Update: Zach Benson Makes Buffalo Sabres Roster

[puckstopper]

And you're all thinking Buffalo fans know what's right for this kid?

Buffalo fans got all the Chrystal balls now? 

 

Sorry couldn't resist that

 

I'll take a good RHD prospect over a smurf winger any day of the week!

 

in regards to this 18 yo individual playing....

 

Scenario # 1 - Plays his nine games in the show, gets a taste and goes back

                        to junior and progresses nicely.

 

Scenario #2 - Makes the team, does great! everyone is overjoyed! Has a 

                        wonderful career! scores a bazillion points! 

 

Scenario #3 - Makes the team, gets run into the boards around game 20. 

                        Struggles in and out of the line up. Someone picks him up on

                        Waivers as a depth player in 2028.

 

Think we've all seen each scenario's play out with many players

over the years. I'd choose the first one myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shiznak]

15 hours ago, BlockerHigh said:

Yes and Marchand and Caufiield aren't outliers? lol.

 

Using the small number of highly successful small players in the league as your defense, is wonderful cherry picking but its not going to win a debate.

For every Marchand or Caufield there are 100's of Hunter Shinkaruks, Bryan Sakics, etc...

 

Here's a tip, you can't tell the future, so when looking at your team, you need to consider what you have a plethora of vs a dearth of and consider it...

 

You say, well you can always trade a player away!

 

Firstly, you are assuming said player is going to pan out. He may not

Second, say if a Benson does pan out and you need a stud RD. Do you think a 40 pt winger is going to get you that? No, you have to then trade the same player that panned out...

 

Anyone who watches and understands hockey can see a few basic things to winning a cup. You need a BIG, MOBILE, defense corps

 

As a result, acquiring BIG MOBILE Dmen, particularly on the right side is very expensive. Most teams who have won, have developed their RD from within. There's a reason, they're hard to find.

Big, tough, great skating and great passing RD are as hard to find as quality centers, probably moreso. You need to consider that.

 

And sorry, Benson has not proven he is even an NHL player yet, so naming Marchand, Caufield as comparables is nonsense.

Typically when you see a prospects who has his ranking all over the map, ranging from as late as 26th to as high as 7th. I would generally stay away from picking him. It’s pretty much an indication how inconsistent he is from game-to-game. Willander wasn’t even the consensus next best defensemen on the board as many scouts had ASP ranked higher than him 
 

I would also argue that big, mobile defensemen have a lower ceiling than the rest of field. I mean, look at the top 10 defensemen, right now. None of them weight over 210 pounds, aside from Hedman.
 

Yes, we need defensemen who are big, mobile defensemen who can complement Hughes, but do you really want to waste a top 15 pick on a defensemen that we possibly could find in the later rounds? Tanev was Hughes best partner, and he was undrafted. John Marino (who many of us wanted) was drafted in the 6th round. Pesce was a 3rd rounder. You get the story. 

[The Duke]

. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by The Duke
Double post

[The Duke]

11 hours ago, MikeyD said:

The guy who is being argued by fans to make the team out of year one at spot 13 is your "please don't draft"? 

 

On the team with the most stacked prospect pool in the NHL...

 

????? 

Yes.  I get it, he’ll probably turn out to be a good player.
 

But pre-draft it was clear a high end C or D with good size would be available for us.   A lot of teams seemed to agree with me as only Willander was left of the players I wanted - and our draft team didn’t want to risk sliding 2 spots.

It was less about Benson and more about what was on the board, although I’m not a huge fan of undersized wingers - who seem to be a lot more available even when they’re good than other positions or profiles.

[BlockerHigh]

6 hours ago, shiznak said:

Typically when you see a prospects who has his ranking all over the map, ranging from as late as 26th to as high as 7th. I would generally stay away from picking him. It’s pretty much an indication how inconsistent he is from game-to-game. Willander wasn’t even the consensus next best defensemen on the board as many scouts had ASP ranked higher than him 
 

I would also argue that big, mobile defensemen have a lower ceiling than the rest of field. I mean, look at the top 10 defensemen, right now. None of them weight over 210 pounds, aside from Hedman.
 

