Value of: Sam Bennett

[DecadeofDarkness22]

There were so many better options in that draft over Bennett . Flames got caught up in the Gilmour comparing hype . Ehlers who was destroying the QMJHL and Nylander much better choice .

This ^^ flames should have drafted for skill not truculence. nylander ehlers > bennett

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Most Flames fans are quite happy with Bennett, so I'm enjoying reading the comments here on how terrible he is.

 

[FerklundCGY]

Lol at some of these comments. Especially from Oilers fans (obviously). We'll gladly hold on to Bennett

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

Lol at some of these comments. Especially from Oilers fans (obviously). We'll gladly hold on to Bennett

The Oilers are drafting gurus.. just look at how 3/4 of there first overall picks have turned out... And there late round drafting has yielded some gems.

 

[VainGretzky]

This ^^ flames should have drafted for skill not truculence. nylander ehlers > bennett

Was a great draft for high end talent, it would be frustrating for Flames to walk away with a dud from that draft

 

[VainGretzky]

The Oilers are drafting gurus.. just look at how 3/4 of there first overall picks have turned out... And there late round drafting has yielded some gems.

Hall tied for best ppg out of his draft with Seguin RNH 2nd most points out of his draft Yak the only bust but was consensual number 1 across the board And well McDavid just won Hart ArtRoss Lindsay and lets look at other 1st rounders Draisaitl Klefbom Nurse all regulars try harder

 

[smirob]

The Oilers are drafting gurus.. just look at how 3/4 of there first overall picks have turned out... And there late round drafting has yielded some gems.

It's hard to miss when you're drafting in the top 10 for a decade.

The only thing theyre gurus of is winning by losing

 

[qwerty]

There were so many better options in that draft over Bennett . Flames got caught up in the Gilmour comparing hype . Ehlers who was destroying the QMJHL and Nylander much better choice .

In hindsight those players have turned out very well. However, at the time, Sam Bennett was ranked #1 in numerous draft rankings, so the Flames really just went for the best player available, which is the smartest decision.

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

Hall tied for best ppg out of his draft with Seguin RNH 2nd most points out of his draft Yak the only bust but was consensual number 1 across the board And well McDavid just won Hart ArtRoss Lindsay and lets look at other 1st rounders Draisaitl Klefbom Nurse all regulars try harder

All this says is that you can pick top 10 and get some right. RNH is a disappointment, Yak a bust. How many picks after the top 10 are actually impact players? Klef is what the only one?

RNH might not even crack top 10 in his draft, so why did you take him? Because he was BPA and so was Bennett according to every scout basically.

 

[Flyerfan52]

If Jankowski is the real-deal I would strongly consider Bennett for Simmonds.

A third line of Versteeg-Jankowski-Simmonds would be ridiculous. Then you put Simmonds with Gaudreau-Monahan and have 3 of the best PP forwards in the league...

That said I think the best move is just to hold onto Bennett. I think he's going to be a great player when he figures everything out. If he breaks out we are going to strike fear into other teams.

Do you realize how silly that sounds for both teams?
Flames don't trade for W Simmonds to use him on the 3rd line when their lack is 1st line RW (which Simmonds is).
For the Flyers they don't trade their 4th leading scorer (3rd with B Schenn gone) hoping Bennett becomes the 1/2 center he was expected to be. With the low cap on Simmonds for 2 more years & the lack of scoring he's 1 the Flyers need.

 

[lawrence]

There were so many better options in that draft over Bennett . Flames got caught up in the Gilmour comparing hype . Ehlers who was destroying the QMJHL and Nylander much better choice .

at the time, Bennet was the 4th best player. Sure some other might have different rankings but the vast majority had Bennett ranked very high and he was an obvious choice with grit, toughness and offence at number 4.

