Would Peak Jamie Benn Contend For A Scoring Title Today?

[JoVel]

I mean technically that would still be "in contention", would it not? That's what the poll is asking.

It's not saying whether or not he'd WIN another one, just if he'd be in contention.

To me "in contention" means you had a shot at a win. I don't think anyone but McDavid was in contention to win the Art Ross in 2023.

As for the poll question, Benn wouldn't have what it takes to be in contention for the Art Ross against your McDavids, Kucherovs and MacKinnons.

 

[bobholly39]

I think Huberdeau and Gaudreau in 2022 are good comparables point-scoring wise.

Not the type of player you expect to see win a ross, but both were in the race till very later that year, but ultimately lose. Benn won in his year.

Would he win one? Probably not, but I voted possibly, because you never know...he only had a 1-2 year peak.

 

[piqued]

No, because to contend for the Art Ross now you need to be an elite powerplay player on an elite powerplay team.

Kucherov: 53 PPP
MacKinnon: 48
McDavid: 44
Panarin: 44

At no point in Benn's career, peak or otherwise, has he been particularly good on the powerplay. His calling card has always been even strength play, which won't get you anywhere near contention in today's modern scoring race.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Kucherov wasn't even half the player he was in his prime when Benn won the scoring title

Ya just correcting, that Benn has never beat him.

 

[wetcoast]

It wasn’t a fluke one off year. He actually had more points the following season when he finished 2nd. He had a three year run where he finished 9th, 1st, and 2nd in points. Bad hips made for a short prime.

Benn had a short stretch where he was the best LW in the game and a top 5 forward. Multiple hip surgeries and his playing style caught up with him and his prime didn’t last long.

He wouldn’t score 130 today with the big 5 but he would score 100+ and add another 150 hits if you dropped prime Benn into 2025.

Younger fans should go watch his old highlights on YouTube to get a reminder of how good he was. He was hell on skates out there on the ice throwing big hits and puck jacking defenders for goals. Crosby and Doughty at one point both called him the best player or their favorite player. Don’t remember the exact quote.

Sure there is something to this but the game dynamic was slightly different then and was favorable to the style Benn played and in todays style of game I really doubt that he would crack top 5 in points maybe top 10 at his absolute peak?

 

[Regal]

I mean technically that would still be "in contention", would it not? That's what the poll is asking.

It's not saying whether or not he'd WIN another one, just if he'd be in contention.

Contention would mean he’d have a chance to win. Finishing 5th isn’t necessarily in contention if the winner has a significant lead. Last year I would say only Kucherov, MacKinnon and McDavid were in contention.

 

[DitchMarner]

From the OP - you can argue Crosby is a better hockey player than McDavid and Jagr if you want. I don’t see the argument for crosby being a better points producer though. That’s what’s relevant here.

I don't think Crosby is better. Everything in the OP after the first paragraph is a copy and paste job from the poster mentioned in the first paragraph.

And yeah, I don't think the fact Benn wouldn't come close to winning an Art Ross today necessarily in and of itself proves Crosby is inferior to McDavid. But the poster that promoted the poll was very adamant that scoring race competition was "tougher' in 2015 and that Benn would be an Art Ross threat today.

 

[Machinehead]

I mean technically that would still be "in contention", would it not? That's what the poll is asking.

It's not saying whether or not he'd WIN another one, just if he'd be in contention.

Finishing high doesn't necessarily mean you're in contention.

Panarin finished 4th with 120 points this past year and I never considered him to be in serious contention.

When Benn finished second with 89 points, Kane had 90 on March 16th.

The Art Ross race is typically a few guys blowing up. Kane only hit 100 points twice. McDavid was the only guy in the top 4 this past year that didn't have (by far) a career high.

When Benn put up back to back seasons in the high 80's, that was him blowing up compared to his career totals. In 2015, nobody else did, which is very rare.

 

[Roksta]

Could be possible if everything went his way like in 2015

Example 2021-2022 McDavid had a "good" year where he had 123 pts with Gaudreau and fking Huberdeau close behind at 115. If McDavid missed a few more games you could have had a situation where one of these guys win an Art Ross over prime McDavid

I don't see why prime Jamie Benn couldn't have a lucky scoring season like these two sh**** in 2015 and challenge for the scoring lead

But last year? Hell no

 

[Ezpz]

He did beat Kucherov, Crosby, OV, Sedins, Stamkos, Malkin etc
He was the best that year, but wouldn’t beat McDavid if he was playing.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2015_skaters.html#stats::points

Crosby would have easily won if he didn't miss five games. You're stating this like half those guys didn't miss a significant number of games. Malkin also may have cleared 87 in the 13 games he missed. Even Seguin outpaced Benn with 11 games missed.

