When will Zach Benson start scoring for the Buffalo Sabres?

When will Zach Benson start scoring for the Buffalo Sabres?

zack Benson has some of the best underlying stats in the National Hockey League so why isn’t he a star yet we’ll get to the full scope on Zack Benson coming up on the Locked On Sabres [Music] podcast you’re Locked On Sabres your daily podcast on the Buffalo Sabres part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day what is up everybody and welcome in to this Monday edition of the Locked On Sabers podcast and thanks for making us your first listen every day we are free and available wherever you get your podcast check us out on our YouTube channel where you can watch the show be sure to like and subscribe if you’re watching along there and if you would like to become a part of our Locked On Sabres text club you could do that by heading over to joinsubttex.com/lockedonabs we are through two games of the Stanley Cup final we are into game three tonight here on Monday night between the Oilers and the Panthers and the series looks deadlocked 1-1 of course in the series all the shot attempt numbers and the shooting numbers and everything is even even um three overtime periods through two games also so we are absolutely getting our money’s worth for this series but today let’s go through our next Saber in our exit interview series it’s going to be Zack Benson so that’s coming up on today’s show what’s going on with Benson’s game the numbers from this past season what he should be doing this off seasonason and whether there is still a star in there despite two years without big numbers all that coming up if you would like to um also this today’s episode of Lockdown Sabers is presented by Game Time download the Game Time app create an account and use code lockdown NHL for $20 off your first purchase sneaky Jody Biosi here let’s talk some Zack Benson we’re going to get right into it on today’s show no time to waste Zack Benson because he is one of my favorite Buffalo Sabres to watch ever ever especially for somebody that doesn’t put up extremely good numbers not yet but it is an appreciation of how smart of a player he is and a bewilderment that he is able to have the impact that he does without having the necessary tools that it takes to be an NHL player yet at this age he has done it he’s played 146 games because of his mind not because of any physical skill set that he currently possesses get to why that though is the thing that needs to come through the physical limitations need to go away for him to become that star level player but before we do that let’s get into just the overall impact let’s look back on the 2024 25 season for Zack Benson his age 19 season which is worth keeping in mind he actually just turned 20 on May 12th so this month or last month I should say um but he’s coming up on his age 20-year-old season so a very very young player for context a lot of these guys that have come through for the Sabres young players did not make the NHL until they were in Yuri Koulik’s age 20 years old in JJ Purka’s case 21 years old these guys often haven’t arrived by 1819 especially players that were drafted in the middle of the first round benson’s played two seasons that you could argue we shouldn’t have even seen yet if the Sabres were a better built roster one he has a tougher time making the team at all two if you look at Benson and his mind it’s the only thing keeping him in the league it’s on another level 99.9% of players with the skill set of Zack Benson have not played in the National Hockey League because of their own limitations coaching also matters to this a a willingness to let him be in the lineup but there’s a lot of hypotheticals to where he’s not playing and imagine that if he just hadn’t played for the Sabres yet and we were just talking about what he’s done in juniors be very very different sounding conversation and it makes it more unique it makes it a little bit more complicated the fact that he has played this many games already at the NHL level so this past season 10 goals 18 assists 28 points in 75 games that is actually a decline year-over-year in offensive statistics by one by one goal and by one assist so it’s basically the same he went from 11 goals and 19 assists to 10 goals and 18 assists but certainly not what you would have liked to see i would have loved to have seen a steady increase in goals and assists last year for Zack Benson maybe instead of 10 goals and 18 assists if he had had 19 goals and 30 assists and we’re talking about a 40 something point season that feels more on track with a guy that’s going to become a superstar player but the fact that he didn’t do that makes this a little bit more complicated as I mentioned and the reason for that is to really appreciate the true value of Zack Benson you got to do one of two things you either have to dive in deep into the film have to pay attention to him during the games during the season even when he’s away from the puck really notice these little nuances to his game that are super impressive or you need to go deeper into the numbers to see how the Sabres play when he’s on the ice and what kind of impact he makes when he is out there so one what do my eyes tell me what my eyes tell me is that Zack Benson is