Article: It's Time To Embrace the Adam Benak Hype

[Tony Abbott]

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[Pewterschmidt]

Think (SHAWZY * 97)^ Marchand

I saw my guy give a couple vicious cross checks to opponents back sending a clear signal: “I’m a little honey badger” 

[Scalptrash]

Hopefully he has a growth spurt or he will never make Billy's team. May be moot though, Billy's days are probably numbered after bumbling Kaprizov.

[mnfaninnc]

good for the kid. It's always nice rooting for the underdog. 

I'm with ST here, hopefully a nice growth spurt happens.

[NoJoSux]

Benak is the kind of promising small forward with attitude and tenacity that shows. Embrace the inner-rat. Be the sandpaper. Inject the grit. Get under the skin like a tiny Czech-chigger. 

Large helpings of heavy hype have hastened me to hurl, historically. Let's just see what happens. If the kid continues to do the same things as he levels-up, awesome! 

I want Wild prospects and draft gurus to be successful. I really do. In the meaningful categories more than the hype-department. 

[Pewterschmidt]

23 minutes ago, NoJoSux said:

tiny Czech-chigger

💥 BOOM!!!!💥 

[Pewterschmidt]

24 minutes ago, NoJoSux said:

Large helpings of heavy hype have hastened me to hurl, historically.

🚨 Haiku 🚨 

[Up North Guy]

29 minutes ago, NoJoSux said:

Large helpings of heavy hype have hastened me to hurl,

I think i may use that in future comments with your permission.

[TCMooch]

Weird that elite prospects had his skating as slow when his USHL coach said he’s one of the fastest players he’s ever coached

[BillieGismylover]

3 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

Hopefully he has a growth spurt or he will never make Billy's team. May be moot though, Billy's days are probably numbered after bumbling Kaprizov.

Craig put Bill in a corner by saying no one would offer Kirill more money. So dumb. Personally I don’t think he’s worth it. He misses 30 games a year, is on the small side, isn’t a center and doesn’t play defense. Do we really want a Parise contract when Kirill is in his mid 30’s?

[NoJoSux]

3 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

I think i may use that in future comments with your permission.

Feel free! Only thing that cannot be used is the Protec username. Banned for life, too controversial. 

[Patrick]

13 minutes ago, NoJoSux said:

Feel free! Only thing that cannot be used is the Protec username. Banned for life, too controversial. 

Why was he banned?

[1Brotherbill]

4 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

Hopefully he has a growth spurt or he will never make Billy's team. May be moot though, Billy's days are probably numbered after bumbling Kaprizov.

I get the impression you don't like Billy.  Did he sleep with your mom?

[1Brotherbill]

He is young.  Gives the fanbase a long time to say he is overrated and a bust and a wasted draft pick and one of BG and Brackett miss communications.  

All that said him going to the OHL is interesting.  Maybe going to a college team might help with his development.  The OHL is players his own age and size.  If he can hold his own in college with players three to four years older than him maybe he is as good as his first flash.

[Mateo3xm]

2 hours ago, TCMooch said:

Weird that elite prospects had his skating as slow when his USHL coach said he’s one of the fastest players he’s ever coached

Yeah he said his skating was elite actually. I listen to EP evaluate prospects and they definitely don’t always get it right.

[TCMooch]

1 hour ago, 1Brotherbill said:

I get the impression you don't like Billy.  Did he sleep with your mom?

He slept with my mom which is why I hate him.

i also think he’s a roid-rage dipshit as well

[Outskated]

12 hours ago, TCMooch said:

Weird that elite prospects had his skating as slow when his USHL coach said he’s one of the fastest players he’s ever coached

His top end speed is not great, but he does have small area quickness.  

[Outskated]

I spent some time at Tria over the weekend watching the games and Benak definitely showed out.  He's an extremely smart player and very crafty with the puck.  He was far superior to what Yurov showed.  I also liked Haight, he played very solid.  Chase Wutzke was excellent in goal on Sunday as well, made a number of great saves.  

[Pewterschmidt]

11 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

Feel free! Only thing that cannot be used is the Protec username. Banned for life, too controversial. 

HE’S BACK!!!!

[FredJohnson]

at 5-foot-7.25, 164 pounds

I'm told over and over that no one under 6 foot and under 200 pounds is ever anything but a bust in the NHL.

BUST!!

[Scalptrash]

14 hours ago, BillieGismylover said:

Craig put Bill in a corner by saying no one would offer Kirill more money. So dumb. Personally I don’t think he’s worth it. He misses 30 games a year, is on the small side, isn’t a center and doesn’t play defense. Do we really want a Parise contract when Kirill is in his mid 30’s?

Kaprizov has missed 25% of NHL games. McDavid has missed 8%.

Kaprizov 1.21 PPG (+71). McDavid 1.52 PPG (+168).

Kaprizov 1.04 PPG playoffs (25 games, -6) . McDavid 1.56 PPG playoffs (96 games, +31)

Is Kaprizov worth as much to the Wild as McDavid to the Oilers? Absolutely. Probably even more so because the Wild don't have Draisaitl if McDavid leaves.

However, Kaprizov isn't worthy of the biggest NHL contract ever offered, McDavid clearly is. He should have jumped on it, just based on his fragility alone.

Next time, if there is a next time, Leipold needs to keep his big mouth shut.

[Will D. Ness]

The thing I didn't like about Yurov was that he basically coasted through the prospect games.  Not a big deal in all reality, he could understandably be saving it for the real games.

Still though... not a good look and does raise questions about work ethic.

Benak stood out nicely.  You would have thought the guy was a high 1st rd pick like Zeev.  Granted... that steal behind the net would probably never happen in the NHL but it was still nice to see a guy put in the effort and have the hands to get that puck and set up our young Finnish center for the GWG.

[Enforceror]

2 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

The thing I didn't like about Yurov was that he basically coasted through the prospect games.  Not a big deal in all reality, he could understandably be saving it for the real games.

Still though... not a good look and does raise questions about work ethic.

Totally agree. I was expecting Yurov to stand out and while I don't think he played poorly, he did not look like a potential 1C to me. He looked like he played a more defensive style and did not play a physical game at all. I'm not ready to write him off at all, it was only two games, but I was really hoping to see more.

[AKwildkraken]

3 hours ago, Enforceror said:

Totally agree. I was expecting Yurov to stand out and while I don't think he played poorly, he did not look like a potential 1C to me. He looked like he played a more defensive style and did not play a physical game at all. I'm not ready to write him off at all, it was only two games, but I was really hoping to see more.

I was hoping for Yurov to be more noticable too, but what does he have to gain by dominating a prospect game?  He already has the invite to training camp and getting hurt during this would be a huge detriment to start his season.  I do think Yurov plays a very smart game, as he was in position to disrupt breakouts of the opposing team.  I remember reading that he was very successful in the KHL doing this.  I only watched the last two periods of the Blackhawks game so I may have missed something.  I can understand a lackluster effort from Yurov as this could be considered a couple of pickup games for him.  Time will tell.

Benak did stand out and this showcase means a lot more for him than other players.  With his size, he has to look good against all the competition he plays against.  He got on the radar this weekend and hopefully has a massive season in the OHL.  

Edited September 16 by AKwildkraken

[Enforceror]

5 minutes ago, AKwildkraken said:

I was hoping for Yurov to be more noticable too, but what does he have to gain by dominating a prospect game?

Well, I don't think he's guaranteed a roster spot so there's that. I could see him developing into an Ek style player, maybe a little less aggressive but with more offensive upside. Time will tell.