Per Andy Strickland - Sam Bennett Blues Target

[netboy65]

We have a roster roadblock already. If you sign bennett and schenn drops to 3c then dvorsky is definitely blocked. Not the biggest deal since injuries happen. But when dvorsky is a mainstay on your 3rd line center or wing you have automatically dropped neighbours to the 4th line or possibly schenn. And now have no room for 1 of sunny, walker or torpo with one of the others as a sub. Just seems like too many moving pieces to be realistic, no matter how bad i want this move to happen.

Sunny will not (nor should not) be a consideration beyond next year

[SpacemanSpiff]

I’m on the fence with a player like Sam Bennett. On one hand, he’s a heck of a player, especially in the playoffs. But here are some concerns.

•He’s going to get paid bank. He is perhaps the player most likely to get paid too high of an AAV and/or too long of a term this summer. A 6 year deal would be buying his age 29-34 years. The max 7 and it takes him to age 35. Lots of miles on him already. I just don’t see him aging well.

•His career high is 51 pts. He’s eclipsed 41 twice ever in his career. He is no offensive dynamo. His value would be more in the style of game he plays.

•He was somehow -15 on a Panthers team that had a +29 goal differential this year. How is that even possible? I’ll be the first to say +/- can be a flawed stat but that’s an insane outlier.

•I just don’t like the guy. Again, I’m on the fence here though. I absolutely love those plays with an edge types of players but this one goes over the line constantly. In terms of being dirty he’s probably worse than Kadri and there’d be a riot if the Blues ever signed/traded for Kadri.

•I see the need for an upgrade at 2C but would prefer one that’s not going to require a 6-7 year contract. Dvorsky won’t be ready for the 2C role next season but I also don’t want to completely block him.

Would signing him instantly make the Blues better? Yes. Would it be a good idea though? No, probably not IMO. This would be a big risk and I’d prefer the Blues spend their money elsewhere to try to find an upgrade.

And with him winning a Cup last year, he's not going to take a discount to play anywhere. He's going to want to get paid.

Maybe I'm wrong, I can't see the Blues shelling out a 7 year deal for 6 to 7 million a year for a guy like that.

[chuckt]

I really think it will take 8 million to lock him in. There are 20+ teams needing a center with tons of cap space due to the exploding cap. There are simply not enough free agents to go around.

[j adams]

Do we know how effective he has been defending 6-on-5 situations? Game 7 still haunts me.

[DawgDad]

Do we know how effective he has been defending 6-on-5 situations? Game 7 still haunts me.

Defend? He ATTACKS players.

[rezero]

I’m on the fence with a player like Sam Bennett. On one hand, he’s a heck of a player, especially in the playoffs. But here are some concerns.

•He’s going to get paid bank. He is perhaps the player most likely to get paid too high of an AAV and/or too long of a term this summer. A 6 year deal would be buying his age 29-34 years. The max 7 and it takes him to age 35. Lots of miles on him already. I just don’t see him aging well.

•His career high is 51 pts. He’s eclipsed 41 twice ever in his career. He is no offensive dynamo. His value would be more in the style of game he plays.

•He was somehow -15 on a Panthers team that had a +29 goal differential this year. How is that even possible? I’ll be the first to say +/- can be a flawed stat but that’s an insane outlier.

•I just don’t like the guy. Again, I’m on the fence here though. I absolutely love those plays with an edge types of players but this one goes over the line constantly. In terms of being dirty he’s probably worse than Kadri and there’d be a riot if the Blues ever signed/traded for Kadri.

•I see the need for an upgrade at 2C but would prefer one that’s not going to require a 6-7 year contract. Dvorsky won’t be ready for the 2C role next season but I also don’t want to completely block him.

Would signing him instantly make the Blues better? Yes. Would it be a good idea though? No, probably not IMO. This would be a big risk and I’d prefer the Blues spend their money elsewhere to try to find an upgrade.

I agree with this assessment. Bennett is a tough player, but the one thing you forgot to mention is he also is know to take some bad penalties. I know people hate Duschene because he is a little soft and dries, but he will be $3M a year less than the price of Bennett.