a player that understands spacing on the ice as well as any player I’ve ever seen in the NHL on par with the superstars of the league zack Benson has a mind for the game that is true of 30 plus year old veterans that have been in the league for a decade and in some of those cases he has even a better mind for the game he very often is making the right decision doesn’t always work out in his favor sometimes he is not strong enough or fast enough to make the play happen but you better believe Zack Benson knows the play that needs to be made you get very few turnovers very few mistakes it’s what allows him to play in the penalty kill play in defensive zone situations he’s a responsible defensive player so when I watch Zack Benson and you watch him remember there was a goal by Taage Thompson late in the year where against Boston Benson had attracted the attention of two Boston Bruins in front of the net and he got both of them to come over to him the puck scored free to Tage Thompson both Bruins defenders were preoccupied with Benson taage had a wideopen goal to bury it a play like that in all the plays you’ve seen Zack Benson where he’s along the boards or he’s in front of the net and he wins a battle sure there is a there is a you know tenacity that is required of Benson to play the way he does we see him after plays right in Detroit when Bo Byum is getting mugged by an ECHL player boer has a concussion history and there’s another Saber that’s getting attacked by the Red Wings i got big 6’5 Matias Samson off to the side not really realizing what’s going on meanwhile 5 foot n Zack Benson is trying to move heaven and earth to get to his teammates to defend them he’s often in his opponent’s face he’s dragging them to the penalty box along with him a lot draws penalties benson has an edge and yes that’s a big reason why he wins a lot of these battles but I think the bigger reason is he is a step quicker to the right spot than his opponent is and that’s not because he’s faster it’s because he realizes where he needs to go a third of a second a half a second before the defender does and that might not sound like a lot but in hockey when everything’s moving that quickly that third of a second is the difference between winning and losing a battle if you are giving up size physicality and speed to your opponent which Zach Benson does so that’s what I see with my eyes i also see a player that cannot shoot the puck for his life zack Benson if there was as much as he is the most impressive player hockey IQ-wise that maybe I’ve ever seen play us in a saber uniform as much as he is one of my favorite players to ever watch I this would be a good question for you know Saber historians too but in my lifetime in the last 25 to 30 years I’m not going to lie I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Buffalo Saber player that Zack Benson shoots harder than nobody there’s no player that’s ever walked through those doors that I’ve ever seen shoot softer than Benson he can’t shoot at all at all there’s no weight on his stick he’s trying to but he’s just not strong enough right now and he doesn’t have that natural shot that that that you know torque that you get to whip a shot i just don’t see it from him he also is one of the slowest players on the team i think that improved a little bit as the season went on he started to look a little bit faster to me at the end but certainly one of the slowest players on the team those are the negatives that my eyes tell me one stat to back up how bad Zack Benson’s shot is this is going to be a good stat and a bad stat for Zack Benson it’s a little bit of an indicator of what he could be but it also teaches you what he needs to do if I I mean it’s going to be an expected stats just you know keep that in mind be ready for it but I categorize the Sabres the natural statric on their individual expected goals given where you get shots where you get opportunities from on the ice around the net slot close to the net on the in the low faceoff circle add all that up how many goals were you expected to score on the year now on five just to make it fair Alex Tuck number one on the team 15 expected goals at five on five taage Thompson number two 14 expected goals at five on five zack Benson number three number three 12.7 individual expected goals and then if I go down a couple more Yuri Koulik 12.5 individual expected goals purka 12.0 so five guys above 12 tuck at 15 Thompson at 14 Benson Koulik and Purka all at 12 okay all of them kind of pretty close to each other for how many goals you would expect them to score that to me is a metric that shows how good are you at creating and getting to scoring opportunities now compare that to how many goals you actually scored and you have a better indicator of okay now how good of a finisher are you because Alex Tuck 15 individual expected goals scored 22 pretty good finisher taage Thompson individual expected goals 14 actually scored 33 elite finisher yuri Kik in expected is 12 actual is 14 good purka indivi expected is 12 actual is 18 good zack Benson the one that sticks out like a sore thumb from this group of five expected goals for him at five on five was 12 he scored six he while these other guys I mean in Thompson’s case he almost tripled what he was supposed