp when you have Jankowski licking his chops behind him.

Since when does 26 points get you $30M over 7 years?

 

[SB84]

if there's bad blood i don't completely blame sam. he wasn't put it any position to put up points last year in a contract year. it almost looked like they were trying to keep his stats down for cap reasons, which i'm not saying they did, but it might seem that way from bennet's pov

He didn't deserve to play in the top 6. He was very inconsistent and sure, some of that may have been a product of having to play with Brouwer, but watching him play I never thought, "why isn't Bennett out there more?".

This year he has a chance to move up and possibly audition for the top line RW role if Ferland struggles, at least I hope he does, so why not sign a short term "prove it" deal and gamble on yourself. He shouldn't be asking for a lot when he put up 36 and 24 points.

 

[topcheezy]

He was in a ****** spot but he plays center and LW.

Gaudreau, Monahan
Tkachuk, Backlund

Where the hell is he going to play in the top 6?

Every coach would have done the same thing. They even brought Brouwer in to help him, which turned out to be a bad move but the thought was there.

idk, maybe the powerplay once in a while? instead of chiasson and brouwer? and tkachuk can play rw btw

this is a prized offensive prospect. if he's not scoring, he needs a spark, not get demoted to the 4th line with stajan. his confidence was ****ed and he was never given any rope to get out of it

i'm not saying hartley is a better coach than gulutzan, but there's no way in hell bennett would have gotten so few points under hartley

 

[InfinityIggy]

Since when does 26 points get you $30M over 7 years?

I mean, Klefbom had 23 NHL points when he signed his deal.

Apples and oranges a little bit, but it was a gamble at the time by the Oilers. Looks like its paying off for them now.

 

[Skobel24]

idk, maybe the powerplay once in a while? instead of chiasson and brouwer? and tkachuk can play rw btw

this is a prized offensive prospect. if he's not scoring, he needs a spark, not get demoted to the 4th line with stajan. his confidence was ****ed and he was never given any rope to get out of it

i'm not saying hartley is a better coach than gulutzan, but there's no way in hell bennett would have gotten so few points under hartley

Saying Tkachuk can play RW is like saying Tanguay and Cammalleri could play center. Technically they both could, but they were mediocre at best at it. Tkachuk has played RW in juniors, but very little. They aren't gonna slot him at a position he isn't familiar with this early on in his career. Another issue there as well is by slotting Bennett on the wing, you're basically giving up on developing as a center. Treliving has made it clear they want him at center.

 

[NewtJorden]

Oh kids these days, wanting lots of money before proving anything...

 

[InfinityIggy]

Saying Tkachuk can play RW is like saying Tanguay and Cammalleri could play center. Technically they both could, but they were mediocre at best at it. Tkachuk has played RW in juniors, but very little. They aren't gonna slot him at a position he isn't familiar with this early on in his career. Another issue there as well is by slotting Bennett on the wing, you're basically giving up on developing as a center. Treliving has made it clear they want him at center.

Not that I think we should, but Gaudreau can play RW pretty well.

 

[DJJones]

Since when does 26 points get you $30M over 7 years?

I would do that contract in a heartbeat.

Calgary needs a big win on one of their core guys once Brodie's contract is done. His wingers will be improved big time this year so buy low imo.

 

[topcheezy]

Saying Tkachuk can play RW is like saying Tanguay and Cammalleri could play center. Technically they both could, but they were mediocre at best at it. Tkachuk has played RW in juniors, but very little. They aren't gonna slot him at a position he isn't familiar with this early on in his career. Another issue there as well is by slotting Bennett on the wing, you're basically giving up on developing as a center. Treliving has made it clear they want him at center.

he could have juggled a bit, and he certainly could have been tried on the pp more when chiasson and brouwer weren't exactly cutting the mustard

 

[Aceboogie]

I mean, Klefbom had 23 NHL points when he signed his deal.

Apples and oranges a little bit, but it was a gamble at the time by the Oilers. Looks like its paying off for them now.

Klefbom was on the upswing tho and just spent a year in the NHL on the top pairing carrying Jultz around on his back. Anyone with eyes could see Klefbom was going to be the real deal. The upside to the deal was you get a #1D at a great contract, the downside is you get a good middle pairing D on a fair contract

Bennett has not shown a prolonged level of good play. More likely he winds up as Koriposki than a RyJo. Even a good upside for him is Kadri. So I dont see the upside in giving him a Kadri deal right now when he still has 10 flights of stairs to reach Kadri level play. The only long term deal that would make sense would be a Calle Janrkok type 6 year * 3 mil per deal

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Does he even really deserve much? IMO he still kinda needs to prove himself no?

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

I mean, Klefbom had 23 NHL points when he signed his deal.

Apples and oranges a little bit, but it was a gamble at the time by the Oilers. Looks like its paying off for them now.

More like apples and bowling balls.

I hear ya that you want to lock him up while the price is low but damn. 7 years for a guy who is on a similar trajectory as Yakupov?