Kucherov was also a sophomore while the sedins prime was already over.

It was a lot of injuries to previous art ross winners that let Tavares and Benn compete to begin with.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Crosby would have easily won if he didn't miss five games. You're stating this like half those guys didn't miss a significant number of games. Malkin also may have cleared 87 in the 13 games he missed. Even Seguin outpaced Benn with 11 games missed.

Kucherov was also a sophomore while the sedins prime was already over.

It was a lot of injuries to previous art ross winners that let Tavares and Benn compete to begin with.

Players are injured every year, nothing new there.
You’d be correct if it was a pace trophy.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Crosby would have easily won if he didn't miss five games. You're stating this like half those guys didn't miss a significant number of games. Malkin also may have cleared 87 in the 13 games he missed. Even Seguin outpaced Benn with 11 games missed.

Kucherov was also a sophomore while the sedins prime was already over.

It was a lot of injuries to previous art ross winners that let Tavares and Benn compete to begin with.

*Could.

Could have easily won, if he didn't miss those five games. But he did, and Benn had himself the game of a lifetime to win it.

 

[DitchMarner]

Could be possible if everything went his way like in 2015

Example 2021-2022 McDavid had a "good" year where he had 123 pts with Gaudreau and fking Huberdeau close behind at 115. If McDavid missed a few more games you could have had a situation where one of these guys win an Art Ross over prime McDavid

I don't see why prime Jamie Benn couldn't have a lucky scoring season like these two sh**** in 2015 and challenge for the scoring lead

But last year? Hell no

2022 is kind of similar, but if McDavid had missed five games (he did miss two), he still would have won. He paced for 118 points in 77 games. Huberdeau (80 games) and Gaudreau (82) had 115 points each.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

I think Jamie is a rare example of the type of offensive player that was better off under the old rules. He likes to engage in the kind of stuff that they call you on now.

 

[johnnybbadd]

I voted no because I believe that Benn’s two best years are very much in line with what Tkachuk’s have been so far. Tkachuk would be the closest comparable in my opinion. I would expect Benn to crack 100 a couple of times but would not be able to keep up with McDavid, Mackinnon or Kucherov if they played a full 82.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

It wasn’t a fluke one off year. He actually had more points the following season when he finished 2nd. He had a three year run where he finished 9th, 1st, and 2nd in points. Bad hips made for a short prime.

Benn had a short stretch where he was the best LW in the game and a top 5 forward. Multiple hip surgeries and his playing style caught up with him and his prime didn’t last long.

He wouldn’t score 130 today with the big 5 but he would score 100+ and add another 150 hits if you dropped prime Benn into 2025.

Younger fans should go watch his old highlights on YouTube to get a reminder of how good he was. He was hell on skates out there on the ice throwing big hits and puck jacking defenders for goals. Crosby and Doughty at one point both called him the best player or their favorite player. Don’t remember the exact quote.

Yeah I think people aren't giving Benn enough credit for how good he was during that 2 to 3 year stretch.

As for "there's too much talent now", we almost saw Huberdeau and Gaudreau win an Art Ross a couple of seasons ago. Benn, at his absolute peak, was a better player than either of those guys. So if those guys could challenge for one, I don't know why peak Benn couldn't.

 

[triggrman]

I voted no because I believe that Benn’s two best years are very much in line with what Tkachuk’s have been so far. Tkachuk would be the closest comparable in my opinion. I would expect Benn to crack 100 a couple of times but would not be able to keep up with McDavid, Mackinnon or Kucherov if they played a full 82.

Right, if Crosby plays a full 82 games the season Benn won, Crosby likely wins it.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Jamie Benn is a peak head hunting piece of shit.

That's about the only thing he's a champion of.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Right, if Crosby plays a full 82 games the season Benn won, Crosby likely wins it.

Well give Crosby the trophy for the best pace then.

 

[AvroArrow]

Could prime Jamie Benn outscore McDavid, Kucherov, Mackinnon ? No.

 

[triggrman]

Well give Crosby the trophy for the best pace then.

There there's Seguin who had 77 points in 71 games. It was the perfect storm of timing and injuries that helped Ben but to his credit, he played every game, scored the needed points.

 

[wetcoast]

*Could.

Could have easily won, if he didn't miss those five games. But he did, and Benn had himself the game of a lifetime to win it.

Benn had 10 points in his last 3 games that year with his team easily missing the playoffs.

Sure winning the Art Ross helps his legacy but he had some luck there.

 

[MBTendy]

Holy f*** no.

He might "contend" for 90-100 points.

He contended for 90 points in that era. He would definitely be in the 100’s in his prime.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

no, alot more highend talent has been pumped into the league since then.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Realistically no, but he did win one, so it'd be wrong to assume he doesn't have the ability to at least be in the running .