to do tuck double not doubles but you know goes up by 50% uh Koulique and Purka both clear above average benson is half of what he should have half and six goals might not sound like a lot but hey man that could be the difference between four that could be the difference between four wins that you could have had and eight points in the standings so that can go a long way in March and April especially so Benson is getting opportunities he’s creating for others but the goals aren’t coming yet i still want to say yet though because my hope is that they are going to come eventually now the other numbers that are very positive in Benson’s favor the score when he was on the ice last year for the Buffalo Sabres at five on five was pretty close 42 to 40 now this is going to be a lot to do with that last stat though the Sabres when he’s out there though are the better team even though it’s only 42 to 40 expected goals 51 to 40 and again a lot of that is Benson’s not capitalizing on his opportunities and that’s a part that’s a big part of this because when Benson’s out there the Sabres outshoot their opponent 436 to 355 big gap outscoring chance their opponent 426 to 353 high danger chances when he’s out there 170 to 158 the Sabres are the better team when Zack Benson is out there all the time and that’s not with Tae Thompson most often it’s with Ryan Mloud it’s with Jason Zucker it’s with that second and third line usually he was on more often than he was on the top line so I wouldn’t just want to say “Well he played with talking Thompson all season.” That’s not necessarily the case so Greenway too a little bit at times so they’re the better team when he’s out there the results don’t look as good as they probably should and a lot of that probably has to do with his limitation one other stat that I want to throw out there and it’s one that even I don’t fully understand in fact I very you know I’m I barely understand it at all but I trust the guys over at Evolving Hockey use them a lot they have a stat that tries to measure in try to isolate each player’s individual contribution to their team in both offense and defense so it’s kind of like wins above replacement in baseball or it’s the closest thing to that um even strength defense EVD it’s one number try to signify how good are you isolated from everything else around you at defense zack Benson defensively among all forwards in the NHL in that on that number was the seventh best defensive player defensive forward in hockey last year the only players that were better Alex Barkov Logan O’ Connor Connor Garland Anthony Celli and then Saber fans will love this the top two in the league were former Sabres marcus Felino second best defensive forward in the league sam Reinhardt best defensive forward in the league so you do have a bunch of players above him but I mean that’s out of I mean let me do this real quick out of 599 forwards that qualified for this stat he ranked number seven so you have a very good defensive role you have a very good defensive player and that’s at 19 years old so there’s a ways to go here but I think the next question to really ask and we’ll get to this coming back after the break is what’s his next role and will he be ready for something bigger get to that when we come back here in the Lockdown Sabers [Music] podcast today’s episode of the Locked On Savers podcast is presented by Monarch Money have you ever checked your bank account and wondered uh where did all my money go 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your first year sneaky Jody Biosi back here on the Locked On Savers podcast talking about Zack Benson today now 20 years old and still on his rookie contract um that’ll be something to get to coming up in a moment here though is he only has one more year and then we’ll have to figure out a contract and depending on how this season goes that could look very very different uh depending on how it goes again but that’s kind of the intro to this question which is what’s next for Zack Benson in 202526 what’s the role where in the lineup should he play and for me that’s going to be he is going to be I think the most interesting player to watch for the Buffalo Sabres at training camp and in the preseason more than any rookie more than isac Roseanne going to finally be able to make the NHL roster more than is Noah Osllin going to be ready to make the NHL roster you know some of these prospects the question for them is often more about well are they good enough to make the team at all for Benson there’s a big difference in what his role could be depending on how he shows up how big does he look you know he is listed at uh 170 lbs what if he comes to camp 190 and it was 15 20 pounds of muscle that he put on if he’s just ripped when he shows up what if he works i don’t know what he’s doing right now in fact I’ve tried to look at like social media stuff and I haven’t seen um what is he doing in his off time right now is he working with a skating coach day in and day out i mean I that’s what I’d be doing if I were him because and what if he comes to camp and he’s 20% faster than he was last season because if those two things look like they they are there and you and the shot the shot too right raspalene improved his shot year over year over year