Tyler Benson – The Next Ones: 2016 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

Tyler Benson

2015-16 Team: Vancouver Giants (#17)
Date of Birth: March 15, 1998
Place of Birth: Edmonton, AB
Ht: 6’0” Wt: 195 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Left Wing
NHL Draft Eligibility: 2016 first-year eligible
Twitter: @TylerBenson_17
THW The Next Ones Ranking: 27th (June)

Other Rankings:

• THW Alternate: 30th (June)
• THW War Room: 28th (June)
• Future Considerations: 29th (June)
• ISS: unranked (June)
• Bob McKenzie: 39th (June)
• Craig Button: 44th (June)

Every season, there’s one prominent draft-eligible player that free-falls down the rankings throughout the season. This season, that player may be Tyler Benson.

Benson’s been a highly-touted player since he was in bantam, and he was the first overall selection in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft. He made his full-time debut in 2014-15 and was one of Vancouver’s better players as a rookie. He was expected to continue his progression this season and emerge as one of the top draft-eligible players in the WHL. Instead, he missed the vast majority of the season with injuries and saw his stock topple due to the absence.

All-in-all, Benson missed 42 games due to a lower-body injury that required early-season surgery, then kept recurring until the Giants shut him down for the season. A promising season for a very promising young talent was derailed before it even really got out of the gate.

Despite the potential durability concern, Benson is a highly-talented player. He’s drawn comparisons to John Tavares in terms of his skating, mobility, and general on-ice awareness. He’s extremely versatile and was used in a ton of different situations – often with success – when he was healthy. He’s got a ton of upside, but the challenge for scouting and management teams is slotting him based on this season versus other draft-eligible players. Just within the WHL circles, there’s tons of debate where he fits in against someone like Brett Howden (who played a ton of hockey over the past year).

It’s unquestionable that Benson has high-end talent and upside, but he hasn’t been able to put together a large enough sample of work in the WHL over the past year to effectively stack up against the higher-end players in the draft. He’ll likely slide into the late first round (or early in the second). If he can put his injury troubles behind him, he’ll be a heck of an addition to any team’s prospect group.

NHL Draft Projection:

Benson’s slide down this season’s draft rankings will be abated, somewhat, by his talent. Most likely he’ll go late first round or early in the second round.

Quotables:

“There have been nights where he’s been better than those numbers, and nights where he’s blended in with the pack. It’s difficult to judge him off pure stats. He has a mature, two-way game, something similar, maybe, to the Vancouver Canucks’ Bo Horvat.”
–Steve Ewen, The Province

“The combination of his thick 6-foot, 196-pound build, elite skating ability, strong shot and physical edge gives him the right skill set to develop into a high-end power forward.”
–Kelly Friesen, Buzzing the Net

Statistics:

Strengths:

• Excellent skater
• Strong hockey sense
• Accurate passer

Under Construction (Improvements to Make):

• Consistency
• Potential injury concerns
• Defensive game isn’t quite as developed as his offensive skills

NHL Potential:

If Benson can find some consistency, he could be a top-six winger to the tune of Jonathan Huberdeau or Patrick Sharp. He’s probably talented enough to, at least, be a third-line winger with power-play upside.

Risk-Reward Analysis:

Risk – 2/5, Reward – 4.5/5

Fantasy Hockey Potential:

Offensive 8/10, Defensive 7/10

Awards/Achievements:

Benson has been a staple for Team Canada thus far in his young career. He’s appeared in two Under-17 tournaments (for Canada Pacific and Canada Black), the Under-18 World Championship and the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament. He has a Hlinka gold, a U17 silver and a U18 bronze on his resume.

Interview/Profile Links:

• The Province
• Buzzing the Net
• Sportsnet

Videos: