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What Is The Best Role For Beau Bennett Next Season?

September 2, 2013, 5:26 PM ET [33 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
We are now a couple days into September which means hockey is around the corner. It also means that our country’s youth will be heading back to school. Consequently, that also means that I will be returning to work after a nice summer break. What will this mean to my readers? Hopefully not much. I plan on maintaining the same daily schedule of content, what might change is the time of day that my posts are submitted. The best way to find out when my new articles are out is by following me on twitter, as I will always tweet out my new links right away.

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With that said, here is today’s article.

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Beau Bennett is one of the wild card’s heading into the 2013-2014 season for Dan Bylsma and his Penguins. Bennett has the talent and ability to play a top 6 role, but he may find himself starting on the third line.

There are solid arguments to be made for Bennett to start as a third liner, or fill in on a line with Malkin and Neal.

Below you will see a player usage chart from the 2012-2013 season. This chart includes all the projected forwards who will be on the Penguins 2013-2014 roster sans Matt D'Agostini (his name for whatever reason would not work when entered)





What I notice from this chart right away is that the player who is closest on the chart to Evgeni Malkin and James Neal, is in fact Beau Bennett. Bylsma gave Beau Bennett favorable offensive matchups last season, even when he was not playing with Malkin or Neal. Given that Bylsma uses the Malkin line as more of an offensive specialty line, it would not be out of the question for Bennett to slide in and look comfortable in similar matchups.

While the quality of Bennett’s competition would grow slightly, I also believe playing full time with Malkin and Neal would bump his Corsi rating from the negative, into the positive. Last year it took close to a month before Malkin and Neal were able to have a consistent linemate playing on the left wing with them. By starting Bennett with that line right away they would be able to start building chemistry right from the start, unlike last year.

The other player option for Bylsma to use with Malkin and Neal is Jussi Jokinen. As you can see from the chart Jokinen was used in a significantly more defensive role than Bennett was. Jokinen was a positive possession player while taking on that harder assignment and would seem better prepared to handle the duties that are asked of a 3rd liner playing for Dan Bylsma.

Up in the far left corner you will see Brandon Sutter. He is far and away the player that Bylsma leans on the most to fight through unfavorable matchups. It shows that Bylsma likes using his 3rd line as a defensive specialty line and whatever offense that gets generated from that line is a bonus. It’s a luxury that Bylsma has when his top two lines are as loaded as they are. Consequently, the possession numbers of Bylsma’s third line, specifically Sutter, are going to take a hit.

The conclusion that I have gathered from this chart is that allowing Beau Bennett to start the year with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal might actually carry less pressure than if he were to start the year on the third line. Given Bylsma’s history of usage with his third line it might pose a much bigger learning curve for Bennett to adjust to. It might not be a bad idea to let the rookie have the most advantageous situation in his first full season in the NHL.

Given how Bylsma uses his third line, using Bennett on that line just might suppress the things that make Bennett such a good player. There is potential of seriously hindering his offensive skills and creative vision on the ice with an increasingly more difficult role.

I have always been a big believer in coaches putting players in the best positions to succeed, I think that a top 6 role with Malkin and Neal might be what is best for Bennett.

Fortunately for the Penguins they will have a month of training camp and pre season games in which that can attempt some trial and error before the real stuff in October.

Thanks for reading!

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