As a member of the Winnipeg Ice, thus far this season Benson has put up 98 point (36 goals, 62 assists) and has a +68 rating in 60 games. Also, at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this past summer he had 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in 5 games in helping lead Team Canada to the gold medal (including an assist on 5th-ranked Brayden Yager’s 3rd period goal versus Sweden in the gold medal game).
During the 2022-23 campaign, Hameenaho has played all of his club hockey for Assat in Liiga, Finland’s top professional league. Thus far he has 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) and has a rating of -11 for Assat. Also, Hameenaho recorded 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) and was a -1 for Team Finland at this year’s world juniors.
Actually, I’m a bit surprised Benson was not listed higher by NHL Central Scouting. He is ranked as a solid top 5 pick by most of the mock drafts I’ve seen, and top 10 by all of them. Also, Benson has been a productive player everywhere he’s been, both at the club level and internationally. Conversely, everything I’ve seen indicates Hameenaho is a high second-round pick at best, although he has played professionally all season.