Benson - Keep him here

[Night Train]

Best 12 forward ?  I now think yes. ..sooner than I thought. 

 

[inkman]

Here is my list of Sabres forwards ranked:

Tage

Tuch

Peterka

Mittlestadt 

Quinn

Skinner

Cozens 

Benson 

[Night Train]

Feel the same about Ryan Johnson on D. Sit others. 

[mjd1001]

I'm OK with him staying or going.

He has shown signs of playing well, but not well enough that the fate of this team making the playoff likely rests with whether he is here or not.

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I'm OK with him staying or going.

He has shown signs of playing well, but not well enough that the fate of this team making the playoff likely rests with whether he is here or not.

Until Thompson and Quinn are healthy, he's definitely one of their top 6 F's.  When they are available again, the team should revisit that determination.  If he's still one of their top 9 and they want to use him on at least the 2nd PP, they should probably keep him up beyond those 2 coming back.  And they should revisit the Q before he's on the roster for 40 games.  At that point, does his being here increase the chances of making the playoffs?  If the answer is 'yes' then he stays the whole year.  If 'no' have fun with Savoie.  And THAT is the only real question that matters.

Personally, don't really care about the ELC.  As long as he isn't here for 40 or more games, his status regarding FA doesn't get affected.  And if he earns being here beyond 40 games, keeping him around now is more valuable than having him under team control for 1 extra year (presuming a contract that carries into UFA years can't get worked out for whatever reason when the time comes to work one out).

[Weave]

43 minutes ago, inkman said:

Here is my list of Sabres forwards ranked:

Tage

Tuch

Peterka

Mittlestadt 

Quinn

Skinner

Cozens 

Benson 

What’s disappointing is there is no really reason to extend the list any further.

[HOUSE]

👍 agree

[Mango]

3 hours ago, inkman said:

Here is my list of Sabres forwards ranked:

Tage

Tuch

Peterka

Mittlestadt 

Quinn

Skinner

Cozens 

Benson 

Ranked by play this year?  Or potential. This year has to be closer to:

Mitts    
Thompson    
Peterka
Skinner    
Greenway  
Tuch  
Benson  
Cozens  
Quinn (he hasn’t played)

Edited November 22, 2023 by Mango

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, inkman said:

Here is my list of Sabres forwards ranked:

Tage

Tuch

Peterka

Mittlestadt 

Quinn

Skinner

Cozens 

Benson 

I would want Greenway before Benson.  When Greenway is going he will surpass some of the others on the list.  But I would take Benson next, over the remainder of the group.   

3 hours ago, Weave said:

What’s disappointing is there is no really reason to extend the list any further.

Greenway

2 hours ago, Shoot da Puck said:

👍 agree

Greenway. 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Pimlach

[Doohicksie]

I think Benson has made his case, and it's pretty solid.  He's at 8 games played in the NHL so the Caps game will either be his last game before he goes back or.... not.  I won't be surprised if they send him back to Wenatchee but neither will I be surprised if he stays up.  If he scores Wednesday it will make the decision to send him down that much harder.

[Pimlach]

Benson ranks top 9 including Quinn in the list. 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Pimlach

[GASabresIUFAN]

We have no idea where Benson ranks among our top forwards until we see what Rosen and Kulich can do.  Remember Kulich 2+ years of pro experience under his belt between here and Czechia and Rosen 3+ between here and Sweden.  Benson's pro experience is 8 games. 

At their best TNT is our top forward followed by Tuch.  My list

1. TNT

2. Tuch

3. Mitts

4. Skinner

5. Cozens (when healthy)

6. Peterka

7. Greenway

8. Quinn (who is really an unknown at this point until we see him back on the ice and contributing)

Then the list gets murky.  Talent-wise - Benson, Kulich, and Rosen followed by Krebs and then Savoie.

NHL playing wise - VO, KO and Z.

If I were KA right now I'd send Krebs to the minors and bring up both Kulich and Rosen.  I'd keep Benson for the season and rotate him through with Kulich and Rosen to see which of the 3 makes a difference for Sabres in any.

My lineup would be as follows for the next few games

Skinner Mitts Tuch

JJP Cozens Rosen

Greenway Kulich and Benson/VO

Girgensons Jost KO

[LGR4GM]

I think he should be sent back. He needs to continue to improve his skating, it's holding him back. 

[LTS]

If sending Benson down brings up Kulich or Rosen would you change anyone change their mind?

Although I think it would more likely be Biro that got brought up.. at which point I know, people want Benson here.

Although Biro has more goals. 🙂

[FrenchConnection44]

Benson needs to get stronger and faster and improve his skating. It sucks he can’t go to the AHL which is where he and Savoie belong, imo. 
 

In fact, several of these guys need to show more dedication in strength training. It doesn’t look like Power got significantly bigger or stronger which he needs to do. 

[French Collection]

I think it has really come down to the wire and this 9th game will add to his body of work and tip the scales one way or the other.

