W/C Zachary Benson - (2023, 13th, BUF)

[Fraser28]

Im just comparing the top 2 WHL Draftees from this year, I said Benson is a better player than Bedard at draft day and its showing on the ice now.

Does it bother you that your boy is struggling on 5vs5?

Benson is not a better player than Bedard. Good grief man.

P.S. I love Benson. Awesome player with a bright future and huge steal in the draft.

 

[Bombshell11]

Benson is not a better player than Bedard. Good grief man.

P.S. I love Benson. Awesome player with a bright future and huge steal in the draft.

Oh ok well now i'm convinced

 

[wetcoast]

Oh ok well now i'm convinced

He simply isn't not sure what your angle is here but you are flat out wrong and I like Benson as a player.

Bedard is 3rd in the NHL in SOG that doesn't happen unless the player is creating offense.

 

[Bombshell11]

Drafted #13

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

He belongs like looks.

 

[bossram]

If Benson can keep this quality of play up, there's just no way Buffalo can send him back. He's probably been their best forward over the 2 games.

I personally had Benson rated in the #4-5 tier at this draft. Might've been too low.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Oh ok well now i'm convinced

This is Laine vs Mathews all over again

 

[MOGlLNY]

This is Laine vs Mathews all over again

I promise you no Sabres fan is saying this lol

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Go tell that to the NHL and its broadcasters, licking his boots 24/7

You're the one bringing up Bedard in all these other threads that have nothing to do with him. Give it a rest.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Hope he won't become Skinner...

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Chuckling to myself at all your bemused replies, content that I'm not seeing that loon's posts.

Benson is a revelation to all Sabres fans. Nobody expected him to still be in the lineup. Would love to see him stick. Oozes hockey sense. Endless energy. Battles on the boards. Drives the net. Finds the open teammate. Really in awe at what he's doing at his age and size.

He's not Bedard.

 

[Colt.45Orr]

The stupidest (and therefore also the most predictable) thing that could happen in a thread about a Benson, is that he gets compared to Bedard and the thread becomes derailed unnecessary --not to mention all the Bedard fans that will then turn on Benson for no reason.

 

[Aladyyn]

Hope he won't become Skinner...

Very doubtful given Skinner can only dream of being half as good defensively as 18-year old Benson.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Benson has nothing left to learn in the WHL.

Respectfully, that doesn't necessarily mean he should be playing a full season in the NHL.

Sabres fans have playoff hopes this year -- at some point, the team has to stop being a place where kids learn on the job. I want to focus on winning, and an 18 year old ain't helping very much with that for 82 games. Let him get 9 games experience then send him back.

I ultimately trust management, I'm just skeptical and feel that developing him will take focus away from winning. Most teams who want to win never carry 18 year old kids.

 

[Faceboner]

Respectfully, that doesn't necessarily mean he should be playing a full season in the NHL.

Sabres fans have playoff hopes this year -- at some point, the team has to stop being a place where kids learn on the job. I want to focus on winning, and an 18 year old ain't helping very much with that for 82 games. Let him get 9 games experience then send him back.

I ultimately trust management, I'm just skeptical that developing him will take focus away from winning. Most teams who want to win never carry 18 year old kids.

Keep him up past 9 games if he continues to help us so far (only 2 games I know) he has been our best forward if he hits a wall and is noticeably struggling send him down I don't care about burning a year of his elc

 

[TLEH]

Insanely smart player with great compete. Hope he continues and sticks.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Keep him up past 9 games if he continues to help us so far (only 2 games I know) he has been our best forward if he hits a wall and is noticeably struggling send him down I don't care about burning a year of his elc

Burning a year isn't a factor, which is why I didn't mention it. Even though he's looking really good while running on adrenaline right now, there's no way that lasts into the new year and down the stretch.

 

[Faceboner]

Burning a year isn't a factor, which is why I didn't mention it. Even though he's looking really good while running on adrenaline right now, there's no way that lasts into the new year and down the stretch.

I could see him burning out by then maybe a 2 week ahl conditioning stint bring him back up for a few games and if it still looks like he hit that wall send him back and if eligible bring him up for the ahl playoffs?

 

[Bombshell11]

Burning a year isn't a factor, which is why I didn't mention it. Even though he's looking really good while running on adrenaline right now, there's no way that lasts into the new year and down the stretch.

