Buzz among executives is Beau Bennett’s name is circulating as trade bait

Talk among a few NHL executives is that NHL teams have come calling on Penguins winger Beau Bennett and the Penguins are in listening mode with the trade deadline one month away.

Bennett has struggled this season and his passive style of play has not made assistant coach Rick Tochett who runs the forwards, a big fan of what Bennett brings to the table, a source says.

Teams that have spoken with the Penguins are of the mindset that Jim Rutherford a firm believer that Kasperi Kapanen will be a prominent member of the team next season, won’t think twice to move a young skilled forward in Bennett in the right deal for an impact established/different type of forward in return. The Penguins, though, would be unlikely to consider moving Bennett for a rental unless it’s for a player in his 20’s like Jiri Tlusty who Rutherford believes he could sign this summer.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, an organization obsessed with acquiring young forwards who can drive possession have significant interest in Bennett, Inside Pittsburgh Sports has learned. When the Penguins held talks with Leafs brass about Daniel Winnik, the discussion from the Leafs end turned to Beau Bennett on what it would take.

There’s also talk of the Vancouver Canucks being among the teams that have approached the Penguins about Bennett with some scuttlebutt among scouts of there being a mutual interest from both sides in Vancouver having interest in Beau Bennett and Pittsburgh having interest in Zack Kassian. Two young under-performing first round players who are totally different players. Bennett a skilled/puck possession winger with little grit, Kassian a big power forward type at 6-4, 215.