2014 was a funny draft for many reasons.

some scouts had nylander and ehlers rated 4-6. flames ended up drafting a grinder...

very true, bust most had Bennett higher. He wasn't a Grinder heading into his draft. For all we know, Ehlers/Nylander might have ended up being a ragged dolled undersized Euro Wingers, in the mold of maybe Michael Grabner and Jan Bulis. It turned out really well for Jets and Leafs. It happens. Projections are off sometimes.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

There were so many better options in that draft over Bennett . Flames got caught up in the Gilmour comparing hype . Ehlers who was destroying the QMJHL and Nylander much better choice .

You're using hindsight. At the time, Bennett was the consensus pick at that spot.

Otherwise, why'd the Oilers decide to take a 2nd/3rd line center with the 1st overall pick in 2011? They should have taken an actual legitimate top line player in Mark Scheifele. I guess the Oilers got caught up in the "Datsyuk" comparisons.

 

[Canuck86]

Bennett is still a kid in the nhl perspective. What is he 20 yrs old? I think he can be a solid player for a long time just needs to continue to develop, gain more muscle and with experience he will get better.

Flames can be patient with him and if Backlund is too costly to resign Bennett could see a big jump in responsibility after next year. Especially if he has a solid upcoming season

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Do you realize how silly that sounds for both teams?
Flames don't trade for W Simmonds to use him on the 3rd line when their lack is 1st line RW (which Simmonds is).
For the Flyers they don't trade their 4th leading scorer (3rd with B Schenn gone) hoping Bennett becomes the 1/2 center he was expected to be. With the low cap on Simmonds for 2 more years & the lack of scoring he's 1 the Flyers need.

Both Gaudreau-Monahan-Ferland and Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik are solid top 6 lines. Having Janko/Simmons would give us a third wave.

 

[CraigsList]

I had no idea a 21 year old is a dud.

 

[bleedgreen]

Bennett was the right choice at the right spot. If anyone wouldn't have taken him at that spot, the next team would've. I'd take him on the canes in a heartbeat.

 

[blankall]

There were so many better options in that draft over Bennett . Flames got caught up in the Gilmour comparing hype . Ehlers who was destroying the QMJHL and Nylander much better choice .

You don't have a clue. Bennett was ranked first among North American skaters, but dropped to #4 due to an injury.

 

[ColePens]

If we are at the point where no further movement will take place, simply agree to disagree and move on. Simple as that.

 

[DecadeofDarkness22]

And you drafted RNH and Yak over a plethora of better prospects?

RNH>>>Bennett AINEC. Bennett will be lucky to even hit 40 points ever...

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

RNH>>>Bennett AINEC. Bennett will be lucky to even hit 40 points ever...

And Nurse will top out as a 3rd pairing D man.

 

[Reinhart]

I would really love to see all these pre-draft rankings placing Ehlers and Nylander ahead of Bennett. Bennett was a consensus top 4 pick, and on a couple of lists he was rated as the #1 overall pick. I find it rich that people are here posting that the Flames took Bennett because of grit. That's laughable. It isn't like Bennett got more points in less games played than Ehlers or anything.

Bennett will come along nicely. In fact, he has been. He was completely lost on the defensive side of the puck when he entered the NHL, and he has taken huge strides there. As for offence, it will come around, especially whenever the Flames decide to actually give him wingers that he can keep up with. I am actually very happy with Bennett thus far. Sure, I would like to have seen him crack 100 points or something crazy, but this kid is gold. Just keep an eye on him in the next couple of seasons, and I am sure most of these comments in this thread will be put to rest.

As for trade value, nobody is going to offer the Flames what the Flames feel he is worth at the moment. Why would the Flames sell low? If you talk to anyone in the organization - Burke, Treliving, Gulutzan - they all speak highly of him. Sure, most people within the organization will speak highly of their players, but Burke didn't hesitate to critique Baertschi's game.

Let's see how he does this year. Kid is still young after all.

 

[lawrence]

I would really love to see all these pre-draft rankings placing Ehlers and Nylander ahead of Bennett. Bennett was a consensus top 4 pick, and on a couple of lists he was rated as the #1 overall pick. I find it rich that people are here posting that the Flames took Bennett because of grit. That's laughable. It isn't like Bennett got more points in less games played than Ehlers or anything.

