Through four games this season, young Calgary Flames forward Sam Bennett has just one point. He has yet to score a goal and has taken just six shots. He is seeing just over ten minutes of ice time per game, down more than four minutes from his career average. Bennett is currently on pace for just over 20 points on the year. It seems like a disappointing start and perhaps just an aberration for the 2014 fourth overall pick. In reality, it is par for the course for the 22-year-old forward. Since his strong 36-point rookie campaign in 2015-16, Bennett has failed to improve his production and has seen less and less ice time. This is simply a continuation of the trend.
To say that Bennett has failed to live up to the expectations of his lofty draft position would be to understate the issue. Drafted ahead of the likes of William Nylander, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dylan Larkin, and David Pastrnak in 2014, the Flames certainly expected far more out of Bennett thus far. His overall production is decreasing, he has never cracked 20 goals or 20 assists in a season, and a center when drafted now plays almost exclusively on the wing. Bennett has simply not at all been what the Flames thought they were getting at fourth overall. Meanwhile, the team is without a playoff win in the three years since Bennett became a regular and patience is running out in Calgary. Bennett has shown flashes of immense ability, but has lacked consistency and, more than anything, has been a poor fit in the Flames’ system. With the hire of new head coach Bill Peters, many expected a turnaround from Bennett this year, but it has been far from it so far. It would seem that Bennett’s time in Calgary is almost up, right?
Wrong, in fact. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman led off his latest edition of “31 Thoughts” by acknowledging the trade interest in Bennett, but doubting that GM Brad Treliving and the Flames were ready to move on. Calgary is wary of trading Bennett while his value is at its lowest to a team seeking to buy low on the talented forward and finally find a way to get the most out of his ability. Friedman expanded on his comments with Sportsnet Radio 960 in Calgary, stating that the Flames appear to be obsessed with avoiding the mistake that provincial rivals the Edmonton Oilers made in trading away Taylor Hall at well below his true value. Hall was also struggling to meet the expectations of his draft slot, first overall in 2010, and it was compounded by the team’s struggles as well. Hall was traded to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Larsson and is now the reigning Hart Trophy winner and a top ten forward in the league. The Flames could certainly use a Larsson-caliber piece in their pursuit of a playoff berth this season, but not at the cost of losing a player that they still believe has untapped potential.
That is not to say that the team hasn’t considered offers, though. Friedman states that, while no deal was ever close, Calgary went “far down the road” in trade talks with several teams. Friedman specifically names the Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Tampa Bay Lightning as teams that he knows have had interest in Bennett before and, especially in the case of Anaheim and Montreal, likely continue to. The fact that Bennett is perceived as being available via trade would seem to indicate that the Flames continue to field offers for the young forward, even if they aren’t actively selling. While Friedman doesn’t see it happening, Bennett’s play so far this year is trending towards 2018-19 being a new career low. With a year remaining on his contract beyond this season, giving a new team the time to attempt to turn his development around, a poor season for Bennett could see Calgary finally give up on their once-top prospect. It’s fair to want to avoid giving up on potential, particularly for a disappointing return, but a point is fast approaching when Bennett can no longer be seriously compared to a player like Hall.
Certain players get huge draft hype because of CHL navel gazing by Canadian homers.
Bennett is a prime example. Jonathan Drouin is another.
He’s not that good now because he was never that good in the first place.
You could at least understand why scouts liked Drouin, never understood the appeal of Bennett.
CHL navel gazing? The guy had 91 points in 57 games to go along with 118 PIMs. Not to mention he’s a natural centre. Nearly any other team in Calgary’s position would have drafted in the same spot. Sometimes, draft picks just don’t work out. Has nothing to do with nationality or biased. You would see that if you weren’t biased, yourself. Doesn’t matter where you play your junior hockey. Sometimes players just can’t translate that success to the next level.
Go back and check the drafts of the last twenty years. Canadian players being overrated in the top 10 while better Euro and US players going later is pretty much the one noticeable trend.
And Sam Bennett couldn’t do a single pushup at the draft combine. He can score 91 points against kids who now work at Canadian Tire. But that doesn’t translate to the next level.
He’s the hockey equivalent of Jason White. Two time Heisman Trophy winner. Current insurance salesman. Can excel against inferior competition but can’t even sniff the pros.
Meanwhile, Pastarnak almost falls out of the first round.
You do know that since 1998, 106 of the 200 top 10 picks chosen in the NHL draft were American or European right? And that of those 106 players, we had some gems like Pavel Brendl, Nik Antropov, Mike Komisarek, Nail Yakupov, Zach Bogosian, Nikita Filatov, Colin Wilson, Rick DiPietro, Kari Lehtonen, etc?
Now, I’m not blind to the Canadian busts, the point is busts are drafted from literally everywhere while talented players from all regions fall through the cracks(hello Martin St. Louis, Jamie Benn, Brendan Gallagher, Patric Hornqvist, Henrik Lundqvist, Pavel Datsyuk, etc). That is the product of drafting physically immature 17-18 year olds to play a man’s game.
So Casey Mittelstadt was drafted too high because he couldn’t do a pull-up?
Bennett had a shoulder injury that required surgery, that’s why he couldn’t do a pull-up. Why don’t you learn your facts before misusing them in some nonsensical rant you goof.
It’s more fore the playoffs Canadians handl3 the playoffs way better than Americans and all other countries players! Look at Matthews and nylander both can’t handle the physical and mental game of the playoffs both very soft
Ok that’s not true at all. Especially when you look at who the Capitals best players were in the playoffs last year. Kuznetsov, Ovie, Oshie, Backstrom, Kempny, Orlov……
And Carlson
I love the rationale mentioned in this article about the flames trying to avoid what the oilers did with hall. Yet Bennett has not, and probably will not, sniff what hall did in his “disappointing” seasons