1 – Zach Benson, F/Wenatchee Wild
And finally, we got Zach Benson, who, even nearly a month later, I’m still in shock that he fell to the Buffalo Sabres. Benson, while undersized, put up 98 points and 36 goals in just 60 games before he scored another 17 points and seven goals in 15 postseason outings.
If you’re doing the math, then that’s 115 points in 75 games, averaging out to 1.53 points per game. Assuming Matt Savoie joins him at some point in Wenatchee, then it wouldn’t surprise me if Benson threatened 115 points in the regular season alone.
Even if Savoie earned a spot in the Buffalo Sabres lineup and somehow sticks, Benson shouldn’t see a drop-off in production. He made things look easy during development camp and in the 3-on-3 Tournament, and that should foreshadow what he will do in the WHL this season.
Source: After hot finish, Sabres prospect Ethan Miedema primed for breakout season: ‘A 40-goal man’ by Bill Hoppe, BuffaloHockeyBeat.com
(Statistics provided by Elite Prospects)