It seems clear that rising star Zach Benson, the pint-sized pit bull of a forward for the Buffalo Sabres, is better than the 124th-overall draft pick under 23. Corey Pronman of The Athletic dropped an August bomb in the hockey world with the surprise of Zach Benson’s U23 ranking. Benson landed behind players that he almost certainly should not have been ranked behind.
Cam Robinson, Senior Crossover Scout at Elite Prospects, made that clear in his recent appearance on “Called Up: The Hockey Prospects Podcast.”
“This is indefensible,” Robinson said. “It is. And I’d say it to [Corey Pronman’s] face. I’ll see him next time. I’ll say it next time. It’s simply indefensible.”
Robinson and podcast host Chris Peters noted that the two are both close with Pronman. As a result, they made it clear that a genuine disagreement doesn’t mean there’s any animosity. Moreover, nobody will be losing any sleep over this ranking, Robinson said. Still, Pronman’s debate ignited a clearly hockey-starved community across social media. Many of them were very happy to debate Pronman’s ranking, not always in respectful terms.
Pronman is the senior prospects writer for The Athletic and formerly with ESPN. He’s considered a pioneer on the media side, at least in U.S. coverage.
Zach Benson’s U23 Ranking Controversy
Pronman, for those unfamiliar with his work, tends to prefer bigger players, particularly those who can handle the rigor of playoff hockey. Chris Peters of FloHockey understands, in part, the concerns about smaller players adapting to the NHL.
Notably, Pronman ranked Predators prospect Edstrom, who has not played in the NHL yet, at 43. Charlie Stramel, older than Benson, labored in the NCAA while Benson made the NHL out of his first camp at age 18. Stramel is ranked 42 in this exercise.
“There are going to be things that [Benson] physically cannot do on the ice that David Edstrom probably could,” he said. “But David Edstrom doesn’t think the game at that level.”
Robinson noted similar concerns to many both at Heavy and elsewhere. At a certain point, priors have to be adjusted to account for NHL performance. Benson has far surpassed many of his peers, and he has even lapped some players drafted in 2021 and 2022. It’s one of the wildest parts about Zach Benson’s U23 ranking.
“There’s just no way to justify these rankings for a player that is already in the league,” Robinson said.
Zach Benson’s NHL Accomplishments Should Mean More
Typically, a player proving they belong in the NHL at 18 would be a major feather in their cap. It’s one of the many surprising things about Zach Benson’s U23 ranking at The Athletic. Breaking out as a regular-season and playoff performer last season, as Benson did, is also noteworthy for future projection, according to Robinson.
“The trajectory is only going up,” he said. “He impacts the game right now at the NHL level. He’s going to continue to impact it at a greater level as he moves along. And you’re ranking a player 100 spots ahead of him who has single-digit goals in the American Hockey League.”
Edstrom, already traded twice in his young career, scored only eight goals in 53 games for Nashville’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. Meanwhile, Zach Benson put up his first 30-assist NHL season while scoring nine points in 13 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“We saw that it worked in the playoffs,” Peters said. “It doesn’t matter who you play. He had nine points in 13 games, and he’s a bulldog.”
Zach Benson is a 21-year old 50-point two-way winger in the NHL. He is a top-line player for a solid Buffalo Sabres team. Ranked 124
Vojtech Hradec is a 21-year old 6th round pick who just scored 8 points in 43 games in the Czech league. If he beats enormous odds, he can maybe…
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 20, 2026
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Pronman Deserves the Benefit of the Doubt Despite U23 Whiff
Pronman is a well-connected journalist who has broken some pretty high-profile draft news in the past. Notably, he was one of the few who believed Montreal would select Juraj Slafkovsky over Shane Wright in 2022. That not only looked prophetic at the time, but looks even better now that Slafkovsky has excelled while Wright has stalled.
So while Pronman does deserve some gentle ribbing for the Zach Benson U23 ranking oversight, he is still an expert. Sometimes, experts deserve the benefit of the doubt.
And sometimes, they get things wrong, too.
Buffalo Sabres’ Zach Benson’s U23 Ranking ‘Indefensible,’ Prospect Expert Says