Prospect Info: Zach Benson, LW/C, Wenatchee (WHL), Signed ELC- 2023, 13th Overall

[Beerz]

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.

It is an opinion...just like yours.

 

[Archie Lee]

It is an opinion...just like yours.

Yes, and what we do here is express opinions and disagree with those of others.

There are two reasons for why this one sticks out for me. First is that it is so obviously wrong. If a person can list hundreds of NHL players who returned to junior for a year or two, including players who were demonstrably better than Benson when drafted (like Draisatl), and the counter is not a single player whose career was derailed by returning to junior, then it is kind of silly to have the opinion or argue that Benson was too good to return to junior. Second is that the “Benson was too good for junior” argument lets Adams off the hook for a truly terrible decision. Benson being in the NHL has done nothing for the Sabres. Nothing. He is now on the 4th line. He is pacing to have the same 30 point season he had as a rookie. We are last in the East. We have burned two years of his ELC when we had all the cap space in the world and no roster related reason to keep an 18 yr old on the team. It was a terrible decision, poor player development, and awful asset management.

 

[Beerz]

Yes, and what we do here is express opinions and disagree with those of others.

There are two reasons for why this one sticks out for me. First is that it is so obviously wrong. If a person can list hundreds of NHL players who returned to junior for a year or two, including players who were demonstrably better than Benson when drafted (like Draisatl), and the counter is not a single player whose career was derailed by returning to junior, then it is kind of silly to have the opinion or argue that Benson was too good to return to junior. Second is that the “Benson was too good for junior” argument lets Adams off the hook for a truly terrible decision. Benson being in the NHL has done nothing for the Sabres. Nothing. He is now on the 4th line. He is pacing to have the same 30 point season he had as a rookie. We are last in the East. We have burned two years of his ELC when we had all the cap space in the world and no roster related reason to keep an 18 yr old on the team. It was a terrible decision, poor player development, and awful asset management.

Development is not linear... Even players with far more skill than Benson could not be ready based on different factors. Every player is different and you can evaluate them accordingly.

None of this talk is verifiable because it is either one or the other.. we don't get to see the results from the other decision if it was right or wrong ect.

Your complaints seem more directed at Adams and the result it had for the Sabres... fair..but..has nothing to do with the question at hand.

An argument can be made that Benson doesn't deserve to be on 4th line... Ruff has always had questionable moves when it came to line up decisions.
Even last year Benson was noticeable in making a line better even while not collecting points from it.
He is probably the best defensive forward I have seen on the Sabres since Peca.

All the negative effects on the Sabres that resulted from Adams decision has nothing to do with what the whole point of the argument was about.

 

[Archie Lee]

Development is not linear... Even players with far more skill than Benson could not be ready based on different factors. Every player is different and you can evaluate them accordingly.

None of this talk is verifiable because it is either one or the other.. we don't get to see the results from the other decision if it was right or wrong ect.

Your complaints seem more directed at Adams and the result it had for the Sabres... fair..but..has nothing to do with the question at hand.

An argument can be made that Benson doesn't deserve to be on 4th line... Ruff has always had questionable moves when it came to line up decisions.
Even last year Benson was noticeable in making a line better even while not collecting points from it.
He is probably the best defensive forward I have seen on the Sabres since Peca.

All the negative effects on the Sabres that resulted from Adams decision has nothing to do with what the whole point of the argument was about.

I agree with all of this. And none of it supports that Benson was too good for junior hockey, which is the point that I disagree with.

 

[Beerz]

I agree with all of this. And none of it supports that Benson was too good for junior hockey, which is the point that I disagree with.

Because it was a rebuff on your statement..which 90% had nothing to do with Benson NOT being too good for Juniors.

I already gave out my reasons several posts ago...

With certain players there is not much for them to gain in Juniors. Some players need to be challenged and those challenges can be super beneficial to player development imo.

 

[Archie Lee]

Because it was a rebuff on your statement..which 90% had nothing to do with Benson NOT being too good for Juniors.

I already gave out my reasons several posts ago...

With certain players there is not much for them to gain in Juniors. Some players need to be challenged and those challenges can be super beneficial to player development imo.

I admit I could be wrong. Perhaps Zach Benson is a near one of a kind unicorn of a hockey player who at 18 years of age had nothing to gain by returning to junior hockey.

 

[Beerz]

I admit I could be wrong. Perhaps Zach Benson is a near one of a kind unicorn of a hockey player who at 18 years of age had nothing to gain by returning to junior hockey. I doubt it though.

I'd go with your first instinct...as silly as a statement as it was.

 

[Chainshot]

There are few players who don't benefit by returning to their junior league to be the dominant, high-minute play driver for their team. Having watched a lot of Benson due to following Savoie closely, he was not too good for going back if that had been the choice. That he outworked and outhustled his way onto the team speaks well of him but he was not some gilded paragon.