If everyone on this team played with the same courage and fearlessness as Benson we would easily be a playoff team. The smallest player on the team is one of the few players I never question in terms of effort, motor or heart.
Prospect Info: Zach Benson, LW/C, Wenatchee (WHL), Signed ELC- 2023, 13th Overall
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Jim Bob
RIP RJ
Can ‘feisty’ and ‘fearless’ Zach Benson be the Buffalo Sabres’ next Danny Gare?
Benson has some traits that have caused some fans to compare him to Gare, one of Buffalo’s all-time fan favorites.
www.nytimes.com
Jacob582
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It's good that he didn't stop being a s- disturber as a teenager in the NHL.Can ‘feisty’ and ‘fearless’ Zach Benson be the Buffalo Sabres’ next Danny Gare?
Benson has some traits that have caused some fans to compare him to Gare, one of Buffalo’s all-time fan favorites.
ValJamesDuex
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Heard this morning while on a delivery Benson is 13th in overall Corsi for forwards in the league over the last 15 games I think.
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
toddkaz
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Two things interesting, one is that Joker mentions Benson's high IQ which it makes you wonder if this is a topic of discussion within the team about how dumb some players on this team are and second, even though Benson is only 19 and in his 2nd season he seems very active verbally with the other guys which is fun and cool to see.
toddkaz
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What are people's thoughts on sending Benson to the AHL next year?
Probably an unpopular opinion but it feels like he is kind of stuck in no mans land. He development has stalled a bit.
Not playing good enough to be a top 6 and wasted on the 4th line.
There are times where I feel like a stint in the AHL would have done him wonders but unable to play there. He needs to develop his offensive game further.
I doubt he ever sees the AHL but his offense could really blossom there. He is only 19 and is eligible to play there next year.
His ice time in last 3 games 12:39, 10:56, 13:54 and has 1 point in his last 6 games and 4 points in his last 13.
Probably an unpopular opinion but it feels like he is kind of stuck in no mans land. He development has stalled a bit.
Not playing good enough to be a top 6 and wasted on the 4th line.
There are times where I feel like a stint in the AHL would have done him wonders but unable to play there. He needs to develop his offensive game further.
I doubt he ever sees the AHL but his offense could really blossom there. He is only 19 and is eligible to play there next year.
His ice time in last 3 games 12:39, 10:56, 13:54 and has 1 point in his last 6 games and 4 points in his last 13.
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Beerz
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If Ruff is going to continue his shenanigans with strapping him to the 4th line in favor of someone like Krebs than yeah send him to AHL if it's even possible.
toddkaz
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He is 20 next year, I am pretty sure he is eligible. I only brought it up cause Benson is just wasting away on the 4th line getting 12 minutes a game.
Beerz
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The only thing that he is lacking is his shot and probably a little skating issues. All that can and will be worked on wherever he is. I don't think he needs to be in the AHL for that. He shouldn't be on 4th line
toddkaz
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I don't want to see Benson in the AHL but he has the potential to be a first line player
Ruff putting him on the 4th line or giving him 12-14 minutes a game will make it tough to develop his offensive game.
Benson was in a tough spot at 18. Too good to be in the WHL and not old enough to play in the AHL.
They really need to do something about that rule.
Respectfully, Benson is not a franchise player. He was not too good for the WHL last year and nor is he this year. Buffalo was one of a very small # of teams that would have even considered keeping Benson in the NHL last season, and it was only gross neglect by the GM in the off-season that left a spot open for him. Benson has missed out on two seasons of being a leader/captain, of playing in the World Juniors, of deep playoff runs, of honing his offensive skills, due to the incompetence of our GM. Benson on the 4th line, is a major indictment of Adams. None of this is a shot against Benson; he can play in the NHL. There was just zero good reasons for him to be rushed. I would even say that his value as a trade chip has been negatively impacted. Just a terrible, terrible, terrible example of bad asset management and player development by a very bad GM.
toddkaz
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You didn't (and I didn't say you did). You did say: "[Benson, at age 18, was] too good to be in the WHL...". There is only one category of draft pick who is "too good" for major junior hockey at age 18, franchise players.When did I say he is a franchise player?
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Satanphonehome
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Beyond his first NHL goal, and making the NHL at 18, what has Benson shown to indicate he’s a high-level offensive player at the NHL level?
