2023 NHL Draft prospect will burn you with skill and high hockey IQ

A total of 13 players were drafted before Zach Benson at the 2020 WHL Draft.

Connor Bedard, obviously, went first. And then good friends Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager went No. 2 and 3, respectively. The rest of the top 10 was filled with names you’ll come to know shortly.

But at the time, Benson, who turned 15 that year, was just 5-foot-5 and slightly north of 120 pounds. The talent was there, but compared to some more WHL-ready talent in the upper half of the class, Benson seemed like a bit more of a longshot.

But quickly, Benson started to fit in. He put up 20 points in 24 games as a rookie, playing an integral role on a team that included Peyton Krebs, Conor Geekie and Michael Milne, among others.

And then, the Capital City Challenge happened.

The unique showcase in fall 2021 took place instead of the usual U-17 World Hockey Challenge. It pit together three Canadian U-17 teams mixed with some of the best 2023 and 2024 NHL Draft talent and the women’s Olympic hockey team.

Benson finished as the top scorer, slightly inflated by a seven-point game in the preliminary round. But he kept the momentum flowing. But no goal was as important as his with 0.4 seconds left in the championship game, to force overtime. Benson’s linemate, Calum Ritchie, scored the winner in overtime in a wild game filled with quality talent.

“Zach has been right on since day one,” coach Stephane Julien said at the time. “Every shift, he competes and brings our team to the next level.”

During that tournament, the rest of the hockey world saw what Winnipeg saw. He immediately became one of the top prospects for the 2023 NHL Draft. Over a year and a half later, Benson finds himself as a potential candidate to go in the top 10, and perhaps as high as fifth.

Benson has added about 40 pounds and five vertical inches since getting taken in the WHL Draft. But one thing has never wavered: his dominant offensive play. Through three years, Benson has 71 goals and 181 points in 142 games. That’s good for ninth among WHLers in that span, and second behind Bedard (271 points) among 2023 draft eligibles. That means Benson had to beat out quite a few overage players, which is incredible.

“His skill, his maturity, the IQ, it’s all there,” a scout said. “He plays a game built on outskilling and outthinking others, and it works.”

Benson is coming off a 36-goal, 98-point season, and also had 17 points in 15 games in the playoffs. He missed the start of the playoffs with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, and he didn’t fully look like he was at 100 percent once he returned. He still managed over a point per game. That’s just how good he is.

Most public outlets have Benson going anywhere between 5-7 at the draft, including seventh on the latest Daily Faceoff rankings. There’s no glaring weakness in Benson’s game. He’s an exceptional playmaker, has a dangerously accurate wrist shot and has the compete level of an energy guy fighting for their career. He’s not big, but it doesn’t seem to affect him. That could change in the NHL, but his puckhandling and hockey IQ are well above the average.

“He’s really easy to play with,” said Cal Ritchie, Benson’s teammate with Canada Black at the Capital City Challenge, a potential top 10 pick himself. “He can score, he’s a sniper and he can also make plays.”

Benson’s skating is still a mixed bag. He can be good in bursts and it’s definitely not a weak point. But when it comes to separation speed – the velocity that allows someone to really take control – it’s not there yet. There have been some solid improvements the past two years, though, but it could be enough for a team to take someone like Will Smith or Dalibor Dvorsky instead.

“Benson’s biggest asset is the way he reads plays,” a scout said. “One of the smartest players in the draft class. He’s also so defensively responsible, which isn’t always the case for kids putting up nearly 100 points.”

His defensive play, specifically, is such an underrated aspect of his overall package. He’s never floating around, waiting for the play to come to him. Benson’s head is always on a swivel and is capable of making quick decisions to get the puck out of the net. So you mix that with natural offensive instincts, and you’ve got one heck of a prospect that deserves all the hype he gets.

Watching Benson is like watching a mix of Jonathan Marchessault and Brayden Point. Benson’s skating sometimes looks identical to Point, while his work ethic is more akin to Marchessault’s. Either way, Benson is a future top-six forward with high offensive upside – 70-plus points a year seems like a great starting point. In most other drafts, he’d be a sure-fire top-three pick, but the depth up front means a team picking outside the top five could be getting a high-end game-breaker.

If Benson doesn’t make the NHL next year, there’s a very good chance he’ll be the top scorer in the WHL, if not the entire CHL. If Matthew Savoie returns, Winnipeg will still be a dominant force up front, with Benson leading the way.

But after that, once Benson gets unleashed in the NHL, watch out.