Flames pass, Calgary is in a big cap crunch next year and having an effective young center at a cost controlled 762k is very important

Makes sense - hard to argue with keeping a guy as cheap and productive as he is.

He's definitely been in a dry sprout recently but I would definitely prefer to keep him over someone on an expiring contract

Greenway alone is probably worth more than Bennett when you bring contract numbers into the equation

That's way too rich for Sam Bennett for me. Maybe a hockey trade around Greenway or Dumba or one of the LD, but adding multiple good futures assets doesn't seem like something the Wild should be doing.

Can't deny that his numbers are up since going to Florida, but he's still not a guy that drives a line by any means. Would expect him to be about the same ~50 point player here. Hartman put up ~60 last year and Steel is pacing about ~40 this year in the spot Bennett would likely play in.

How do you figure that? They have the same term with Bennett making 1.4M more than Greenway, yet he's been doubly as productive over the last 2 years and plays C. Just off positional market value alone, I'm struggling to see your argument.

That's fair - I'm not sure I understand why FLA would hockey trade Bennett for Greenway or Dumba, but I am probably overrating Bennett. I watched him a lot last year, bc FLA was so entertaining and thought he was pretty impressive. But that's also looking like a bit of an outlier season for him and I haven't kept up with their team as much this year.

If it's consensus that he's sorta teetering into bloated contract territory, or at least at risk of it, then I'll admit that I'm out of the loop on that.

Edit - what are you thoughts on the 1st trade here? Is Ruzicka someone you'd be interested in some capacity (not necessarily the trade package listed here)?

It's kind of like Christian Dvorak. Is the contract bloated for what he really is? Yeah, slightly. But it's not offensive, he still definitely has value to the right team. Especially a team like Minnesota (if we could find a way to afford him), who could play him in their top six and he'd put up 50 points. Not an ideal solution but definitely a viable one.

Greenway has no offensive production this season, and he's never been a good goal scorer, but if he were a center and you put him with Kaprizov, he'd probably get to ~50 points as well. The last two years he was a 0.5 ppg player because the GREEF line had the offense going. He's not any worse this year, other than the injuries, it's just his line doesn't have an unsustainably high shooting percentage anymore. They're of a similar ilk to me. Middle six players, not line drivers, but capable complementary pieces.

Would love him, but I highly doubt he's available barring a significant overpayment, and I don't think the Wild should be looking to overpay for anyone at this point.

Good points - hadn't considered Dvorak as a comp for player type/usage, but does make sense and I guess it reigns in my enthusiasm if I apply that same thinking to Bennett. Especially for this price, yeah.



Yeah kinda figured that unfortunately. Was hoping it maybe had some legs with CGY being an older team and in total win-now mode.