I think he has the talent to stick but if he is not going to win any games for the Sabres then sending him to the WHL and giving Kulich, Rosen, Biro and Rousek looks is OK. Perhaps Kulich or Rosen do make enough of an impact to stick.

Reuniting Benson and Savoie should help them be motivated to help their WHL team, which can go deep, Team Canada, and to get ready for pro hockey in 2024. They will both have marching orders and can hit the gym together.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, French Collection said:

I think it has really come down to the wire and this 9th game will add to his body of work and tip the scales one way or the other.

I think he has the talent to stick but if he is not going to win any games for the Sabres then sending him to the WHL and giving Kulich, Rosen, Biro and Rousek looks is OK. Perhaps Kulich or Rosen do make enough of an impact to stick.

Reuniting Benson and Savoie should help them be motivated to help their WHL team, which can go deep, Team Canada, and to get ready for pro hockey in 2024. They will both have marching orders and can hit the gym together.

He had the primary assist on Dahlin's goal and drew the penalty that created the PP that they actually (miraculously?) converted.  Seems from here, that he had a pretty significant impact on the outcome in Chi-town.

[msw2112]

I'd have to agree with the others that I could go either way on this one.  Benson's play has been good enough for him to stay, but he could also benefit from another year of development.  For what it's worth, he does seem to be more ready than Savoie.  I can't compare to Rosen and Kulich, because I have not seen them play in the NHL (or at all, for that matter).  I suppose that if the Sabres feel that Rosen or Kulich can contribute as much or more than Benson, then they should send him down.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, msw2112 said:

I'd have to agree with the others that I could go either way on this one.  Benson's play has been good enough for him to stay, but he could also benefit from another year of development.  For what it's worth, he does seem to be more ready than Savoie.  I can't compare to Rosen and Kulich, because I have not seen them play in the NHL (or at all, for that matter).  I suppose that if the Sabres feel that Rosen or Kulich can contribute as much or more than Benson, then they should send him down.

Personally, expect that they believe the bigger issue for the team is the bottom 6 rather than the top 6, which is why we saw them give Biro and Rosen Rousek an opportunity when injuries were mounting but have yet to give Kulich or Rosen a look.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Taro T

[pi2000]

Play him 15-20min/game or send him to Wenatchee.

With Quinn coming back and Tage eventually, there won't be enough minutes for him to get the ice time required to properly develop at his age.

Send him down.

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Play him 15-20min/game or send him to Wenatchee.

With Quinn coming back and Tage eventually, there won't be enough minutes for him to get the ice time required to properly develop at his age.

Send him down.

So, worry about that when Quinn and Thompson are actually available and demonstrating they've recovered from their injuries.  Waiving him now makes no sense if the goal is playoffs.  (And the goal is playoffs.)

[msw2112]

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Personally, expect that they believe the bigger issue for the team is the bottom 6 rather than the top 6, which is why we saw them give Biro and Rosen an opportunity when injuries were mounting but have yet to give Kulich or Rosen a look.

I think you mean Rousek, not Rosen, but I agree with you on why the Sabres promoted the guys they did.  That said, Thompson and Quinn are top-6 type of scorers, so their absence is impacting offensive production, which is why Benson/Kulich/Rosen are the guys on the radar now.

As a side note, I'm concerned about how effective Quinn will be this season, even after he comes back.  That was a pretty major injury and surgery, so I could see him not being back to 100% for a year or more - perhaps not being 100% until sometime next season.  It's certainly not a knock on Quinn, it's just the reality of the situation.  Had he not been injured, I was expecting a big season from him, with the kind of jump that Peterka has made.  Hopefully, my concerns are unfounded and we see it this year, but my hunch is that we'll have to wait until next season to see him at his best.

[dudacek]

Am I wrong to think a healthy Benson has generally been more useful to the Sabres this year than Okposo, Krebs, Rousek, Jost, Biro, Olofsson and, for the most part, unfortunately even Cozens?

Unless there are reinforcements coming sooner than we expect (Quinn, Thompson, outside the org), I’m keeping him.

Dont give a ***** about 9 games. He can go down if and when he’s not one of our 9 best forwards.

[MISabresFan]

What is weird, is that KA had a plan.  Pile up assets.   Now he has all these young forwards, and he seems confused.  Should they go down or not?  Seems like DG doesn't have a clue either.   Great way to screw up the future.  

[Ctaeth]

It feels kind of crazy to say this because of his age, but he has definitely played like one of our better forwards.  I say keep him up, we need him to stay in the playoff race in the intermediate between now and when Quinn comes back. 

With that being said, we shouldn't be in this position where we have to keep him up... in order to field a competitive enough team to stay in the playoff race.  The fact that we likely need him to stay up feels like an indictment of KA's roster management of the forwards.  

 

edit:  But for real, how exciting is it that this kid is already having an impact on the team?!  He's already a beast, but in a few years.. watch out NHL!

Edited November 22, 2023 by Ctaeth