Sabres' Option: Matthew Beniers

[DarthEbriate]

I love me some Hecht. He was the guy you'd add to any line to make it greater than the sum of its parts. This team needs a Hecht (they have one in Reinhart, although not the defensive skillset). All that to say: If we draft Hecht 1st overall I will be sorely disappointed.

If we draft Beniers I want him in the Selke conversation when he gets into his 2nd contract and ongoing for the following 6 seasons.

[SDS]

2 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I love me some Hecht. He was the guy you'd add to any line to make it greater than the sum of its parts. This team needs a Hecht (they have one in Reinhart, although not the defensive skillset). All that to say: If we draft Hecht 1st overall I will be sorely disappointed.

If we draft Beniers I want him in the Selke conversation when he gets into his 2nd contract and ongoing for the following 6 seasons.

I don’t think every draft class is like that. The best in this class doesn’t mean it’s the same as any other class.

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, SDS said:

I don’t think every draft class is like that. The best in this class doesn’t mean it’s the same as any other class.

This is an important point. When you are comparing across drafts it is to find comparables for a player but you shouldn't compare across picks. AKA this first compared to this first. Drafts are their own cohort of talent and should be viewed as such. For example we shouldn't compare McDavid to Lefrienere because they don't profile the same even as 1st overall picks. We can compare Bedard to McDavid right now but it isn't because they will both be first overalls but because they project similar. 

[DarthEbriate]

17 minutes ago, SDS said:

I don’t think every draft class is like that. The best in this class doesn’t mean it’s the same as any other class.

Certainly. And this draft class in particular is going to be an oddity. The player who ends up with the best career out of it may have had their entire 2020 season wiped from existence. But that doesn't change my want for whomever I take 1st overall to be a cornerstone block for my team and be better than a Hecht. And that's no disrespect to Hecht who moved around his team's top 6 for the majority of his career.

Delving into Blues history. Hecht and Handzus (two super-solid guys) were from that same draft. Both got traded away when the Blues wanted to go for it. Hecht was part of the package for Doug Weight. Handzus went to get Tkachuk.

I want my 1OA to be the Weight/Tkachuk side of that equation. I want to pick up the Hechts and Handzuses of the world in the 2nd and 3rd rounds as pleasant surprises.

[Curt]

30 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Certainly. And this draft class in particular is going to be an oddity. The player who ends up with the best career out of it may have had their entire 2020 season wiped from existence. But that doesn't change my want for whomever I take 1st overall to be a cornerstone block for my team and be better than a Hecht. And that's no disrespect to Hecht who moved around his team's top 6 for the majority of his career.

Delving into Blues history. Hecht and Handzus (two super-solid guys) were from that same draft. Both got traded away when the Blues wanted to go for it. Hecht was part of the package for Doug Weight. Handzus went to get Tkachuk.

I want my 1OA to be the Weight/Tkachuk side of that equation. I want to pick up the Hechts and Handzuses of the world in the 2nd and 3rd rounds as pleasant surprises.

If you can figure out who in this draft is a HoFer, by all means draft them #1.

[Flashsabre]

Remember you can only draft who is available.  The strength of the draft is the strength of the draft.  I would love to draft Wayne Gretzky 1OA but there is no Wayne Gretzky in this draft (or any other draft). Can’t draft McDavid, or Crosby or Mario if they are not there. Can only hope to draft the best player out of the pool available for this year.

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

No one does, though. 

It's just one of those years the pick will likely yield a good player but not a star 

It almost certainly will. The issue is that star will probably be someone who not being talked about as the 1st overall pick.

[Thorner]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

It almost certainly will. The issue is that star will probably be someone who not being talked about as the 1st overall pick.

For sure there will be stars. I wouldn't bet on any 1 individual player to be that, though, and I was only speaking for "the" pick. 

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, dudacek said:

It almost certainly will. The issue is that star will probably be someone who not being talked about as the 1st overall pick.

This sounds clever but it's basically saying in Power/Beniers versus the field, you are taking the field. 

So 2 v 197 roughly. 

[DarthEbriate]

25 minutes ago, Curt said:

If you can figure out who in this draft is a HoFer, by all means draft them #1.

Well, I still make the pick relative to the value. If I'm omniscient (including the future) and I know Cameron Whynot (because it's a great name!) is a HOF, I still don't take him #1 overall because I also know no one else is even considering him in the 1st round. I take Beniers/Power/whomever is going to be a good pick at their expected pick position, and then I grab Whynot (because) in the 2nd. Then my true genius is on display.

