Injured Leaf confident that he can make the team, even though he hasn't played yet in the pre-season
The Anaheim Ducks have had a strange off-season to say the least as they have yet to sign RFAs Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, extending Troy Terry to a long-term deal before two of their franchise cornerstones, signed Alex Killorn and Radko Gudas to big money deals, and decided not to even qualify RFA defenseman, Simon Benoit.
With over $30 million to play with heading into the off-season, the game plan seemed relatively easy for Anaheim but they went a different route. Benoit was shocked when he did not receive a qualifying offer from the Ducks after posting career highs in games played, hits, blocks, and minutes played, becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer.
When the 25-year-old did not land a deal on July 1st, it's probably not because there was no interest, but because his agent was pushing for more money than teams wanted to risk on a relatively unproven commodity. Eventually, he went on go sign a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs for only $800,000 in hopes of not only making the team out of training camp, but proving to the Ducks that they made a mistake by not extending him.
"I personally think it's a mistake on their part and it's a win for Toronto," a confident Benoit said this week, following his first full practice in a Maple Leafs sweater.
"I was happy to end up in Toronto, that's for sure."
Standing in at 6'3 and 203 lbs, the 25-year-old scored 3 goals and 10 points in 78 games, played 19:21 TOI, blocked 128 shots, and delivered 216 hits for a basement-dwelling Ducks. Their decision was a little puzzling based on their current roster but Benoit is excited for his new opportunity in Toronto.
Although the Leafs are loaded on the back end right now with Morgan Rielly, John Klingberg, T.J. Brodie, Timothy Liljegren, Mark Giordano, Jake McCabe as the 6 bodies who are expected to comprise their D corps, Benoit is hoping that there's still some runway left in the pre-season that he can work with to show the coaching staff that he belongs with the NHL club. It will be slightly more difficult with how well Conor Timmins has played in this pre-season, but Benoit plans to make things very different for the coaching staff when it comes time to select their top 6 or 7 defensemen.
"I'm just gonna [take] my spot. I always work hard. And I always came to camp as a surprise. I got hurt, but as soon as I'm back on, I'll make sure I make myself as part of the team.
I have a really physical game. For me, the most important part is just being physical, being reliable defensively. And if I can bring some offence, good. But I know it's not my main focus. I just want to be hard to play against and not letting the guys come to the net."
It's going to be an up-hill battle to make the roster with the players ahead of him in the depth chart but he is also currently dealing with an injury and hasn't suited up in a pre-season game yet. Nevertheless that hasn't stopped him from trying his hardest to make the roster:
"I never got silver spoon-fed. Is that the right expression. For me, it's nothing that changes. I'm not drafted. Who cares? Like at this point, I'm as good as anybody out there. So I'm just going to [take] my spot, like I said."
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 30 | 3 ANSWERS Injured Leaf confident that he can make the team, even though he hasn't played yet in the pre-season Will Simon Benoit work his way onto the Leafs' opening night roster after missing 4 pre-season games so far due to injury? | ||
| Yes | 1 | 33.3 % |
| No | 2 | 66.7 % |
| Who? | 0 | 0 % |
| List of polls | ||
