Bennett most likely has more value to the Flames than he does in trade. I really doubt anyone is offering anything worthwhile.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays this year out and then is selected by Seattle

How much from Anaheim.

bc he wants a bigger role than a bottom 6 winger? Hate to break it to you Bennett..youre not a top 6 player

The Flames have botched his development.

That being said I don’t see a player with very good hockey sense. The bull in a China shop game doesn’t work every night in the NHL

Honestly, if it were me, I would probably do the same as Bennett. It drives me absolutely nuts how this organization has treated Bennett. During his rookie season, they ease him into the NHL by having him play wing on the Backlund line. Sensible thing to do, and it paid off! Bennett puts up good numbers, gets a lot of confidence, and gets the chance to centre his own line the following year. Great! The problem is, they stuck Brouwer on his wing and with all due respect to Brouwer (he was a good player who had a lot of success in the NHL), he was not the right player to complement Bennett. So Bennett struggled. And this is were it all goes downhill. Instead of moving Bennett back to Backlund's wing until some help could be brought in, the team just kinda hoped Bennett would figure it out with Brouwer, and when he didn't, they relegated him to 4th line minutes and/or being a healthy scratch. Because apparently that's the way to develop your franchise's highest overall draft pick ever. "Yeah it's true we need someone who can keep up with Gaudreau, and yeah it's true that we could use a better winger to play with Backlund, but we're not gonna play Bennett there... he hasn't earned it. He's gotta be better." And maybe it's true that Bennett didn't earn more with his play, but it's a two-way street here. You don't bring your promising rookie up to the NHL to play him BOTH 1) out of position AND 2) on the 4th line (maybe one, but definitely not both). And you especially don't punish him for having too much success in his rookie season but asking him to carry players who don't complement his play style.

Anyway, after years of being asked to play 4th line minutes, Bennett finally catches a break in the bubble where he gets to play centre (yay!), gets to play top-9 minutes (double yay), AND gets a decent linemate in Dube (triple yay!!). And wouldn't you know it, Bennett plays lights out. When he was finally given the chance, he proved he belongs. And after the season, during the exit interviews, Bennett mentioned all of this frustration to management. Management sympathizes with him and says they would play him centre this season. So what do they do? They play him at centre, but on the fourth line with Nordstrom and Lucic. Because that makes sense. And when it doesn't work, they move him back to wing (to be fair, at least it's on the third line this time). Either way, it's no wonder why the man has asked for a trade. When your boss ignores tells you one thing and does the other, all while ignoring your talent, you get tired of it pretty quickly. It's especially true when it happens for 3+ years.

I often wonder how different Bennett's career might have been with some different coaching/management. To be successful, Bennett needs a guy with some speed and/or a great shot on his line (i.e. Lindholm or Gaudreau or even Dube; not Brouwer or Jankowski). What happens if Bennett was the one who always got to play 1C instead of Monahan? What happens if it's Bennett who got the top powerplay time instead of Monahan? Not saying that he would have been as good or scored as many goals, I'm just pointing out the fact that Monahan was given that opportunity and Bennett wasn't.

I will admit that Sam Bennett is probably not the type of player we were all hoping for with 4th overall, but that does not mean he is not useful or is not talented. And I would even go as far as to say that Bennett's stats would resemble those of a 4OA player a lot more had the organization put him in a better position to succeed. Instead, we always find ourselves wanting more out of Bennett and wonder why he hasn't figured it out yet.

For what it's worth, I personally would trade Backlund and play Bennett at 3C.
Tkachuk - Lindholm - Lievo
Gaudreau - Monahan - Mangiapane
Dube - Bennett - Gawdin
Lucic - Ryan - Simon

But that won't happen because apparently Bennett hasn't 'earned' it. Maybe they'll trade him for another 7D at the deadline.

This is probably the most likely scenario. Flames may have to provide an asset so Bennett is selected though. Did a mock expansion sim and Dube, Bennett and Tanev would all be exposed.

yup, he just doesnt process the game at a high enough level to be an effective top 6 fwd, he just has to accept what he is and thats a depth guy with a niche set of skill sets

It’s believed Lucic will waive and Dube will be protected

I'd imagine you'd be fine with either Bennett or Tanev being picked then? I doubt Lucic is going anywhere but waiving would be a smart decision.