The National Hockey League’s rules on tampering are pretty clear: no team is allowed to talk to pending free agents before July 1. By doing so, they risk being fined and potentially losing draft picks. That being said, GM Brad Treliving needs to start the process of wooing Sam Bennett to the Toronto Maple Leafs [http://thn.com/toronto] — and he needs to do it now. Call his agent. Call his parents. Call Bennett, if you have to, and make it clear that whatever he wants he’ll get. Give Bennett whatever money the Leafs had set aside for Mitch Marner [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/100-percent-maple-leafs-coach-wants-marner-and-tavares-back-discusses-pressure-and-more]. If necessary, also offer what the team is willing to give to John Tavares. That’s how badly the Leafs need a player like Bennett. It’s not that he was one of the reasons why the Florida Panthers [http://thn.com/florida] beat the Leafs in the second round of the playoffs. It’s that he knows how to win. Need someone to score a goal? Bennett, who is tied for third in playoff scoring with seven goals, is your man. Need someone to deliver a hit? Bennett ranks second with 67 body checks, is your man. Need a blocked shot, a defensive zone face-off win, a fight? Check, check and check. Heck, Bennett would gladly send his former goalie to the hospital with a concussion if it meant winning a game. Treliving knows this. After all, he was the one who drafted Bennett — and then traded him to Florida — when Treliving was the GM of the Calgary Flames. It's a move that Treliving likely regrets. After all, Bennett is built for the playoffs. He is built to win championships. Does Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Want To Be Known As The Guy Who Blew Up Two Franchises? [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/fa920ca4-e81a-4e50-87a9-11c01eb7e6c9.webp] Does Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Want To Be Known As The Guy Who Blew Up Two Franchises? The Maple Leafs cannot bring back Mitch Marner this summer. They certainly cannot pay him the $13-million he reportedly is looking for as a UFA. [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/does-maple-leafs-gm-brad-treliving-want-to-be-known-as-the-guy-who-blew-up-two-franchises] In other words, he is everything Marner, Tavares and the rest of the Leafs [http://thn.com/toronto]' Core Four is not. "We love to win," Bennett told reporters heading into the conference final. "That's why we're here. That's why we put in all these hours. That's why we do the hard things that are necessary to win. It's because we it that much." On Tuesday, Bennett continued to put his name in the Conn Smythe Trophy consideration, scoring a power play goal in a 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. He now has 10 points in 13 games — eight of which have come in even-strength situations. "They're the defending Cup champions for a reason," Carolina's Seth Jarvis said of the Panthers. "They've been rolling." Opinion: Matthew Tkachuk Suggesting 'Crazy Circus Stuff' Holds The Maple Leafs Back Is Nonsense [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/6e1937c7-a5a1-48b9-bda0-93f8b4c1a46d.webp] Opinion: Matthew Tkachuk Suggesting 'Crazy Circus Stuff' Holds The Maple Leafs Back Is Nonsense After the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Florida Panthers in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the issue of playing in a Canadian market and the pressure that comes along with it reared its head. [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/opinion-matthew-tkachuk-suggesting-crazy-circus-stuff-holds-the-maple-leafs-back-is-nonsense] Indeed, it seems as though the Panthers cannot do anything wrong these days. But don't think this journey they have been on came easy. For years, Florida was unable to make the playoffs — much less win a round or make repeated visits to the Stanley Cup final. It took hard work and patience and doing the little the little things, one piece at a time. For Bennett, his career has mirrored a similar trajectory. Heading into the 2014 draft, Bennett was once considered the top prospect until a disastrous showing at the Draft Combine where he failed to do a single pull-up. He ended up falling to fourth overall, behind Panthers' teammates Aaron Ekblad (No. 1), Sam Reinhart (No. 2), as well as Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl (No. 3). “It really did bother me,” Bennett told me at the time [https://nationalpost.com/sports/hockey/nhl/top-nhl-draft-2014-prospect-sam-bennett-out-to-prove-combine-incident-was-an-aberration]. “I’d love to show people I can actually do them now.” Bennett can do more than just a pull-up these days. And he can do more than just score. He’s biggest asset is his versatility. He’s as comfortable playing on the top line as he is on the fourth line. He prides himself on being the guy who can score the big goal, deliver the big hit, shut down the other team’s top players and even fight if he has to. As such, Doug Gilmour was often used as a comparable — and not just because Bennett used to wear No. 93 and had the former Leafs captain as his GM with the Kingston Frontenacs. '100 Percent': Maple Leafs Coach Wants Marner And Tavares Back, Discusses Pressure And More [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/5fb0b23b-7ae2-4374-a377-e07002375ed8.webp] '100 Percent': Maple Leafs Coach Wants Marner And Tavares Back, Discusses Pressure And More Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube touched on pressure, the squad’s pending UFAs, what went wrong in Game 7 and more in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/gIajaECDlpo?feature=shared">end-of-season press conference</a>. [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/100-percent-maple-leafs-coach-wants-marner-and-tavares-back-discusses-pressure-and-more] “His biggest thing is his work ethic,” Gilmour told me back in 2014. “He’s that guy you look for.” Certainly, he’s the guy that the Leafs have been looking for. And he could be theirs, if they are willing to let Marner walk and then use that money to overpay for Bennett (let the bidding start at $10-million). That is, as long as the Panthers aren’t able to re-sign him after potentially winning a second straight Stanley Cup.
