That's not how you determine the slide of a player and you know it. You watched Paajarvi and Yakupov languish in a totally different way than the path Bennett is going down. As stupid as MacT's quote is about being "visually better", it actually has a facet of truth.
There is no real way to determine a young player like Bennett sliding. If you want to look at comparables though, I thought Paararvi and Yakupov were good comparables based on the 4 players you mentioned. Brule and Omark just didn't work for a ton of reasons. I based it on stats which is really the only thing to base it on. Its laughable that you would bring a MacT quote into this but that was your choice I guess.
I do however agree with Bennett looking better. At times though, Yakupov started to look like he was turning around and just never did.
Paajarvi and Yakupov scored the points you noted on the wing without the same level of responsibility as Bennett. It's not a similar path. They regressed continuing to play wing. Bennett struggled playing C at the NHL for the first time in his NHL career. If Bennett fails at C, he can still carve out a decent career at wing. Bennett has shown improvement in many defensive aspects of the game. Management has praised him, the coach has praised him.
No matter how you slice it he got only 26 points a year after getting 36 points. Statistically he regressed. Just like MPS and Yakupov did at the same age. When in a trade value discussion, stats hold a ton of bearing. Not everyone that watched him last year has the same opinions that you do. The one thing in common everyone can look at is his stats. Which are very similar to the MPS and Yak at the same age. Which was my point.
IF you think Bennett will bust. Cool, we can differ in opinion. But note that your lazy reasoning is lazy.
I think you were the one being lazy by not reading my entire post. This is part of the post you were responding to.
Bennett career high at 21 years old is 36 points
Paajarvi career high at 21 years old is 34 points
Yakupov career high at 21 years old is 33 points
All 3 players regressed the following season and never scored their career high again.
I would say that at this moment Bennett is going down the exact same path as those 2. I think he has a far better chance of expanding on his career high than the other 2 did but it still remains to be seen.
I said he is far more likely to turn it around than those guys were. I really do believe that he will be a good player and always have. I was just comparing their current trajectory and saw a lot of similarities.
I also stated 5 minutes later in this same thread that
My thoughts exactly. I really do see a player in him but when talking about trading for a player who is the same age and already proved he is a star, you have to add way more than what the Flames would be willing to offer for Pasta.
Maybe if you weren't being so lazy you would have seen those
And in case you're blind, no Flames fans are defending the proposal by OP. They however are defending Bennett in regards to the lazy reasoning made by a few posters that Bennett is a bust. There are reasons to be down on Bennett and reasons not to want him. Those are fine. The methodology you've employed though... lazy.
So I was being lazy by taking time to research your claim that,
Bennett isn't even close to going down the same path as Yakupov, Omark. Brule or Paajarvi.
Tell me how that was being lazy when I saw your post, considered it, researched it and used stats to show why I thought they were possibly good comparables based on actual physical statistics. Not just the MacT eye test. I probably wouldn't have even done it if you weren't so adamant that "he isn't even close to going down the same path" when there certainly are a lot of similarities in their career trajectory so far.
Again I do believe that he will be a player. Maybe a 55 point 2 way Center who is tough as hell to play against. Having visions of him, Ferland and Tkachuk on a line against the Oilers in the playoffs gives me nightmares. At this point though, I would say that it is far from guaranteed and he still has a long way to go.
Sorry for the long post but I didn't want to come off as lazy. FYI calling me lazy 3 times in one reply is unnecessary.