I'm going to guess that your Bennett viewing experience is limited to 2-3 games because your ability to read his situation is pretty poor.
Nah, a lot more than that, but a player with one year left on his deal that's an RFA after this year is going to have to take the next step offensively after 2 down years that followed a decent rookie year.
That isn't some assessment, that's concrete.
Let me try and make a few things clear regarding him.
The only disappointing parts of Bennett's game are his offensive production and the number of minor penalties he takes. The kid creates scoring chances, he is consistently physical, he's not a liability defensively and is becoming a good penalty killer.
When did I ever say that he wasn't physical or that he's a liability defensively? Waiting...
What does this mean? This means this is not a Nail Yakupov or Gilbert Brule situation, where the player is useless at the NHL level. This is more of a Sean Couturier situation, where he brings something to the table that makes him worth keeping and you just hope he finally grows offensively.
When in the blue hell did I say that he was a Yakupov or a Brule? So instead of asking me what I meant by what I said in my post, you honestly thought it was a more sound strategy to just put words in my mouth to drive your point?
I have no problem with you pointing out what you have, but if you think even for a minute he's anywhere close to Couturier defensively before he broke out, you're fooling yourself. Couturier was an elite defender for a while before he rounded out his game offensively.
It is very unlikely Bennett will be moved after this season, or at all, even if he puts up another 25 point season. The reason for that, is because the assets he does bring, will most likely be worth more than whatever pick we can get for him.
That's fine, all fair points. I could totally be wrong and Calgary management could say that even though he might never live up to his draft position, we'll gladly keep a useful young bottom-6 player around and hope he develops offensively. I've been wrong before, I'm not afraid to say that.
However, to totally dismiss the point I made and then try to put words in my mouth and tell me that he mirrors Couturier's situation? Hogwash, at best.
I don't like to speak in absolutes, but I can't imagine Calgary's management chomping at the bit to give a new contract to a player who put up back to back 26 point seasons (without missing significant time) after a 36 point rookie season, especially when he's 22 years old and already making 1.95 million a year.
Time will tell.