Benson is a Mark Stone style forward. He's not a "responsible" forward. He's an elite defensive forward.
Laughable. This board is full of people saying we can't get any stars because we didn't get more top 3 draft picks.
So what we really need is North American players instead of European ones? Is that where this is going?
No we just need to be making some attempts for higher skill rather than only drafting safe players. However, our NA scouting is terrible - that's not really debatable.
Conversely, we don't need to be putting down our players to celebrate others that we chose not to take, especially when ours hasn't even played 1 NHL game yet
Define "safe"? Are we still thrusting Kasper under this totally unambiguous term? Not every player without obvious "flash and dazzle" is a low ceiling checking line player who can't pass nor see the ice well
Not sure, but I've heard nothing about him for quite some time which isn't usually a great sign. He only played 20 games this year and put up 11 points. Looks like he had a season ending injury back in January. He's a team captain which usually carries a lot of weight with the DRW organization, so perhaps there's a chance they sign him.
if you don't like @Our Lady Peace rating system maybe you should watch every single griffins game and provide in-depth analyses of our top prospects with your own grading scale. i for one greatly appreciate and value the effort they put into it and applaud them for making a positive contribution to the forum, rather than someone who pops in after every string of losses just to stir the pot
Stone is 6'4. Having the same defensive impact as a 5'10 forward is astronomically difficult, like saying Johansson is the next Chara.
It's funny how things evolve. When he was passed in the draft everyone was moaning how Red Wings passed on talented offensive minded skilled center to draft another version of Kasper, who already was a bust. Now two 30 point seasons later, Red Wings missed out on a elite defensive winger, who might provide some offense down the road. Goalposts had quite a journey, i would say.
I'll tell you, if in the 2025 draft Detroit drafts a 5'10 winger and highlights his defensive game as his best asset, this board is going to implode.
Where did I say he might provide some offense down the road? He was never a C so not sure where that’s from. But he’s absolutely an offensive minded forward and his best attribute isn’t his defense. Don’t get me wrong - if Benson doesn’t put up 70+ pts in his prime, I’ll be very disappointed in this progress. You act like 30 pt seasons are embarrassing or something..he’s a year younger than as Kasper
Strange things happens sometimes, like 5'10" Konstantinov , probably best defensive defansman in Red Wings ever
