[Signing] Sam Bennett

[arctic_rogue]

How big of a deal are those 8 months at this point? Earlier on those 8 months are huge, but by this point in their development does it really mean all that much?

Does it definitely make a difference? I don't think so.

Could it make a difference? Perhaps. He might grow a little more, he might be a little behind physically due to being younger, etc. Far too many variables for us really take into account.

I don't think his age difference is something negative for us. That is, unless someone overvalues because he's younger.

[Eazy BZ]

I think at the age they are at now, the 8 months at this point does make a difference. Not a huge difference, but I believe it does make a difference.

[Zorro]

How big of a deal are those 8 months at this point? Earlier on those 8 months are huge, but by this point in their development does it really mean all that much?

Means something to me, Bennett was not too far off from being in the next draft.. Bennett will grow this season and be top 5 in OHL scoring..

[doulos]

My gut instinct tells me the 8 months is a factor, but I just wonder how much is all. If any. Would be a really good thing to research at some point.

[mounD]

The 8 months matters in the sense that Bennett is an entire development year behind guys like Reinhart / Draisaitl. I've been touting this fact on the forums as a major point as to why I would select Bennett 1st overall in most fantasy formats of the 2014 class. He's going to go back to junior and absolutely dominate his peers, fill out his frame a little bit, and be ready to crack the NHL roster by 2015-16. His offensive production this season should be weighed against guys like Draisaitl/Reinhart's draft minus-1 year, so I think that makes it all the more impressive.

I'm super high on Sam Bennett, and I think he's got an incredibly bright future as the 1C for the Flames.

[doulos]

Okay, so ow we're talking. The issue then is development time and not so much age!

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Exactly. I think the age is more important when they're younger as it usually means they're smaller then a lot of the older players, so they have to develop other parts of their game. Then as they get older and the size catches up and they start gaining some strength they're a little more developed overall.

I'm a fan of targeting the younger players in a draft class since they can be up to a full year younger than their peers and that can make a huge difference. At 17-18 years old, you're not done growing. So that extra year can mean more development....Bennett is a good example. No pull ups at the combine. If he's already this good with no upper body strength, imagine how good he'll be when he starts to fill out and get a "man's" body.

[doulos]

The pullup thing was hilarious and sad all at the same time. It just represents the fishbowl that the internet has created for these kids to a tee. I found it really odd that he couldn't do a single pullup since I am not a large guy and can easily do 6, but there's so many other actually important factors to being a great hockey player, that it was such a strange thing to make a big deal out of.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Well the NHL uses a very specific type of pull up. It's not a single bar with palms facing towards you. It's two separate handles outside of shoulder width, and palms facing forward. It's actually hard as hell.

[arctic_rogue]

Depends what you mean. I'm sure he got the 925k but his signing bonuses won't be maxed out.

2013 for example:

MacKinnon: 3.775
Barkov: 3.575
Drouin: 3.194
Jones: 3.225
Lindholm: 1.775

Sam Reinhart got 3.575 so Bennett will be less than that.

He sure did get lower...

Average annual value of 3.225M per season.

http://capgeek.com/player/3484