Its not just adrenaline, its also the woah effect, living the dream, feeling like all your goals in life are being achieved, if he's capable of being one of the best on the ice i think you must keep him because now he's going to be the most motivated to learn anything and everything you want to teach him. That will 100% get carried over next year. I think Buffalo's coach sees his value and i hope he doesn't send him down because that would be just stupid.

If he has 9 pts in 9 games while playing 15 mins a night and no PP time, i mean damn he'll be on pace to be one of the best players in the game. Imagine if he had PP time.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Its not just adrenaline, its also the woah effect, living the dream, feeling like all your goals in life are being achieved, if he's capable of being one of the best on the ice i think you must keep him because now he's going to be the most motivated to learn anything and everything you want to teach him. That will 100% get carried over next year. I think Buffalo's coach sees his value and i hope he doesn't send him down because that would be just stupid.

If he has 9 pts in 9 games while playing 15 mins a night and no PP time, i mean damn he'll be on pace to be one of the best players in the game. Imagine if he had PP time.

The coach wouldn't be the one sending him down, but I get your point and think it could very well match what the team's thinking.

If he keeps scoring at ES, he'll get PP time sooner than later. He did really well on the top PP during preseason, so it's not out of the question.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Victor Olofsson being scratched today means unless Olofsson gets back in and lights it up, Benson falls off a cliff or is replaced by Matt Savoie that he is likely sticking with the big club past 9 games.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Respectfully, that doesn't necessarily mean he should be playing a full season in the NHL.

Sabres fans have playoff hopes this year -- at some point, the team has to stop being a place where kids learn on the job. I want to focus on winning, and an 18 year old ain't helping very much with that for 82 games. Let him get 9 games experience then send him back.

I ultimately trust management, I'm just skeptical and feel that developing him will take focus away from winning. Most teams who want to win never carry 18 year old kids.

I don't think teams that are trying to win care at all about the ages of their players. Teams that want to win just want the best players. If that means carrying an 18 year old all season, so be it.

The Bruins did this in 2010-11 with Seguin and won the cup, with him being a pretty significant contributor in the playoffs.

 

[Matt Ress]

I don't think teams that are trying to win care at all about the ages of their players. Teams that want to win just want the best players. If that means carrying an 18 year old all season, so be it.

The Bruins did this in 2010-11 with Seguin and won the cup, with him being a pretty significant contributor in the playoffs.

And to be fair, most teams in a position to be successful don't have an 18 year old capable of playing in the NHL.

 

[TLEH]

Yeah, what Whiskey is saying is 100% accurate. If you're just trying to develop a team, yeah Benson just goes back. But the Sabres are trying to win, and so far, Benson looks like he is going to help them win games.

Also just wanted to make this comment....because he plays at 18 doesn't mean that he should have went #4 because the other 3 guys are in the NHL so the sooner the better. Its about the prospect as a whole. I think Benson should have gone sooner than he did, Arizona certainly helped with that, but it doesn't mean every pick from 4 until 13 was a bad pick.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I don't think teams that are trying to win care at all about the ages of their players. Teams that want to win just want the best players. If that means carrying an 18 year old all season, so be it.

The Bruins did this in 2010-11 with Seguin and won the cup, with him being a pretty significant contributor in the playoffs.

He played 10:00 minutes per game for 13 games in the playoffs and got 3 goals. I'm not sure that's "significant," and I'm sure they would've won without him. But I agree with your overall point.

I know that teams who are trying to win don't care about the ages of the players -- it's just a hell of a lot harder to make the team. Benson doesn't look out of place but he has plenty that he can still learn in the WHL. I guess I'm a bit peeved we were able to fit him so easily at this point in the rebuild...which would probably be a separate topic.

Yeah, what Whiskey is saying is 100% accurate. If you're just trying to develop a team, yeah Benson just goes back. But the Sabres are trying to win, and so far, Benson looks like he is going to help them win games.

Also just wanted to make this comment....because he plays at 18 doesn't mean that he should have went #4 because the other 3 guys are in the NHL so the sooner the better. Its about the prospect as a whole. I think Benson should have gone sooner than he did, Arizona certainly helped with that, but it doesn't mean every pick from 4 until 13 was a bad pick.

This was one of my favorite draft classes in a long time -- I don't even think Arizona did poorly at all. There were just a lot of great, talented players available. There really wasn't any reaches in the top 10...someone was always going to slide.