The Buffalo Sabres selected left winger Zach Benson with pick #13 in the 2023 NHL Draft on Wednesday night. Benson, who turned 18 last month, is a native of Chilliwack, British Columbia who’s spent the last three seasons with the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice.
This season, he racked up a whopping 98 points, including 62 assists, in just 60 regular season games. He then added 17 points (7-10) in 15 playoff games. He previously had 63 points in 58 games in the 2021-22 season, and 20 points in 24 games in 2020-21.
Benson already has some familiarity with several Sabres players, as he skated with Peyton Krebs in Winnipeg in the 2020-21 season. He’s also played the last two seasons with Matt Savoie. This season, Benson and Savoie were top two in scoring on the Ice under head coach James Patrick, who has close ties to Buffalo having played for and coached the Sabres.
Here’s what DBTB reader T. McGee had to say about Benson in his last mock draft:
“I saw a lot of him, watching him with teammate Matt Savoie racing up and down the ice together. Benson is an elite passer of the puck and works hard on the defensive end. Watching him in the WHL, he was a flat-out superstar. BUT (and you knew that was coming), he’s 5’9 and change. He’s not a great skater. Puts up a lot of points yet was helped by having a team that ran 3 legitimate scoring lines out there and had the best offense in the entire WHL. Doesn’t have a great shot, and I worry that he’s easy to defend at the NHL level when defenders will just swallow him up before he can make a play. He’s uber-talented, but I’ve got questions. And for a kid who was touted as a potential Top 5 selection right through the New Year, that’s a slide.”
DBTB reader bdn00707 had Benson going ninth overall in his mock draft:
“Top 5 talent but small frame. Amazing defensive workrate and playmaking abilities. May go Danielson/Moore to get a center but can’t pass up on the talent Benson possesses.”