[Red7]

Army’s 1 and 1A priorities will be signing Holloway and Broberg to extensions. They need to see what they’ll look like before they go looking at free agents. Between now and July 1st, he also needs to trim some salary from the defense. Leddy, Faulk, and Krug are making too much money and are hamstringing him a bit. I’m all for letting Dvorsky sink or swim at #2 or #3. The Blues haven’t quite moved out of their reboot, reset, or rebuild mode just yet. I liken this team that unexpectedly made the playoffs in 09, missed in 10, and then burst through in 11.

[skilles]

Targeting Bennett isn't necessarily a bad idea. We certainly need an upgrade at 2C.

But he doesn't make Dvorsky expendable in any way. By the time Dvo is hitting his stride at the NHL level, Bennett will be in Schenn territory. He's a very good fit for a stop gap who eventually slides down the lineup, not as a replacement.

100%.

You still keep Devo. When he’s NHL ready, ease him in at 3C or 2 or 3LW. You eventually have the wonderful problem of too many quality players and not enough room for them all? Then you trade 1-2 of them (but still likely not the young C).

You wouldn't trade Dvorksy for Nemec if we had Bennett on a 6 year deal?

[PPG]

Red 7- pretty good,comparison between this team and the 09 team.
But they actually missed the playoffs in 2010 & 11 and then burst into contention in 2012.

[Lefley 25]

Would be huge overpay for SB
Things are progressing fantastic as is on retool
Not the time to swing for fences on contract that will probably age poorly

[Hockey Pete]

I’m on the fence with a player like Sam Bennett. On one hand, he’s a heck of a player, especially in the playoffs. But here are some concerns.

•He’s going to get paid bank. He is perhaps the player most likely to get paid too high of an AAV and/or too long of a term this summer. A 6 year deal would be buying his age 29-34 years. The max 7 and it takes him to age 35. Lots of miles on him already. I just don’t see him aging well.

•His career high is 51 pts. He’s eclipsed 41 twice ever in his career. He is no offensive dynamo. His value would be more in the style of game he plays.

•He was somehow -15 on a Panthers team that had a +29 goal differential this year. How is that even possible? I’ll be the first to say +/- can be a flawed stat but that’s an insane outlier.

•I just don’t like the guy. Again, I’m on the fence here though. I absolutely love those plays with an edge types of players but this one goes over the line constantly. In terms of being dirty he’s probably worse than Kadri and there’d be a riot if the Blues ever signed/traded for Kadri.

•I see the need for an upgrade at 2C but would prefer one that’s not going to require a 6-7 year contract. Dvorsky won’t be ready for the 2C role next season but I also don’t want to completely block him.

Would signing him instantly make the Blues better? Yes. Would it be a good idea though? No, probably not IMO. This would be a big risk and I’d prefer the Blues spend their money elsewhere to try to find an upgrade.

All of this X 2,112.

Better ways to spend money than on a 40-point center too close to 30.

Blues are a much better team with him in the lineup. There are a lot of 50pt players out there that don't provide an ounce of what Sam Bennett does. Sometimes you gotta pay for intangibles too and Bennett has that.

He does today. But he’s also had a lot of injuries over the years. How confident are you he’d actually live up to the type of contract it will almost certainly take to get him signed? That’s my main concern. Might look good for a year or two but then turn into an albatross real quick.

I actually agree with both of you (I know, way to go out on a limb Pete)... Bennet IMO helps this team for the next 3-4 years, and probably in a major way (Tim hit the nail on the head when he states the intangibles the guy brings). But STL-MN is dead-on-balls accurate about his decline, as IMO we'll be lucky to get 30pts out of him when he's 34.

To me it boils down to the contract. Army has that front loaded thingy (years 1-4 @ $7M and a decline from there) so I'm open there. My worry is that the ONE weakness Army has is that occasional FA contract for veterans he's enamored with...

[kimzey59]

I don’t follow other teams much. My question is, will he help wingers like Bolduc prosper? I think Bolduc has been held down by playing with Sunny as his center. The mix seems important. Someone who excels at setting up his wingers would be ideal I would think.

Short answer; No.
The weakest aspect of Bennett's game is his offense. He's been playing with Matt Tkachuk(a PPG PF winger) for years, with 65% offensive zone starts and topped out at 51 points. He's absolutely not a point producer and he's not going to help a Bolduc type(who needs a dedicated set-up guy).