Bennett will come along nicely. In fact, he has been. He was completely lost on the defensive side of the puck when he entered the NHL, and he has taken huge strides there. As for offence, it will come around, especially whenever the Flames decide to actually give him wingers that he can keep up with. I am actually very happy with Bennett thus far. Sure, I would like to have seen him crack 100 points or something crazy, but this kid is gold. Just keep an eye on him in the next couple of seasons, and I am sure most of these comments in this thread will be put to rest.

As for trade value, nobody is going to offer the Flames what the Flames feel he is worth at the moment. Why would the Flames sell low? If you talk to anyone in the organization - Burke, Treliving, Gulutzan - they all speak highly of him. Sure, most people within the organization will speak highly of their players, but Burke didn't hesitate to critique Baertschi's game.

Let's see how he does this year. Kid is still young after all.

heres the thing, were my respect for Craig Button went up.

He had high praises (very high) for Nylander and Ehlers, which he was right, had low praises for Virtanen and Bennet, also correct. Also didn't like Michael Dal Cole very much as I remember.

And Nurse will top out as a 3rd pairing D man.

not taking sides here, but he was just awful during the playoffs.

 

[Reinhart]

heres the thing, were my respect for Craig Button went up.

He had high praises (very high) for Nylander and Ehlers, which he was right, had low praises for Virtanen and Bennet, also correct. Also didn't like Michael Dal Cole very much as I remember.



not taking sides here, but he was just awful during the playoffs.

I like Button as well actually, but for every right call he gets 3 wrong - just like everyone else. However, I am not sure what point you are making. Craig Button had Bennett higher on his list than either Ehlers or Nylander:

http://www.mynhldraft.com/2014-nhl-draft-prospect-rankings/

Unless I am missing something, I fail to see any notable list having Ehlers or Nylander ranked ahead of Bennett. This makes the whole "Flames took Bennett because of grit and nothing else" remark even more funny. Bennett was ranked 1st on a lot of these lists. I guess they are ranking grit so high? He also had 21 more points than the next highest player on his team that year, so it isn't like he was the product of another player.

 

[93LEAFS]

heres the thing, were my respect for Craig Button went up.

He had high praises (very high) for Nylander and Ehlers, which he was right, had low praises for Virtanen and Bennet, also correct. Also didn't like Michael Dal Cole very much as I remember.

Button was high on Bennett and had him 3rd overall in his rankings, which is way different from where he stood on Virtanen, who he didn't have in the 1st round. Here is his final list archived since TSN.ca deletes their archives every so often. He also had Dal Colle where most others had him.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140620203339/ http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=49649

Where he notably went against consensus was Sanheim at 8, and Virtanen at 43. If you want to give Button credit for anything in that draft it would be having Point at 17 (who went in the third round). But, he was also very high on Kempe, Kamanev, and Barbashev. He was low on Fabbri, Virtanen, and Fiala.

I trust Button more than most sources used around here because I know he puts in work at the rinks and has solid connections due to his brother and scouts he used to employ.

The people who notably loved Ehlers and Nylander was Pronman (who still had Bennett higher than both, but had Nylander ahead of Reinhart and Ehlers 5th).

http://www.mynhldraft.com/2014-nhl-draft-prospect-rankings/

 

[VainGretzky]

You don't have a clue. Bennett was ranked first among North American skaters, but dropped to #4 due to an injury.

Ihave many clues Oilers stayed away from him for good reason so did Buffalo Same thing I told Leaf fans when Arizona drafted Strome they did the Leafs a huge favor by leaving Marner who ripped apart the OHL there . Also I was a huge backer of when Tkachuk was drafted his 1st year numbers in OHL were better than Halls after 3 years and I stated Tkachuk would of been a 1st overall choice in a other draft years so this is not anti Flames bias . The pull up fail should of been red flags. And all the talk of Bennett being 21 sorry Yaks Numbers were better his 1st 2 seasons than Bennett