Yes, we need defensemen who are big, mobile defensemen who can complement Hughes, but do you really want to waste a top 15 pick on a defensemen that we possibly could find in the later rounds? Tanev was Hughes best partner, and he was undrafted. John Marino (who many of us wanted) was drafted in the 6th round. Pesce was a 3rd rounder. You get the story. 

“Rankings” mean nothing 

 

Pastrnak says hi - where’d he go? 22nd?

how about Dal Cole or Pulijarvi- consensus top 5 rankings 

 

dude ….

[shiznak]

4 hours ago, BlockerHigh said:

“Rankings” mean nothing 

 

Pastrnak says hi - where’d he go? 22nd?

how about Dal Cole or Pulijarvi- consensus top 5 rankings 

 

dude ….

Where did I say ranking means nothing?

 

I said, when a player ranking is all over the map. It generally means, he can be inconsistent from game-to-game. It’s hard to get an idea of his potential when some scouts have him in the late 20s, while some scouts have him in in the early teens.

[MikeyD]

On 10/4/2023 at 2:05 AM, puckstopper said:

And you're all thinking Buffalo fans know what's right for this kid?

Buffalo fans got all the Chrystal balls now? 

 

Sorry couldn't resist that

 

I'll take a good RHD prospect over a smurf winger any day of the week!

 

in regards to this 18 yo individual playing....

 

Scenario # 1 - Plays his nine games in the show, gets a taste and goes back

                        to junior and progresses nicely.

 

Scenario #2 - Makes the team, does great! everyone is overjoyed! Has a 

                        wonderful career! scores a bazillion points! 

 

Scenario #3 - Makes the team, gets run into the boards around game 20. 

                        Struggles in and out of the line up. Someone picks him up on

                        Waivers as a depth player in 2028.

 

Think we've all seen each scenario's play out with many players

over the years. I'd choose the first one myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buffalo fans and management apparently. He's on the team to start the season as per Buffalo reporters and hour ago. 

 

https://x.com/BillHoppeNHL/status/1711407674875597163?s=20

[DownUndaCanuck]

Happy with the Willander pick, hope it's not the next Juolevi (but could be) but Benson is going to tear it up. Size means nothing for a skilled forward, he could easily become the next Point. I think he'll struggle in his rookie year, 60 games and like 20 points, and even as a sophmore will struggle but look out, in a few years time he'll be PPG+.

[Alflives]

Just now, DownUndaCanuck said:

Happy with the Willander pick, hope it's not the next Juolevi (but could be) but Benson is going to tear it up. Size means nothing for a skilled forward, he could easily become the next Point. I think he'll struggle in his rookie year, 60 games and like 20 points, and even as a sophmore will struggle but look out, in a few years time he'll be PPG+.

Point lays centre. When Benson was asked during a pre draft interview about moving to centre he quickly said no. Would have wanted him up to that interview. 

[MikeyD]

5 hours ago, Alflives said:

Point lays centre. When Benson was asked during a pre draft interview about moving to centre he quickly said no. Would have wanted him up to that interview. 

That's not true at all. He said he's completely open to it and has played in when he was younger. 

 

Edit: go to 8:50 remaining in the podcast

 

https://player.fm/series/canucks-central/zach-bensons-work-rate-makes-up-for-being-undersized

Edited October 10, 2023 by MikeyD

[Alflives]

31 minutes ago, MikeyD said:

That's not true at all. He said he's completely open to it and has played in when he was younger. 

 

Edit: go to 8:50 remaining in the podcast

 

https://player.fm/series/canucks-central/zach-bensons-work-rate-makes-up-for-being-undersized

It was an interview on 650 just prior to the draft. IMHAO his game looked perfectly suited for centre. But since he has doubts, he should stay at wing. 
Plus, now he’s a Sabre. And Alf hates that club. Nice city though. 

[MikeyD]

17 minutes ago, Alflives said:

It was an interview on 650 just prior to the draft. IMHAO his game looked perfectly suited for centre. But since he has doubts, he should stay at wing. 
Plus, now he’s a Sabre. And Alf hates that club. Nice city though. 

That was the interview prior to the draft on 650 lol. 

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, MikeyD said:

That was the interview prior to the draft on 650 lol. 

Exactly! And he said he doesn’t see himself as a centre. I was hoping we’d draft him until that interview. 

