The Calgary Flames have until the offseason to figure out if Sam Bennett has a future within the organization and what his role should be moving forward.
Calgary Flames forward Sam Bennett was one of the top prospects entering the 2014 NHL Draft. The Flames thought highly of the young forward, even after he famously failed to do a single pull-up during the NHL combine. They thought so highly of him, they selected him with the fourth overall pick. Four years later, the Flames are still wondering what they have in Bennett.
After making his NHL debut in April of 2015, he earned a spot in the lineup during their Stanley Cup Playoffs run, which ended in the second round after 11 games. Bennett showed a lot of promise in his first full season, posting 18 goals and 36 points in 77 games.
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However, he has yet to best those totals and has put up 26 points in each of his last two seasons. After averaging over 15 minutes per game in 2015-16, Bennett has seen his playing time decline to 14:24 per game during the 2017-18 season.
To make matters worse, he isn’t driving play either. Bennett’s possession numbers have been middling at best. If you’re not producing and you’re not driving play, that’s a bit alarming.
The Flames gave Bennett a two-year “show me” deal back in 2017. Yet he has remained a bit of an enigma. At times, Bennett can be dominant and fast on the ice. But at other times, he’s been lost. This is the kind of maddening inconsistency that made the Flames reluctant to give him a long-term deal in 2017.
Crossroads
Bennett is 22 years old. He’s approaching the point when he likely is what he will be. There’s always the chance Bennett could be a late bloomer, but most players blossom by the time they hit 23 or 24 years old. Next summer, he’ll turn 23 and he’ll also be a restricted free agent for the second time in his career.
The Flames were hoping Bennett would give them a reason to give him a long-term extension by the summer of 2019. But so far, he has yet to do so. A coaching change hasn’t helped Bennett out too much, as he’s been stuck on the Flames fourth line.
This is likely his last chance in Calgary. Bennett has to find a way to stand out to head coach Bill Peters and earn more playing time. To try to make things easier for him, the Flames have been playing him at left wing so far this season. Prior to this season, Bennett had primarily been a center.