Zach Benson

Last Season

Thirteen goals and 30 assists in 65 games — 43 points, plus-27, at 15:53 a night. He turned 21 during it.

The Finesse Game

The shot chart is the thing to look at, and it is remarkable. The median unblocked attempt of his season came from thirteen feet, and 61 per cent came from inside twenty — the closest average shooting distance of any forward in this book.

A hundred and seventy-seven pound winger is not supposed to live there. He gets there anyway, because he arrives at the net without the puck and finds the space between two defenders that neither of them thinks is worth guarding.

The skating is quick and the edges are better than the straight-line speed. Thirty assists in 65 games says the passing is at least the equal of the finishing.

The Physical Game

The whole limitation, and it is not small. Five foot ten and 177 pounds, and there are shifts where a defenceman simply picks him up and moves him. Forty-two penalty minutes suggests he does not back down, which is admirable and does not change the arithmetic.

He avoids the problem rather than solving it — he plays in motion, and a man who is never standing still is harder to hit.

The Intangibles

The results are excellent and they are earned: 53.2 per cent of the expected goals, 78th percentile, with the expected goals 41.2 to 36.3 in his favour. Unlike most of the plus figures on this roster, his is supported underneath.

Eight points in his last ten. He is 21, he was the thirteenth pick, and he is already one of the more interesting small forwards in the league.

The honest uncertainty is a playoff series against a team that decides to hunt him. That question does not get answered in October.