[Captkirk888]

On 10/2/2023 at 10:58 AM, Warhippy said:

Garland actually showed to be the better player on a far lesser team with better overall numbers and far lesser line mates.  Benson is no slouch at all; that's not what i am saying.  But Garland/Benson is and was a fair comparison at the time because they were similar type players even if at different positions on the wing.  

 

Garland team draft year:  https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0014432015.html

Garland stats:  https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=158171

 

Benson team draft year:  https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0086712023.html

Benson stats:  https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=240680

 

It's actually impressive that Garland was that good but drafted so low in comparison.

This^^^
plus, Benson looks like he’s 12 yrs old.

[gwarrior]

Good on him. Now let's sit back, relax, and see what he can do.

[AatuD2]

Good for Zach, he's got an interesting background story. Happy for him but in no way feel bad that we took Willander over him. 

 

Let's see how things look in four years. 

[futurefilm]

It's always going to be hard to compare forwards to d-men. It's just a totally different development path, more flex as a forward such as centres can start on wing etc. 

 

Benson is in a good place in Buffalo. Willander is in a VERY good BU system and can see him being ready sooner than most people expect. 

[NucksRuleYou]

On 10/3/2023 at 4:25 PM, wai_lai416 said:

again redwings ain’t reaching with the willander pick. Zadina is not off the board pick and is ranked higher than Hughes and they are both literally top 10 picks. You keep talking like willander is guaranteed going to be good and 100% Hughes partner . Fact is willander is a late 1st round talent historically late 1st are 2nd 3rd pairing players if they make it to the nhl majority of the time if they make it at all. Do I want willander to succeed? Of coz. But he’s at the very minimum 3 years away. By then wingers are no longer are strength and tbh it never was our strength. Just because you have a bunch of middling wingers that no other team wants doesn’t = strength it’s depth if anything. Most of our wingers outside kuzmenko maybe boeser is a 3rd liner on a lot of teams. Given Canucks history with drafting and their ability to produce players? Ya I rather take a 160lb player with a far higher ceiling and a higher chance to make the nhl. It just shows how much homerism is in play if you think the draft is a crapshoot and benson vs willander is just a crapshoot. If they are so desperate for willander they can trade down.. he’ll more than likely still be there and there’d be plenty of team interested in benson.. and if willander is gone then pick the next defenceman since like u said it’s a crapshoot

 

So Willander is not a sure thing, but Benson is? What a crock of shit. Spare my the "homerism" bullshit. I'm tired of our own fans trashing our prospects but acting like other team's prospects are sure things. Benson is not a sure thing, contrary to what you keep telling yourself.

[wai_lai416]

3 hours ago, NucksRuleYou said:

 

So Willander is not a sure thing, but Benson is? What a crock of shit. Spare my the "homerism" bullshit. I'm tired of our own fans trashing our prospects but acting like other team's prospects are sure things. Benson is not a sure thing, contrary to what you keep telling yourself.

Benson is not a sure thing but he sure is as hell have a far greater chance at being an impact player than willander is. Ppl scouts and rank prospect for a living unlike us that probably never watched a single one of them play live. There’s reason why some players are ranked high and we are not just talking about 1 guy ranking him high and then the rest low. His rank average is like almost 20 spot higher than willander. Literally only 1 guy have him ranked in the top 10 and everyone else ranked 20+ benson making it out of buffalo training camp despite all the prospect and how they are pretty set in the top 6 shows he’s pretty special. How many 18 year old make it onto their nhl team out of training camp in the draft year that’s not a top 3 pick? Oh right not many. This have nothing to do with pumping other team prospect and trashing your own. This have everything to do with going off the board and not going with bpa because of positional need.. and technically we need lw too. Outside of kuzmenko the Canucks depth is pdg aman? You sick of fan trashing on their own prospect? I’m sick of homers hyping every single prospect we have as the next star in the league. The madden woo Lockwood Lind.. where they now? And rathbone supposively as good as Hughes people were proposing to trade Hughes and replace with rathbone. This organization had shown 0 ability to develop players. I rather take the chance with a player that’s nhl ready and able to develop in the nhl then a player years away that needs to be developed in the ahl. 

