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The New Jersey Devils had a horrendous season.
They finished last in the Eastern Conference, 28th in scoring, tied for 28th in goal differential and were playing meaningless games by February.
As a result of the terrible year the Devils had, there was a lot of negativity directed towards the team (rightfully so) and some of the few bright spots didn't get the deserved recognition.
One of those bright spots was Beau Bennett.
Bennett's numbers don't jump off the page but he set career highs in games played, goals, points, and shots.
He also averaged more 5v5 points per 60 minutes played than the likes of Teuvo Teravainen, Milan Lucic, Kyle Okposo, Wayne Simmonds, Dylan Larkin and Claude Giroux, among others, while playing for a lower scoring team, with lesser linemates, and making just $725,000. Remember this next time you go to complain about Bennett's point totals.
While Bennett's production was pretty good -- 25 points per 82 games -- for someone playing 3rd line minutes with little offensive help surrounding him, and a defense that struggles to move the puck, he brought a lot more to the table than the occasional point.
With Bennett on the ice at 5v5, the Devils were a much better team with regards to the process (outshooting and out-chancing teams) as well as in getting results (scoring goals).
With Bennett on the ice, New Jersey's 5v5 Goals For% resembled Boston's. Without Bennett, New Jersey's GF% was worse than every team except Colorado. That's a big difference.
To really drive home how effective was in driving play, let's take a look at how his teammates fared with him compared to without him.
We'll start with the forwards.
As you can see, Bennett made a positive impact on every forward he spent at least 75 minutes with and in many cases the difference was significant. Devante Smith-Pelly, for example, went shot for shot with the opposition while sharing the ice with Bennett. Without Bennett, his Corsi For% was below the likes of Shawn Thornton, Jared Boll, and Tom Sestito.
Now onto the defense.
Again, each player enjoyed more success with Bennett than without. For him to share the ice for 75+ minutes with 16 different players and all of them to control at least 3% more of the shot attempts with him is impressive.
People always talk about players who have value and can make an impact even without filling the scoresheet. Bennett is one of those players.
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