Benson - Keep him here

[PromoTheRobot]

I'm fine with keeping Benson, but realize that means we are carrying another youngster on the roster. That means another D-word year. (development.)

[Taro T]

45 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I'm fine with keeping Benson, but realize that means we are carrying another youngster on the roster. That means another D-word year. (development.)

It actually doesn't mean that.  Right now, he's one of their top 6 forwards.  Keeping him up isn't primarily to develop him; it's to try to win hockey games.

Had they kept Savoie up, it would've been a sign that development is the primary focus.

[Carmel Corn]

1 hour ago, MISabresFan said:

What is weird, is that KA had a plan.  Pile up assets.   Now he has all these young forwards, and he seems confused.  Should they go down or not?  Seems like DG doesn't have a clue either.   Great way to screw up the future.  

IMHO - he forgot an important piece to his plan, which was to acquire enough productive vet support to make the team competitive until the young guys are ready.  Aside from the notion on not blocking youngsters, he has failed to bring in enough shorter term vets to bridge the gap.

[Doohickie]

19 hours ago, Doohickie said:

If he scores Wednesday it will make the decision to send him down that much harder.

...and here we are.

[pi2000]

7 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Play him 15-20min/game or send him to Wenatchee.

With Quinn coming back and Tage eventually, there won't be enough minutes for him to get the ice time required to properly develop at his age.

Send him down.

welp

[Cascade Youth]

HE STAYS

[LGR4GM]

 

[LTS]

If the Sabres have no other plans to do anything to this roster this year there is no point in having Benson burn a year of his contract, from a pure business decision standpoint.

Personally, I would still send him down. He's not the answer to turn this team around this year. I wish he was. I really wish he was. I think he's going to make a massive impact to this roster within the next few years, but not this year.

I'm not sold on more youth is the answer right now.

[JoeSchmoe]

29 minutes ago, LTS said:

If the Sabres have no other plans to do anything to this roster this year there is no point in having Benson burn a year of his contract, from a pure business decision standpoint.

Personally, I would still send him down. He's not the answer to turn this team around this year. I wish he was. I really wish he was. I think he's going to make a massive impact to this roster within the next few years, but not this year.

I'm not sold on more youth is the answer right now.

You're giving up already? Benson is great. Eventually we'll get Tage and Quinn back. Lets go Buffalo!!!!

[Believer]

Not even a close call if you believe Adams and Granato still expect to make the playoffs… Kid has more compete and drive in him than most of the roster… He stays. 

[LTS]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

You're giving up already? Benson is great. Eventually we'll get Tage and Quinn back. Lets go Buffalo!!!!

Giving up?  Giving up on what exactly?

The Sabres have played 19 games to date.  Tage and Quinn are out until at least January, so let's say Jan 6.  The Sabres will have played 40 total games at that point. Nearly half the season. Tage wasn't willing the team to victory before his injury. Quinn will take time to get back up to speed.

Giving up is doing nothing while waiting for two players to get back 20 games from now and hoping they make enough of a difference to offset the hole the team is in at that point.

 

[CTJoe]

Benson is clearly one of the Sabres top 4 to 6 forwards, analytically and eye-ball test.  If they send him down, it clearly shows they're not interested in winning this year yet again

[Pimlach]

On 11/22/2023 at 11:59 AM, dudacek said:

Am I wrong to think a healthy Benson has generally been more useful to the Sabres this year than Okposo, Krebs, Rousek, Jost, Biro, Olofsson and, for the most part, unfortunately even Cozens?

Unless there are reinforcements coming sooner than we expect (Quinn, Thompson, outside the org), I’m keeping him.

Dont give a ***** about 9 games. He can go down if and when he’s not one of our 9 best forwards.

Yes is playing better and is more useful right now than all of the players that you listed.  Only the Sabres .... (shakes head and looks down).  

[Brawndo]

He does need to improve his skating and get stronger. 
 

He is also one of the Sabres Top Forwards. 
They do have the option to send Him to the WJC if His Play tails off or to send him back to the WHL later. 
 

He burns the first year of His ELC tomorrow 

[Taro T]

Still don't see burning a year of the ELC as being a big deal.

Letting him stay on the roster long enough to accrue a season is a far bigger deal.  And right now they'd be hard pressed to not let him do that.

[Carmel Corn]

IMHO - the fact that this is even a discussion topic is a failure on the part of GMKA.  In general, I would suspect most would feel that what's best for Benson is further development to improve strength, speed, etc.  In other words, maybe next year or the year after.  The failure of management is that they are now in a tough position where he is clearly a top 6 player now.....when he shouldn't be.  There should be other players/vets already forming our top 6, making Benson expendable to go back and save a year on his ELC.  

[Night Train]

14 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

The failure of management is that they are now in a tough position where he is clearly a top 6 player now.....when he shouldn't be.  There should be other players/vets already forming our top 6, making Benson expendable to go back and save a year on his ELC.  

Bullseye

Many regulars have done little and Tage is out.  A surprise opportunity sooner than expected.  

