Is Beau Bennett a bust?

Is Beau Bennett a bust?

Now, this topic is something that I saw being mentioned on HFBoards here. The premise interested me and so I decided that I would look and see if you could really class him as a bust yet or not. Now, there is no solid definition of what a bust is (well, a bust in hockey terms) but normally you can get a good idea by looking at how they have done and what they were expected to be capable of when drafted, or brought into the team.

Beau Bennett was drafted 20th overall by the Penguins in the 2010 NHL Entry draft in Los Angeles, down the road from his home town of Gardena, California. Bennett is the highest drafted Californian born and bred player in an area that is looking to see an increase in the number of players that are brought up in the county. When he was drafted Bennett was tipped to have a potential top 6 ability and the skillset to become a 25-25 kind of player. 

Bennett has struggled to live up to those expectation so far, partly due to poor play, partly due to reasons outside of his control. After being drafted Bennett played his sophomore year with the University of Denver in the NCAA and scored 13 points in just the 10 games. However, his time at the University of Denver highlighted the start of his injury problems which have plagued him throughout his career. He missed the final 29 games due to a ruptured tendon in his wrist and the injury was similar to his broken wrist that he suffered early in the 2013-14 season which caused him to miss four months. 

In fact, this season has been the worst for him with Bennett having to deal with the mumps and a knee injury which, as mentioned in this Post-Gazette article, has required him to wear knee braces and has resulted in him losing 8lbs of weight. When Bennett was drafted he weighed 173lbs and wasn't known to be the most physical player so losing 8lbs is something that is bound to affect his play and it is no doubt part of the reason that Mike Johnson scratched him for a bunch games a month or so ago.

Away from injuries Bennett hasn't been given many opportunities in the top six and this is evidenced in the last five games alone which have seen him earn an average of 10.43 compared to Craig Adams at 9.09. Now, he is getting more than him but not much and he has only really had third line minutes in two of the five games which is the type of time he should be getting. With how bad the Penguins power-play has been lately I would also be tempted to give him some time there as well on the second unit to see if he is able to produce better with more space and to give that bit of confidence that is lacking in his game.

Lastly, his play has been poor irregardless of him playing on third line and get just above 12 minutes a game, which is falling due to his recent usage. He has just 11 points in 43 games this season which in a full season is a total of 21 points, far from what was expected of him when drafted. Bennett has now played 90 games in his career and has 32 points to his name. In a full, 82 game season that would be a 29 point pace which is better but still around 10 points below where you'd want him to be. Being fair to him, he is still just 23 so there is still time for him to develop and he is being affected by an unlucky, poor season this year.

Going forward, I would give him a one-year bridge contract this summer. I believe that he still has a lot to give the team and can still develop if given the chance here. It would be a typical Penguins thing to happen if he went elsewhere and became a decent top six player as predicted at the draft. His contract would be a low cost as well so wouldn't impact the salary cap too much. I think though that Johnson will let him go. I, personally, would prefer him to stay.