Sam Bennett is not a bust.

[ImNeverWrong]

If it were the playoffs I'd 100% rather have bennett than nylander. I dont know why the flames dont regularly give him top 6 mins. He does have skill, but hes also tough as nails.

 

[Evincar]

According to Hfboards all 1st and 2nd rounders have to be consistent top 6 forwards / top 4 defensemen or else they're busts.

1st rounders yes, 2nd rounders no.

 

[Mickey Marner]

He was arguably the best Flames forward. Probably why they lost.

 

[Mickey Marner]

4th overall on average tends to produce a 2nd/3rd liner, so I'd say he is right on pace for an average career for a 4th over.

Look at the 10 previous to him, Seth Jones, Griffin Reinhart, Adam Larrson, Ryan Johansen, Evander Kane, Peitrelangelo, Hickey, Backstrom, Poulliot, Ladd, Zherdev. He is better than several, worse than several. He certainly will not hit the highs of a Jones or Backstrom, but he is also far beyond Hickey and Reinhart.

Teams would like to do betterm, but its not always in the cards.

Then Marner, Puljujarvi, Makar, B. Tkachuk. He's definitely a below average 4th.

 

[The Nuge]

4th overall on average tends to produce a 2nd/3rd liner, so I'd say he is right on pace for an average career for a 4th over.

Look at the 11 previous to him, Seth Jones, Griffin Reinhart, Adam Larrson, Ryan Johansen, Evander Kane, Peitrelangelo, Hickey, Backstrom, Poulliot, Ladd, Zherdev. He is better than several, worse than several. He certainly will not hit the highs of a Jones or Backstrom, but he is also far beyond Hickey and Reinhart.

Teams would like to do betterm, but its not always in the cards.

He’s a mile behind Jones, Larsson, Johansen, Kane, Pietrangelo, Backstrom and Ladd.

Aside from Reinhart, who’s he ahead of?

Zherdev chose Russia over North America but he was still WAY ahead when he was here.

Pouliot actually was decently productive and sits at a higher career PPG (.42 vs .37). Bennett might end up passing Pouliot, but he’s still behind for now.

Hickey is a decent bottom pairing dman. Whether you’d rather a bottom pairing dman or a third liner is basically a toss up.

So you’ve got 8 players he’s not even close to. 1 he’s slightly behind, 1 he’s on par with, and 1 he’s better than. That’s not “average”. If it wasn’t for Reinhart being a massive bust, he’d be the worst.

 

[Marner]

Keep telling yourself that

 

[David Bruce Banner]

He's far better than Pouliot, who stands a good chance of not even being in the NHL next year.

Is Bennett a disappointment so far? Yes.

Would I take him on the Canucks? For sure, he's better than half our forwards... and about on par with Virtanen.

 

[blankall]

Bennett: 55g/116pts in 312 games
Nylander: 55g/162pts in 239 games

so sam has played 73 more games to have the same amount of goals, and 46 less points

solid comparable. you expect more than a 25-35pt 3rd line grinder from a top 5 pick especially when guys like nylander,ehlers,larkin, tuch, schmaltz and pasta were available.


here is a good one. Kapanen, picked #22, who apparently was never gonna be more than a 4th liner/AHLer

28g/54pts in 133 games (66G/127pt pace across 312 games)

Neither Nylander or Kapanen bring Bennett's physical/energy/pest game. You're also not looking at the fact that Bennett entered the league in his post-draft year, while Nylander and Kapenen both had extra time to develop. Of course their PPG would be higher.

If Nylander manages to find his game again or, better yet, develop forward, he's the much better player. However, I'd way rather have Bennett at 30 points/year than Nylander at 40 points per year. What Bennett brings outside of points, is just so much better than players like Nylander or Ehlers.

Obviously Bennett has been disappointing. He was supposed to be the gritty guy, who also puts up 60 points. Bennett is slowly improving, and look like he will top out more in the 40-50 point range. Once again, disappointing, but not a bust.

You're also just cherry picking good picks from the round though. The 2014 first round also had Dal Colle, Virtanen, Haydn Fleury, etc... In fact, those were the 3 players chosen immediately after Bennett, and Bennett is better than all 3.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

Great moustachio, average hockey player, huge bust for his draft position.

 

[Copenhagen91]

So it's decided. A player should be evaluated on a 20 game window and by no other means.

