Beau Bennett's Relevancy To The Pittsburgh Penguins

By: Cody Flavell (@LetsTalkPens)

Let's be real. Beau Bennett's injury history is god awful. Yes, the dude can perform when given the opportunity, but being given the opportunity also requires being healthy. That's the struggle in this situation. In 121 career NHL games, Bennett has a total 43 career points. Now those numbers aren't indicative of what he's done in those 121 games as he was stashed away to the third and fourth lines consistently. He proved this season that he's got talent to play with Sidney Crosby, which is something the Penguins must consider going into the free agency period this offseason. He had found chemistry to play with Crosby which is something the Pens desperately need to find as veteran winger Chris Kunitz is inching closer to the end of his career. So the multiple million dollar question is: Do you trust Beau Bennett to stay healthy enough to play alongside Crosby for the next couple of seasons? Many people, myself included, immediately shut down the thought that Bennett and his number 19 should be reserved for him with a nice multi-year deal. I will agree to this on one condition: Beau Bennett better not expect a huge pay day with Pittsburgh whatsoever. I'm actually not even opposed to Bennett signing a one year bridge deal type of contract. With this, even if Bennett were to play at least 65 games next season, the organization could gauge what true potential Bennett has moving forward and if he's worth keeping. The obvious problem is his health. Bennett has showed everyone he has the elite level talent to play with Crosby and I don't think anyone questions that. They all question his relative health situation. The struggle with letting Bennett walk would be his opportunity to stay healthy and shine as a young talent for another team. That would kill the Pens' organization who was always so high on Bennett. But believe it or not, there's a case to be made that Bennett leaving could be a fix for the Penguins. Instead of dishing out the money to Bennett, the Penguins' youngsters (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) have been shining in the role of injury replacements all season long. Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl, Scott Wilson, and Bryan Rust have shone bright in their chance to play up here. They also come on a cheaper price than what Bennett could potentially command on the market, and we all know the cap struggles the Pens have had recently which could sway them to stay away from the resigning of Bennett. My final verdict on Beau Bennett is to let him walk at the end of the season unless you an swing a trade with a team willing to attempt to resign him and the Pens get a piece back that can help the team going forward.