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Well, I still make the pick relative to the value. If I'm omniscient (including the future) and I know Cameron Whynot (because it's a great name!) is a HOF, I still don't take him #1 overall because I also know no one else is even considering him in the 1st round. I take Beniers/Power/whomever is going to be a good pick at their expected pick position, and then I grab Whynot (because) in the 2nd. Then my true genius is on display.

This is the kind of thinking that results in Russell Wilson throwing a pick at the goal line with Marshawn Lynch sitting on the bench 

😋

[LGR4GM]

Just now, Thorny said:

This is the kind of thinking that results in Russell Wilson throwing a pick at the goal line with Marshawn Lynch sitting on the bench 

😋

Yup, don't outsmart yourself. 

[DarthEbriate]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

This sounds clever but it's basically saying in Power/Beniers versus the field, you are taking the field. 

So 2 v 197 roughly. 

I assume the odds are better than surviving a direct assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer in a modified YT-1300 Corellian light freighter.

[Curt]

4 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Well, I still make the pick relative to the value. If I'm omniscient (including the future) and I know Cameron Whynot (because it's a great name!) is a HOF, I still don't take him #1 overall because I also know no one else is even considering him in the 1st round. I take Beniers/Power/whomever is going to be a good pick at their expected pick position, and then I grab Whynot (because) in the 2nd. Then my true genius is on display.

Yeah, I would do the same.  We are both geniuses.  Yay Us!

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I assume the odds are better than surviving a direct assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer in a modified YT-1300 Corellian light freighter.

[Thorner]

7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

This sounds clever but it's basically saying in Power/Beniers versus the field, you are taking the field. 

So 2 v 197 roughly. 

 

4 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I assume the odds are better than surviving a direct assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer in a modified YT-1300 Corellian light freighter.

Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?!

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

 

Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?!

Little known fact is that Patrick Kane actually played this role

[DarthEbriate]

12 minutes ago, Thorny said:

This is the kind of thinking that results in Russell Wilson throwing a pick at the goal line with Marshawn Lynch sitting on the bench 

😋

And after that garbage collapse 2 weeks earlier I was pleased as punch that the Seahawks got their comeuppance in the continually escalating pained endings on the NFC side of the ledger.

[Hoss]

4 hours ago, SDS said:

I don’t think every draft class is like that. The best in this class doesn’t mean it’s the same as any other class.

Basically you have to say to yourself “is this what I would want at 5th overall?”

[SDS]

8 minutes ago, Hoss said:

Basically you have to say to yourself “is this what I would want at 5th overall?”

You can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one gets filled first.

What do you want doesn’t matter if it’s not available.

[LGR4GM]

Just now, SDS said:

You can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one gets filled first.

What do you want doesn’t matter if it’s not available.

Agreed. You should simply look at the draft you have and ask who is going to be the best player from it. 

[Hoss]

1 minute ago, SDS said:

You can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one gets filled first.

What do you want doesn’t matter if it’s not available.

Agreed but I just meant in the context of what was being said above and where the value stands this year compared to others. I’m happy to get Owen Power, regardless.

[LGR4GM]

Beniers gets criticized for not being flashy but his attention to detail is phenomenal. There are so many little things he executes to perfection and it's why I think he's the best player in this draft. His game will translate well and those small area skills he's excellent at will only become more valuable over time. If he improves an already decent shot he's going to surprise a lot of people. 

[Hoss]

30 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Beniers gets criticized for not being flashy but his attention to detail is phenomenal. There are so many little things he executes to perfection and it's why I think he's the best player in this draft. His game will translate well and those small area skills he's excellent at will only become more valuable over time. If he improves an already decent shot he's going to surprise a lot of people. 

I think his game translates well to the NHL, as well. High floor player.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Beniers gets criticized for not being flashy but his attention to detail is phenomenal. There are so many little things he executes to perfection and it's why I think he's the best player in this draft. His game will translate well and those small area skills he's excellent at will only become more valuable over time. If he improves an already decent shot he's going to surprise a lot of people. 

Why did Patrice Bergeron last until the second round? Perceived lack of high ceiling?

Why can’t Beniers be Bergeron?

In retrospect, wouldn’t Bergeron have been a worthy 1st overall?