What Bennett does do is create space for his linemates. I think Bennett would have a lot of value on a line with Kyrou. Bennett probably wouldn't put up too many points himself, but he probably opens the ice up for Kyrou to hit 80+ points.


Overall, I can understand why Army would target Bennett but I'm not at all convinced that he's a great fit here. Right now, we're extremely heavy on wingers that need guys to feed them the puck. Thomas can't play with everyone. We need a passing center a lot more than we need another bulldozer IMO. Admittedly, I don't see a lot of great options to acquire that kind of passing center; but I think we need to put a lot more attention on playing style than we currently are.

[STL fan in MN]

Targeting Bennett isn't necessarily a bad idea. We certainly need an upgrade at 2C.

But he doesn't make Dvorsky expendable in any way. By the time Dvo is hitting his stride at the NHL level, Bennett will be in Schenn territory. He's a very good fit for a stop gap who eventually slides down the lineup, not as a replacement.

100%.

You still keep Devo. When he’s NHL ready, ease him in at 3C or 2 or 3LW. You eventually have the wonderful problem of too many quality players and not enough room for them all? Then you trade 1-2 of them (but still likely not the young C).

You wouldn't trade Dvorksy for Nemec if we had Bennett on a 6 year deal?

No.

[skilles]

Targeting Bennett isn't necessarily a bad idea. We certainly need an upgrade at 2C.

But he doesn't make Dvorsky expendable in any way. By the time Dvo is hitting his stride at the NHL level, Bennett will be in Schenn territory. He's a very good fit for a stop gap who eventually slides down the lineup, not as a replacement.

100%.

You still keep Devo. When he’s NHL ready, ease him in at 3C or 2 or 3LW. You eventually have the wonderful problem of too many quality players and not enough room for them all? Then you trade 1-2 of them (but still likely not the young C).

You wouldn't trade Dvorksy for Nemec if we had Bennett on a 6 year deal?

No.

Hmm kind of seems like Nemec is the higher prospect no?

[seattleblue]

Targeting Bennett isn't necessarily a bad idea. We certainly need an upgrade at 2C.

But he doesn't make Dvorsky expendable in any way. By the time Dvo is hitting his stride at the NHL level, Bennett will be in Schenn territory. He's a very good fit for a stop gap who eventually slides down the lineup, not as a replacement.

100%.

You still keep Devo. When he’s NHL ready, ease him in at 3C or 2 or 3LW. You eventually have the wonderful problem of too many quality players and not enough room for them all? Then you trade 1-2 of them (but still likely not the young C).

You wouldn't trade Dvorksy for Nemec if we had Bennett on a 6 year deal?

No.

Hmm kind of seems like Nemec is the higher prospect no?

Scoring center is like RHD in that they're super hard to acquire. So why would we move a right-on-track developing player at a unicorn spot for a player at another unicorn spot who is showing some risks? Trade from other places but not Dvorsky
I would not trade Dvorsky for Nemec either. I don't have to consider it long.

[skilles]

Targeting Bennett isn't necessarily a bad idea. We certainly need an upgrade at 2C.

But he doesn't make Dvorsky expendable in any way. By the time Dvo is hitting his stride at the NHL level, Bennett will be in Schenn territory. He's a very good fit for a stop gap who eventually slides down the lineup, not as a replacement.

100%.

You still keep Devo. When he’s NHL ready, ease him in at 3C or 2 or 3LW. You eventually have the wonderful problem of too many quality players and not enough room for them all? Then you trade 1-2 of them (but still likely not the young C).

You wouldn't trade Dvorksy for Nemec if we had Bennett on a 6 year deal?

No.

Hmm kind of seems like Nemec is the higher prospect no?

Scoring center is like RHD in that they're super hard to acquire. So why would we move a right-on-track developing player at a unicorn spot for a player at another unicorn spot who is showing some risks? Trade from other places but not Dvorsky
I would not trade Dvorsky for Nemec either. I don't have to consider it long.

Because if we sign a 2c long term RD becomes the clear cut biggest need long and short term IMO and I also think Nemec has the higher upside but I'm willing to listen as I'm not that educated on prospects but I like guys that are 21 on hold AHL scoring records.

And I also am concerned our "window" is going to close about as quickly as it opens if we don't address the aging d pretty soon