When yak was in an identical situation he got $2.5*2 years. Good thing he didn't get more term or dollars because it turned out to be really bad.

Before everyone jumps on me, I think that Bennett has some good untapped potential and won't bust out like Yak did. But he has to prove it first.

 

[DJJones]

Does he even really deserve much? IMO he still kinda needs to prove himself no?

My guess is the Flames are offering 3M x 3 or 2M x 1.

Typical show me contracts while avoiding Tkachuks ELC ending. IMO, Stone, Frolik, and Brouwer need to all be gone by the time Tkachuk and Bennett get their big contracts.

Obviously Bennett wants more but the poor usage argument doesn't erase a bad season offensively.

 

[TFHockey]

I would do that contract in a heartbeat.

Calgary needs a big win on one of their core guys once Brodie's contract is done. His wingers will be improved big time this year so buy low imo.

Wow, really?

Look, you're the GM in Calgary. You've got a young 1st round draft choice you've been developing but hasn't shown you what you think he is capable of yet. He is an RFA and you own his rights. You have cap room but managing the cap is one of the most important things you can do as a general manager.

Said RFA wants more money than he is worth. You can replacing him with a roster player without making a trade or losing points in the standings. This is the guy you give a 7 year $30 million dollar deal to?

Treliving is pushing a bridge deal and he should. No way you make a deal like that until Bennett shows you he is worth it. If he lights it up next year and you're forced to pay more, well, that's a nice problem to have.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Is Bennett's camp just showing the 4 goal game on a loop and assuming that's the metric for his value?

 

[AvsGuy]

Yeah, well if he thinks his 26 pts gets him a contract anywhere near Draisaitl's, who had 77 pts then this one might take a while. Lol

While I agree, if you're pro-rating points and using Draisaitl as a comparison, Bennett's raise by virtue of scoring 26 points should equal a contract of $2.87 million/year.

 

[LMFAO]

2 x 2.5M

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

I would do that contract in a heartbeat.

Calgary needs a big win on one of their core guys once Brodie's contract is done. His wingers will be improved big time this year so buy low imo.

Wow I get wanting to sign him before his value increases but that is a huge gamble.

Flames fans lost it when Drai got $8.5 for 3 times as many points while being top 10 in both reg season and playoff scoring. Now some guys want to give Bennett half of that for getting just 28 points.

Please tell me you weren't one of the people who crapped all over the Drai signing.

 

[OilTastic]

Best place for him. Maybe he can learn how to score there and justify what he's asking for.

 

[FlamerForLife]

iirc last year one of the tsn guys tweeted the same thing about Gaudreau and the Flames, and the signing happened a few days later. I'm not worried about this at all. It's not like Sam has much leverage anyways, he goes overseas his 3c spot will probably be Jankowski's and who knows maybe Jankowski plays better there than Sam did, it's a pretty stupid risk to use going overseas as leverage for a new contract.

 

[InfinityIggy]

More like apples and bowling balls.

I hear ya that you want to lock him up while the price is low but damn. 7 years for a guy who is on a similar trajectory as Yakupov?

When yak was in an identical situation he got $2.5*2 years. Good thing he didn't get more term or dollars because it turned out to be really bad.

Before everyone jumps on me, I think that Bennett has some good untapped potential and won't bust out like Yak did. But he has to prove it first.

I think ideally we bridge Bennett. A Klefbom type deal for Bennett would be quite risky in my opinion and I would avoid it.

I agree that Klefbom was on a very different trajectory when he signed that deal though, however he also wasn't very established yet.

 

[McSuper]

Don't take this wrong as I like the Flames . My 2nd Favourite team .

Just think he may want Draisaitl money . I remember Flames fans along with others bashing the Oilers for picking Draisaitl "Saying Bennett is the better player , Draisaitl can't skate " . Yeah I know we all do it , see Gagner , Yakupov , and others

 

[DJJones]

Wow, really?

Look, you're the GM in Calgary. You've got a young 1st round draft choice you've been developing but hasn't shown you what you think he is capable of yet. He is an RFA and you own his rights. You have cap room but managing the cap is one of the most important things you can do as a general manager.

Said RFA wants more money than he is worth. You can replacing him with a roster player without making a trade or losing points in the standings. This is the guy you give a 7 year $30 million dollar deal to?

Treliving is pushing a bridge deal and he should. No way you make a deal like that until Bennett shows you he is worth it. If he lights it up next year and you're forced to pay more, well, that's a nice problem to have.

3M x 3 would be ideal but yes I would take the Klefbom contract. Switching Tkachuk for Brouwer on his line will all but guarantee him 40 points. If he gets Ferland or Jankowski too I think he'll hit ~45. And that's if he's done developing. If he gains another ten pounds and learns to pick his moments better the skies the limit. Still think he's our 2nd most skilled forward. Most of his problems are pretty standard coachable problems.

Worst case scenario you have a good third line center overpaid for a million. That's a bet I take everytime.