Benson was beloved by many scouts for his skill, hockey sense and tenacity.
He made the Sabres for his skill, hockey sense and tenacity
He slipped to 13th in the draft because there were real questions of whether his size and skating and shot would allow his offensive game to translate into a top 6 NHL role.
Him becoming the same high-effort bottom six player he’s been so far in the NHL was always a real possibility.
Benson was beloved by many scouts for his skill, hockey sense and tenacity.
He made the Sabres for his skill, hockey sense and tenacity
He slipped to 13th in the draft because there were real questions of whether his size and skating and shot would allow his offensive game to translate into a top 6 NHL role.
Him becoming the same high-effort bottom six player he’s been so far in the NHL was always a real possibility.
dickiedunnwrotethis
It's gotta be true.
He was dominating the WHL in his draft year. His forte is elite hockey sense and compete level. There was nothing for him to figure out except how to play against bigger, faster, and smarter players than the WHL provides. And he wasn't eligible for the AHL. Books can written on the blunders Sabres management have made in player development, but Benson won't be a chapter.
I love Benson.
Forgive me, but the "Benson was/is too good for junior hockey" is easily the most nonsensical thing that Sabre fans have bought into over these past two years. Here's a list of players who were, post-lockout, drafted higher than Benson and then returned to junior hockey for at least one season, and in many cases two: Kadri, Huberdeau, Scheifele, Horvat, Sam Reinhart, Draisatl, Ehlers, Marner, Nick Suzuki. Outside of Buffalo Sabre fandom, there is nobody projecting Benson to have a career that rivals any of these players. Further, the list of good NHLers drafted higher than Benson who went back to junior is much, much longer than this, but these are the highest profile guys post-lock-out.
The notion that Benson has some other-worldly-level of hockey sense and compete-level that makes him too good to be in junior hockey but also not good enough to break the 30 point mark and hold a top-six position in the NHL (on the Buffalo Sabres yet) is, again I'm sorry, an utter absurdity.
This is not, in any way, a criticism of Benson.
That is categorically not true. plenty of players get stuck in that no man’s land who are nowhere near franchise players
Name one 18 year old from the past 20 years who was not a franchise player and was too good for major junior hockey.
Riley Heidt looked too good for the WHL last year? Scoring almost 2ppg as an 18 year old I believe.
I mean, what’s the criteria you are looking for?
Beerz
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And what’s your evidence that he was too good? Being able to play in the NHL is not evidence of being too good for junior. The issue here is the contradiction that players like Benson or O’Reilly were, in some ways, mature beyond their years and NHL ready, yet not mature enough to go back to junior and continue to grow their games without “developing bad habits”. My argument is not that Benson was incapable of playing in the NHL (he has held his own, and at times done better than that), but rather that it was unnecessary for him to be in the NHL and that there is zero evidence that he would have been negatively impacted by returning to junior.
Beerz
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You're asking for an answer to an argument that can't be answered... it's silly.
If they are ready for NHL..they are too good for Juniors. It does no good for a player to play in a league that doesn't challenge them and face adversity.
If he were eligible for the AHL at the time it probably would of been in his best interest to go there...but he wasn't.
I think you are making a mountain out of a mole hill.
You say being able to play in NHL is not proof of him being too good for juniors.. ok sure..whatever. It's an opinion man..not District Court. Of course there is no evidence because it never happened.. just like you have no evidence that going back to Juniors wouldn't impact him negatively by picking up bad habits by not being challenged.. by pushing back his timeline by not working on his shortcomings ect.
Like I said.. silly argument
Well, it is sort of my point that there is no criteria. The argument that an 18 yr old would be too good for junior is basically unprovable. What makes somebody too good? Zach Benson was never a better junior player than McDavid or Makar or MacKinnon are NHL players today, but nobody would argue that those players, at their ages, are incapable of learning more and further developing their skills and abilities at the NHL level. Benson was simply not at a point in his development where he was just punking 19-20 yr old junior players and all that could be served by him going back to junior was for him to develop bad habits. Not even Adams or Granato or Fortin would have argued that. Benson didn’t make the team because he was too good to return to junior. He made the team because Adams did nothing to address our forward depth; Benson was simply the only young player who stepped up in camp. That was and remains, a terrible reason to keep an 18 year old in the NHL.
What’s silly, is making an argument that can’t be proven.
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