[Thorny]

4 hours ago, Carmel Corn said:

IMHO - the fact that this is even a discussion topic is a failure on the part of GMKA.  In general, I would suspect most would feel that what's best for Benson is further development to improve strength, speed, etc.  In other words, maybe next year or the year after.  The failure of management is that they are now in a tough position where he is clearly a top 6 player now.....when he shouldn't be.  There should be other players/vets already forming our top 6, making Benson expendable to go back and save a year on his ELC.  

Agree. The kid is decent right now- that he’s indisputably one of our top few forwards is sad 

We were supposed to be at a stage where we benefitted from cheap ELC players to aid our established core. The cheap ELC guys are still the core 

We still lack nhl players 

We lack established talent, same as the last 10 years 

[Brawndo]

 

[Carmel Corn]

17 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

GMKA to Benson:  "Hey Bensy.....we love what you bring to our team and want you to stick around for more.   I personally need you to stay because I haven't done my job very well, where if this team had a good GM, then they would have sent you back so that you can develop properly.  So instead, I need you to help save my bacon and let's hope we don't ruin you in the process."

[Taro T]

28 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Good.  Right now he is playing better than several of the F's.  (A case could be made that he's their 4th best F at this moment based on play of the ones that are currently healthy.)

Really hope (for several reasons) that Quinn and Thompson are back sooner than later as the big decision point comes when he's about to be on the roster for a 40th game this year.  That accrues a season.

And, if Quinn and Thompson aren't back in December (doubt either will be) would not be remotely surprised to see Benson not be allowed to play for Canada at the WJCs.  They have no top 6 scoring depth and he's playing well there, which is the reason he'll be playing tonight.  Don't see that changing without having some bodies coming back to the lineup.  (Shades of Derek Plante and the '94 Olympics.)

[GASabresIUFAN]

18 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

GMKA to Benson:  "Hey Bensy.....we love what you bring to our team and want you to stick around for more.   I personally need you to stay because I haven't done my job very well, where if this team had a good GM, then they would have sent you back so that you can develop properly.  So instead, I need you to help save my bacon and let's hope we don't ruin you in the process."

Truth.

Benson should be sent back to Juniors.  There are many levels of stupidity here.  1) He isn't physically ready for the NHL.  His skill level is there, but not the physical development.  This has led to one injury already, how many more are coming?  2) How much is he really helping the team that someone like Rosen or Kulich couldn't provide?  3)  This decision really burns two years of his ELC before he is probably physically ready for the NHL and is also a 2-year commitment to the NHL roster.  Why 2 years?  Because of his age, he needed a 4th CHL season to become AHL-eligible next season.  By keeping him in Buffalo for the season he now won't play a 4th CHL season and therefore won't be eligible for the AHL next year.  He still could be returned to the WHL at a later point. True, but how stupid would KA look if he burned the ELC and then returned him after 15 or 20 games?  He is here for the duration.  This organization has no inclining for how to manage its assets.

For those saying he is a top 6 forward on this team right now is more of an indictment of KA than it is a compliment to Benson.  He plays hard, has incredible skill, but is way to easily knocked off the puck.  He isn't ready for the role he is playing. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Truth.

Benson should be sent back to Juniors.  There are many levels of stupidity here.  1) He isn't physically ready for the NHL.  His skill level is there, but not the physical development.  This has led to one injury already, how many more are coming?  2) How much is he really helping the team that someone like Rosen or Kulich couldn't provide?  3)  This decision really burns two years of his ELC before he is probably physically ready for the NHL and is also a 2-year commitment to the NHL roster.  Why 2 years?  Because of his age, he needed a 4th CHL season to become AHL-eligible next season.  By keeping him in Buffalo for the season he now won't play a 4th CHL season and therefore won't be eligible for the AHL next year.  He still could be returned to the WHL at a later point. True, but how stupid would KA look if he burned the ELC and then returned him after 15 or 20 games?  He is here for the duration.  This organization has no inclining for how to manage its assets.

For those saying he is a top 6 forward on this team right now is more of an indictment of KA than it is a compliment to Benson.  He plays hard, has incredible skill, but is way to easily knocked off the puck.  He isn't ready for the role he is playing. 

Burning a year of the ELC doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.  That doesn't affect his becoming a UFA down the road.  Keeping him on the roster beyond 40 games is a far more critical decision as that DOES effect the timing of his potentially becoming a UFA.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

Burning a year of the ELC doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.  That doesn't affect his becoming a UFA down the road.  Keeping him on the roster beyond 40 games is a far more critical decision as that DOES effect the timing of his potentially becoming a UFA.

You are missing the bigger point.  This decision today is a two-year commitment to keeping Benson on the Sabres because of his age.  He will become a UFA significantly earlier because of this decision.  It's incredibly stupid asset management with only marginal benefit to the Sabres this season.

[LTS]

Well, the decision has been made.  So now I hope the kid can perform at a level needed to make the Sabres win. Not "help".. he has to make them win.

Still interesting that they are keeping the assets in Rochester instead of bringing them up.  Clearly they are happier with Benson's defensive play than Kulich's.  That's all I can think of right now.

I think the playoffs are a stretch unless they shake up the roster a bit and bring in at least 1 stabilizing veteran forward who can perform at a moderate level.