owen Power has improved his shot year-over-year if Benson comes back to camp and it looks like his shot is harder and he’s scoring more in practice and he looks bigger and he looks faster even if all of that is just you know a little bit just give me a little bit closer maybe he’s 20% faster 20% bigger and 20% you know shooting the puck better scoring on you know however many percentage three that 20%’s unfair for shooting maybe he’s scoring on 5% more of his shots if all that looks to be the case I’m gonna want Zack Benson in the top six depends what else the Sabres do this offseason if they go get a bunch of veterans and they go they land you know some whale then no thanks i’ll keep Benson on the third line i don’t know how likely the Sabres are to do that if they don’t I’m going to want Benson in the top six if he comes to camp and preseason has showed that he has improved in all of those areas but I think he has to improve in all those areas or it’s just kind of a lowevent style of hockey for your most important lines that I don’t think Lindy Ruff and the Sabres coaching staff are really going to be tempted to pursue um you want a guy that can score more and can put up the big numbers that’s playing at the top of your lineup and Benson’s got to show an ability that that’s gonna that’s going to go up even if it goes from a 28 30 point guy in his first two years to a 50point guy there’s got to be that jump though at least to that level or he should stay on the third line for the foreseeable future until that happens i don’t want him out of my lineup because he makes too good of an impact defensively but for him to be in a more offensive role he’s got to show that he’s up to it and then sky’s is the limit I think if he does that because if you could get him better in all those areas and pair him with a Tae Thompson with his vision and his defensive play I think that could really work but you got to get those things to really happen for him so is that realistic to expect i’m hoping for it it might be a little unrealistic to expect that he does all of those things just this off seasonason in a couple of months so I’d expect some marginal improvement in all of those areas but my guess is we are probably headed for a third year in a row where Zack Benson is more of a defensive player he is a penalty killer he’s a responsible two-way guy in key situations late and he’s probably not playing in your top six if everybody’s healthy he’s probably playing on your third line I would think for the third year in a row if he does that that contract’s not going to be very big at all it’s going to be a bridge deal it’s going to be two years couple of million bucks and that’s probably about it i’d like to see Benson earn a bigger contract i’d like to see him show all those things i’d like to see him score on more of his opportunities i’d like to see him play in the top six and I’d like to see him get 50 plus points this season and if he does that I think 50 is really all I need to see if he puts up 50 plus points I’m going to think okay here we go the rise has begun and I don’t think he’s stopping at 50 60 points i think it could go higher than that i don’t know it could go much higher than 70 or 80 but I think that’s in there if he gives you 50 60 he’s the next guy I’d want to make a bet on arrow’s trending up i want to pay him now after one big year and two good years before that I’m ready to pay him a six-year seven-year contract extension at a lower cap hit than I’ll have to pay in two years a 50 plus point year and I’m going to be willing to do that on Zack Benson not just because of the points but because he’s already giving me so much in all of these other areas so to come back though and wrap things up is there still a superstar a star in there in Zack Benson once ranked one of the best prospects in the world after he made the Sabres especially is he still a guy that could that has a really high ceiling it’s a little tougher to answer we’ll get to that when we come back today’s episode of the Locked On Sabres podcast is presented by Game Time there is nothing like playoff hockey you got the rivalries you got the non-stop action with the Stanley the Cup playoffs 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Time download the Game Time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on NHL for $20 off download the Game Time app today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed stinky Jody Biosi back here on the Locked on Sabers podcast we’re talking Zack Benson is there still a star in there and when I say star I mean 80 90 100 point player like a top tier level forward i want to believe the answer to that question is yes i want to believe that you know I watched back today in preparation for this part of the question i watched 19year-old Sam Reinhardt highlights because they’re not it’s not a perfect comparable they’re very different size-wise i think Reinhardt is about 3 in taller than Zack Benson uh Reinhardt was drafted higher than Zack Benson was second overall versus 13th overall reinhardt had bigger numbers in the in the WHL um than Benson did although Benson had some really good numbers there too i went back though and I because but the the reason I connect them is hockey IQ that was the number