BUFFFALO N.Y. — Tyler Benson was so dominant as a Bantam player with the South Side Athletic Club in Edmonton, folks around the Western Hockey League wondered if he was deserving of “Exceptional Player” status.
“They come around once every 10 years or so,” Tri-City Americans GM Bob Tory told me at a Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League game four years ago. “He’s on that (Nathan) MacKinnon, (Connor) McDavid type of planet.”
Benson scored nearly five points per game that season, smashing Ty Rattie’s AMBHL record. He would go first overall in the WHL Bantam draft to Vancouver, where the combination of a struggling Giants team and debilitating injuries would remove Benson from the hockey consciousness for much of the past two years.
His hometown team didn’t forget, however, and the Edmonton Oilers spent the 32nd pick in the National Hockey League Entry Draft on Benson Saturday. Had he been healthy, odds are he’d have been someone else’s first-rounder.
“I would have liked to have played this year to be able to prove myself,” said Benson, who was slowed by groin/hip issues that have since been solved. He went through all the drills at the NHL combine. “I think that made teams a little bit more comfortable.”
It is still possible that, years from now, we’ll talk about how Benson peaked as a Bantam and the Oilers blew another second-rounder. For years now Edmonton has been guilty of getting it consistently wrong on Day 2 of the NHL draft.
So Peter Chiarelli’s group will leave here with something to prove: That it’s different in Edmonton now; that their player evaluation — from pro to amateur — has become competent under the new regime.
Of course, the Oilers are not alone in the West when it comes to having something to prove after this weekend. Calgary acquired a goaltender on Day 1, while Vancouver GM Jim Benning made a tough decision to draft a defenceman at No. 5 when high-end forwards like Matthew Tkachuk and Alexander Nylander were available.
Benning is under a ton of pressure in Vancouver, as another summer passes with no apparent heirs to the Sedins first-line thrones, and having dealt Jared McCann away for defenceman Erik Gudbranson. Benning earned the Canucks GM job on the back of his skills in player evaluation, particularly on the amateur side. Now, he’s got to prove it.
Benning thought more of defenceman Olli Joulevi than many others did, and we’ll give him credit for having the backbone to stick with his belief in the face of Tkachuk being there, and the Canucks clear need for immediate help up front. But, as they say in the draft business, Benning had better be right.
Tkachuk ended up in Calgary, as easy a pick for Flames GM as Jesse Puljujarvi was for Chiarelli when he landed in Edmonton’s lap at No. 4.
It was the decision to pull the trigger on goaltender Brian Elliott that was most interesting for me, however. Flames GM Brad Treliving has deftly covered himself off here, grabbing a genuine No. 1 goalie for the coming season, yet leaving the door open to replace the nearly 32-year-old next season if the opportunity/need occurs.
It’s a win-win for Calgary: maybe Elliot is fantastic, and the Flames sign him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2016-17 season. Or perhaps, with the pressure looming on teams like Tampa Bay (Ben Bishop) and Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury) as the expansion draft approaches, the deal that was too rich for Treliving’s liking this weekend becomes more favourable, and he trades for a younger goalie midway through next season.
Treliving wisely took care of business for now and for later, a brilliant bit of work, to these eyes.
And Winnipeg?
Well, the careful Jets do what they always do: Trust in their fantastic scouting staff led by assistant GM Craig Heisinger, and patient — sometimes too patient — GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.
The Jets are never in a hurry, so the risk becomes, will they ever get there? Join the club, Winnipeg.
After a weekend of hope, four Canadian fan bases that missed the playoffs last season are all asking the same question.
“Are we there yet?”