Article: The Wild Should Cash In On the Sam Bennett Craze

[Tony Abbott]

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[B1GKappa97]

So people who want to become Stanley Cup contenders should want to acquire Hartman because he's Diet-Bennett... but the Wild shouldn't want to be one of those teams themselves? 

Not sure that makes sense. 

Guerin is in year 3 of his five-year-plan 2.0, I don't think getting rid of playoff contributors is the way to keep his job going forward or to help the team get out of round 1...

[MNCountryLife]

Hartman was one of the best players for the Wild in the Vegas series.  As long as he keeps his head the guy can play and contribute anywhere in the lineup... and at a reasonable price.  

[mnfaninnc]

Bennett-lite or diet-Bennett is a perfect name. Hartzy is 1" shorter and listed at 3 lbs. lighter. While Hartzy has had more suspensions, to me, Bennett is the meaner player. If we could offload Hartzy ffor a decent pick/prospect/player right now, I'd say do it.

Hartman is actually a type of player I really like, but I feel his right shoulder still isn't right. He got in 1 fight this year, tried hard not to throw a right hand and tried to do it left handed. I think we need a couple of guys like Bennett, but I really don't think Hartman is that guy.

Hartman's got some good position flexibility and he can produce some points. That alone makes him valuable. I do not see Hartman being around for our cup run, though.

More evidence: DesLauries, Reeves, Bogosian, Breezers, Trenin. These are guys brought in during Hartman's tenure who were meant to play that role. I don't believe that Guerin thinks Hartman is that guy either.

I'm a hard sell on this one.

[Citizen Strife]

Hartman played like a man possessed in the playoffs.  That said, he's one fuck up away from being in no man's land.  If he's a secondary piece to get a better trade done, you have to consider it.

[JJwild]

Huh? Only way I would trade Hartman is for Bennett. Dumbest thoughts ever to just trade to free up 4 million for another whimp. Bennett or forget it.

[Sam]

More like the Sam Bennett ultralight. Hartman hasn’t put up comparable stats since the 21-22 season. He can’t fight anywhere near as good. But I guess he sort of plays a similar role…

[Need4speed99]

9 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

Hartman was one of the best players for the Wild in the Vegas series.  As long as he keeps his head the guy can play and contribute anywhere in the lineup... and at a reasonable price.  

For a bottom 6 player, 4 mil is too much.

[Need4speed99]

3 hours ago, Sam said:

More like the Sam Bennett ultralight. Hartman hasn’t put up comparable stats since the 21-22 season. He can’t fight anywhere near as good. But I guess he sort of plays a similar role…

I kinda think that was Tony's point...

[Need4speed99]

12 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

So people who want to become Stanley Cup contenders should want to acquire Hartman because he's Diet-Bennett... but the Wild shouldn't want to be one of those teams themselves? 

Not sure that makes sense. 

Guerin is in year 3 of his five-year-plan 2.0, I don't think getting rid of playoff contributors is the way to keep his job going forward or to help the team get out of round 1...

He is in year 7, but keep going.

[Sam]

27 minutes ago, Need4speed99 said:

I kinda think that was Tony's point...

Ya think so, do ya? Well…

[Fezig]

Bennett isn't tall enough. At least for the Wild.

[B1GKappa97]

6 hours ago, Need4speed99 said:

He is in year 7, but keep going.

Yes but he apparently got to reset his five-year plan in the middle of it. 

Last year was allegedly year 2 of it, so he's going into year 3 now. Hence the 2.0 I added in there. I agree its a stupid way to describe whatever they're planning but that's how they did it so I'm just using their own vernacular xD 

At the least, I doubt he'll get to get a 3rd if this one doesn't work out. 

[B1GKappa97]

9 hours ago, Need4speed99 said:

For a bottom 6 player, 4 mil is too much.

He's middle 6. If there's an injury to either Ek or Rossi, its Hartman who moves up without looking out of place. 

He started on the 4th but then they quickly put him on the 3rd and 2nd lines in the playoffs. And that's the kind of style he can play. Unless they're about to add a legit top-line C, Hartman will remain a middle-6 guy for us. 

Last year was a down-season for him, points wise, but he has been a roughly 40-pt player over his career so $4M is a very fair value for him. 

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

At the least, I doubt he'll get to get a 3rd if this one doesn't work out.

Do we think bill gets a full ten years to win a first round, or is it possible he get's the hook if this group one and out's this upcoming season?

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, B1GKappa97 said:

injury to either Ek or Rossi, its Hartman who moves up without looking out of place.

This is really Hartman's value.  Very versatile and can be effective (ie score big goals), unlike Fred who plays throughout the lineup but is a passenger wherever he plays.

[MNCountryLife]

11 hours ago, Need4speed99 said:

For a bottom 6 player, 4 mil is too much.

The NHL Salary Cap is $95.5 Million next season.  I tend to think of the salary cap as a per line cost rather than per player.  Such as the following.

Defense top/middle/bottom:  7M, 4M, 2M Total:  $28M

Offense 1st/2nd/3rd/4th:  9M/5M/4M/1.5M  Total: $58.5M

Goalies 1st/2nd:  6M/ 2M  Total $8M

Grand Total: $94.5  Leaving $1M left over.

Not an easy numbers game.  The numbers I put down I would consider a roster with depth.  Increase the pay of the top 6 and you create a top heavy roster.  What kind of roster do you want to create.  Edmonton is top heavy.  Florida is balanced.  Both are in the SC final so there is no right answer.

[Pewterschmidt]

43 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Offense 1st/2nd/3rd/4th:  9M/5M/4M/1.5M  Total: $58.5M

Trenin is a gross overpay. 
#dontbedumbbill

[B1GKappa97]

5 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Do we think bill gets a full ten years to win a first round, or is it possible he get's the hook if this group one and out's this upcoming season?

That's a good question, actually. 

I like to imagine that they won't go one-and-done again now that they'll be able to add some talent on top of the prospects coming in, but if it does happen... I don't know. His seat would be hot, for sure. 

[Enforceror]

I'm curious how Guerin got picked for the 4 Nations job. Were other GMs not interested? Is Guerin viewed as a good GM by other entities?

[Need4speed99]

22 hours ago, Sam said:

Ya think so, do ya? Well…

You still have problems reading...

[Need4speed99]

7 hours ago, Enforceror said:

I'm curious how Guerin got picked for the 4 Nations job. Were other GMs not interested? Is Guerin viewed as a good GM by other entities?

Wasn't he one of the only ones there?

[Enforceror]

33 minutes ago, Need4speed99 said:

Wasn't he one of the only ones there?

I tried to look into this. Not much on the inner workings but here's what I found (NHL.com)

The rumors and some of the work of the NHL being back in the Olympics and with 4 Nations, we had heard about for a while and we had some conversations," said Pat Kellher, executive director of USA Hockey. "So, I think [John Vanbiesbrouck, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey] and I were excited to move forward on this and John certainly goes back a few years with Billy."

Vanbiesbrouck said Guerin is a perfect fit for the job.

"I think we trust Bill, No. 1," Vanbiesbrouck said. "We have deep bench of GMs to pull from, but we were going down the route with Billy the last time. We had great conversations, love his leadership and, overall, he's a winning hockey player, but he's a winning GM, too. So, I think our decision was fairly easy for us."