one thing you heard about Sam Reinhardt when he came into the draft as to why he went that high it’s the number one thing you hear about Zack Benson to this day as to why he was drafted where he was and why he’s had the success he has hockey IQ outsmarting the opponent quicking quicker thinking to getting to a spot than the opponent reinhardt so I went back and I watched Sam Reinhardt as a 19-year-old he played 19 he played nine games for the Buffalo Sabres in that time and could couldn’t watch like every one of those games it was kind of tough to find but watched back some of Sam Reinhardt as a rookie he had no goals and one assists and only three shots on goal by the way couple more shot attempts sam Reinhardt at that point in time it it was better than than Zack Benson’s right now but he did not appear to have much of a shot not much of one at all he was definitely there because of his mind for the game he had his success the following year 23 goals and 19 assists more so because of his mind for the game scoring on a lot of deflections scoring on a lot of front of the net type goals which by the way are a lot of what Reinhardt scored um or what Benson scored last year for the Buffalo Sabres if you go back and look at uh Sam Reinhardt’s goal with the Buffalo Sabres which you have to go all the way back to 2015 for it’s just him crashing the net and putting a puck along the ice and in so he’s not a guy that was walking down and sniping people like he is now that’s developed for him and it’s that’s obviously developed to a level that I don’t know that we could ever see it for Benson but that’s cuz Reinhardt’s scoring 57 goals last year and then 40 this year can Benson ever be a guy though that scores 25 to 30 because Sam Reinhardt didn’t top 25 goals until his eighth year in the league and that was when he first got to Florida he never did it with Buffalo and they scored 33 31 and then 57 in his first three years with the Panthers so never topped 25 until he was 25 years old didn’t top 33 until he was 28 years old guys get stronger you get your man strength you learn a little bit more about the league you work on your shot more and more and more over time and it can improve look at Rasmusene who couldn’t hit a puck to save his life as an 18-year-old and now he’s a defenseman who could score 20 so I’m not saying Zack Benson’s going to become Sam Reinhardt but I wouldn’t be stunned i wouldn’t be stunned i’d be stunned if he scored 57 but I wouldn’t be stunned if he became a player as impactful as Sam Reinard i mean hell defensively he’s already almost there and it’s a slow start here for him offensively but I I’d like to believe that it could still be in there sam Reinhardt’s first year in the NHL he scored 23 goals 19 assists had 42 points he was 20 would you take that for Zack Benson right now 23 goals 19 assists as a 20-year-old for 42 points it’s a little bit below that 50 point mark that I just mentioned but I would take it i would take it how about his second year in Sam Reinhardt’s second year 21 years old he had 17 goals 30 assists for 47 points would you take that i’m just saying he doesn’t have to become Sam Reinhardt but I wouldn’t ru I wouldn’t want to rule it out because I think you’ve got a lot of the tools there mentally that that you should give him some time and hopefully he can get there the Sabres problem is they’ve got to make the playoffs right now so I’m not ready to put him in the top six though because if he’s not ready for it I’ve got to make the playoffs and I’m not wasting any more time him playing on the first or the second line he could play in the third line if that’s the case zack Benson what’s the ceiling good question for this that we asked a couple months ago i’ll refire this up the most points you think Zack Benson will ever have in an NHL season get to that uh next time we’ll have some listener answers on that before we talk more about it that’ll do it for us today here on the Locked On Sabres podcast we’ll talk Ryan McCloud next time on the show but we’ll talk some more about the Stanley Cup final and a couple of Saber rumors that I’ve been hearing and seeing over the recent days that’s all going to be coming up on our next show if you want more on the Stanley Cup final be sure to check out Locked on NHL game night every game every night until we get either Edmonton or Florida hoisting the cup here you can check it out on Locked on NHL in YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast and we’ll talk to you tomorrow here on Lockdown Savers part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day

Zach Benson has been super impressive through two seasons as a teenager who isn’t big enough or fast enough for the NHL, yet has found a way to make the Sabres the better team when he’s out there on the ice. What makes Benson so valuable as a defender and how his hockey IQ creates so much potential offensively, combined with a lack of ability to score goals makes Benson a very tough player to evaluate.

When will Benson start to put the points up? Where should he play in the Sabres lineup this season if he still can’t score? And should the Sabres pay him if he does have a big season offensively before he gets too expensive?

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