Well you have to find a sample to fit your agenda right?

 

[ottawah]

Bennett is far below average in that group.

I would hardly say that. He already is easily better than Reinhart, Hickey, Poulliott, and Bennet is clearly superior to Ladd at this age, putting him squarely into the median for this group.

And it is not expectation, it is reality. People vastly overestimate what draft picks usually brings. It really falls off after the top 3.

 

[DFF]

Great moustachio, average hockey player, huge bust for his draft position.

There is not an NHL team that doesnt want Sam Bennett. By that definition, he is not even close to being a bust.


He is moving up the list on the Flames as well. I would trade 3/4 of the team before Sam Bennett name even comes up.

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

he was probably calgary's best player in teh playoffs besides smith

 

[CycloneSweep]

he was probably calgary's best player in teh playoffs besides smith

And they got steam rolled. That's not really saying much to put him in a good light.

 

[North]

And they got steam rolled. That's not really saying much to put him in a good light.

When Sam Bennett is your best player in the playoffs you know things aren't going well.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

According to Hfboards all 1st and 2nd rounders have to be consistent top 6 forwards / top 4 defensemen or else they're busts.

I'd be very upset if Huberdeau was still averaging 30pts a year at 22 years old.

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

 

[DJJones]

And they got steam rolled. That's not really saying much to put him in a good light.

Well ya, no one is saying he's a top 5-10 player. That's about the only people that can drag a team to success.

But he's a solid player that every Flames fan loves. They think he should get more opportunity and toi, and we all want him signed long term.

He's not an elite player by any means, but someone in the above criteria doesn't fall under the bust label. And if he does, please send all your busts to Calgary. I would love to have them.

 

[vanarchy]

He has a generational mustache. That's about it.

 

[DFF]

I'd be very upset if Huberdeau was still averaging 30pts a year at 22 years old.

Yeah but Ekblad is going backward for a #1 pick, so I understand you have other thing to be upset about

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I don't think he's a bust, but he was over-drafted. He's a 9th forward forward that was picked 4th.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Bust is a misnomer. Disappointing thus far would probably be more accurate. He's never got a ton of opportunity with the Flames, but it's not really like he's kicked the door down for that opportunity either. Sam Bennett was always going to be a player that had trouble reaching his ceiling, but that ceiling is still high and he still has more potential.

 

[cg98]

Not a bust but as everyone has said, a massive disappointment considering his draft position. He missed almost the entire 14/15 season due to a severe shoulder injury and hasnt really been the same since.

 

[Los merengues]

Bennett: 55g/116pts in 312 games
Nylander: 55g/162pts in 239 games

so sam has played 73 more games to have the same amount of goals, and 46 less points

solid comparable. you expect more than a 25-35pt 3rd line grinder from a top 5 pick especially when guys like nylander,ehlers,larkin, tuch, schmaltz and pasta were available.


here is a good one. Kapanen, picked #22, who apparently was never gonna be more than a 4th liner/AHLer

28g/54pts in 133 games (66G/127pt pace across 312 games)

Kapanen IS way better though. Hasnt had The same opportunity as Bustnett.

 

[Hogan86]

Just because I see people all the time talking about how much of a bust Benny is, I'll post some stats to compare others from his draft class come playoff time

Sam Bennett 6g 5 a, 11 points in 20 games.

Nik Ehlers 0g 7a, 7 points in 20 games.

Willy Nylander 3g 7a, 10 points in 18 games.

Larkin 1 goal in 5 games.

Reinhart never made the playoffs.

Drai (who went higher) is the obvious stand out, as is Pasta as both are over a point per game.

I'm not saying Bennett is a superstar either, it's still only 11 points in 20 games (11 of those games were during his rookie season), but he also plays like 12 minutes a game. My point is when the hockey actually matters, Bennett shows up and plays well, hits and puts points up.

P.S. I chose these guys 'cause they are the most talked about, guys like Fiala and Ritchie also have pretty bad playoff stats. Even Alex Tuch in 5 more games played than Benny has 1 more point.

The guy had 6 playoff points in 15 playoff games before this year. His top seeded team just got embarrassed by the 8 seed in the playoffs, but Bennett had 5 points in 5 games. So we should base that Bennett is now a good player on a 5 game stretch?

The fact that Sam Bennett is such a playoff standout to you is probably the reason the Flames didnt advance to the second round....