[Fairburn] Le but marquant de Zach Benson laisse une dernière impression aux Sabres alors que la décision se profile
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Spiritual_Bourbon
@Sabres de Buffalo
[Fairburn] Le but marquant de Zach Benson laisse une dernière impression aux Sabres alors que la décision se profile
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Spiritual_Bourbon
2 Comments
https://archive.ph/6SDuP
> “I don’t think I would have tried that (at his age), but I didn’t have quite the swagger that he has right now when I was that age,” Dylan Cozens told reporters. “It definitely takes guts and confidence, which he has.”
> The goal came in Benson’s ninth game, the final game before the Sabres’ decision-makers must determine whether to keep him in Buffalo and burn a year of his entry-level contract or send him back to junior. Going into this three-game road trip, Don Granato said these games would be “big” in helping him and general manager Kevyn Adams decide what to do with Benson. Benson went out and got a point in all three games and finished the trip with a goal and two assists.
> Granato also showed faith in Benson, keeping him on the ice late into the third period and giving him a shift in overtime. Benson finished with 17:21 of ice time and 15:31 of that came at five-on-five. The Sabres had 62 percent of the shot attempts and 58 percent of the expected goals when Benson was on the ice at five-on-five.
> The body of work is in Benson’s favor. Since he got healthy, Benson is back to playing the way he did at the start of the season. He now has five points in nine games and is clearly one of Buffalo’s best nine forwards. He’s helping the Sabres create offense and is a responsible player away from the puck. The main argument for sending a player like Benson back to junior is that he could gain a lot of confidence as a scorer by dominating the WHL. But this goal showed that confidence is not an issue for Benson. He’s had rare poise with the puck for an 18-year-old, and the move he pulled on his first career tally was enough to eliminate any lingering doubt about his ability to handle playing in the NHL at 18.
> “I’m just trying to be consistent and play my game every game and help this team win hockey games,” Benson said. “That’s really my mindset, whatever I can do to help this team win.”
> Unfortunately for Benson, the goal came in a losing effort, as the Sabres lost 4-3 in overtime after they led by two early and entered the third period with a 3-2 lead. The Sabres held that advantage until Tom Wilson scored on a one-timer with 1:15 to play. Dylan Strome then got the game-winner for the Capitals in overtime.
> Now as the Sabres fly home, Granato knows a decision is looming on Benson with the Sabres playing another game on Friday. He didn’t want to get too much into it with the loss still fresh on his mind, but he did smile recalling the move Benson made to score the goal.
> “He’s got some guts,” Granato told reporters.
Usually with young guys like this you have to make a decision. The guy might not be ready to make an impact but is not going to gain anything from playing in juniors, so the option is you play a guy that might not gain you much but it’s better for his development because he’s playing against the best competition in the world. With Benson we have a guy that is contributing AND it doesn’t do him any good to be sent down. From the team/player perspective it would be insane to send him back. The only part I don’t know is what the contract point of view would be. Is burning a year of his entry deal going to make it hard to sign him when the time comes because of other contracts?