[NucksRuleYou]

4 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

Benson is not a sure thing but he sure is as hell have a far greater chance at being an impact player than willander is. Ppl scouts and rank prospect for a living unlike us that probably never watched a single one of them play live. There’s reason why some players are ranked high and we are not just talking about 1 guy ranking him high and then the rest low. His rank average is like almost 20 spot higher than willander. Literally only 1 guy have him ranked in the top 10 and everyone else ranked 20+ benson making it out of buffalo training camp despite all the prospect and how they are pretty set in the top 6 shows he’s pretty special. How many 18 year old make it onto their nhl team out of training camp in the draft year that’s not a top 3 pick? Oh right not many. This have nothing to do with pumping other team prospect and trashing your own. This have everything to do with going off the board and not going with bpa because of positional need.. and technically we need lw too. Outside of kuzmenko the Canucks depth is pdg aman? You sick of fan trashing on their own prospect? I’m sick of homers hyping every single prospect we have as the next star in the league. The madden woo Lockwood Lind.. where they now? And rathbone supposively as good as Hughes people were proposing to trade Hughes and replace with rathbone. This organization had shown 0 ability to develop players. I rather take the chance with a player that’s nhl ready and able to develop in the nhl then a player years away that needs to be developed in the ahl. 

 

Just because Benson is starting in the NHL doesn't mean he is staying. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up getting sent back to junior after a handful of games.

[Alflives]

26 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

Benson is not a sure thing but he sure is as hell have a far greater chance at being an impact player than willander is. Ppl scouts and rank prospect for a living unlike us that probably never watched a single one of them play live. There’s reason why some players are ranked high and we are not just talking about 1 guy ranking him high and then the rest low. His rank average is like almost 20 spot higher than willander. Literally only 1 guy have him ranked in the top 10 and everyone else ranked 20+ benson making it out of buffalo training camp despite all the prospect and how they are pretty set in the top 6 shows he’s pretty special. How many 18 year old make it onto their nhl team out of training camp in the draft year that’s not a top 3 pick? Oh right not many. This have nothing to do with pumping other team prospect and trashing your own. This have everything to do with going off the board and not going with bpa because of positional need.. and technically we need lw too. Outside of kuzmenko the Canucks depth is pdg aman? You sick of fan trashing on their own prospect? I’m sick of homers hyping every single prospect we have as the next star in the league. The madden woo Lockwood Lind.. where they now? And rathbone supposively as good as Hughes people were proposing to trade Hughes and replace with rathbone. This organization had shown 0 ability to develop players. I rather take the chance with a player that’s nhl ready and able to develop in the nhl then a player years away that needs to be developed in the ahl. 

Actually elite skilled, smart, big right shot D are worth more than Smurf sized wingers. Them’s the facts. Accept and bow to Alf’s empties. 
 

[wai_lai416]

11 hours ago, NucksRuleYou said:

 

Just because Benson is starting in the NHL doesn't mean he is staying. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up getting sent back to junior after a handful of games.

Of coz but fact is they have to put a guy on waiver that they probably didn’t want to just to have to make room for him. 

 

11 hours ago, Alflives said:

Actually elite skilled, smart, big right shot D are worth more than Smurf sized wingers. Them’s the facts. Accept and bow to Alf’s empties. 
 

They are worth way more yes I agree but they are only worth more if they reach their talent. If benson is producing like a caulfield right. You prolly be able to get a rd for him. He may or may not reach those but he sure have a higher chance than someone that’s ranked 20+ spots later 

[BCNate]

Who cares.  We took a RD that we sorely need, and we are worried about a 5'8" winger making the Sabres??  Boeser is on pace for 328 goals, we are just fine on the wing.

[Sabrefan1]

All 5'10" of him is a fire plug. 

 

Benson made sure to get into every group scrap on the ice tonight during opening night and stood tall when the Rangers' big boys tested him. 

 

He really doesn't want to go back to his mess of a junior team.

 

If he can get a few points in by his 9th game, he may stick on the roster.

[Barn Burner]

Just now, Sabrefan1 said:

All 5'10" of him is a fire plug. 

 

Benson made sure to get into every group scrap on the ice tonight during opening night and stood tall when the Rangers' big boys tested him. 

 

He really doesn't want to go back to his mess of a junior team.

 

If he can get a few points in by his 9th game, he may stick on the roster.

I was watching the game and yeah, he is a scrapper.