Kraken Centers
It won’t be as a top line scorer, but if Kraken center Matty Beniers continues his trajectory, he could end up being one of the NHL’s elite two-way centers.
Beniers still needs to continue building out his physical strength, but his development last season and his performance on a larger ice surface at the World Championships in May are solid indications of his progress.
Seattle Hockey Insider spoke to Beniers’s agent Pat Brisson last week — he and his partner J.P. Barry at CAA have $1.2-billion in active NHL contracts (that’s not a typo) — with the conversation turning to the 22-year-old’s development.
“He’s kind of a bunny rabbit, he’s got the energy,” Brisson stated. “He’s constantly going, constantly moving his feet, and he’s gotten stronger. It’s his fourth year coming up and we were able to witness at the World Championships that his progression is going in the right direction. He played a strong two-way game and created a lot of offense.”
Will we be comparing him to Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov someday? Probably not, given Barkov’s power forward capabilities and his consistency in the points department over the last decade, which includes ten straight seasons with at least 20 goals.
But then again … Barkov has won the Frank J. Selke Trophy three times as the NHL’s best defensive forward. Could Beniers get to that point? Indeed, because there’s more than one way to win it. Throw body types out the window.
“Defensively, I think I continued to grow there,” Beniers said at the end of the season. “I continued to play against some big names. I just continue to try to shut those guys down. I think it’s a lot of fun playing against the (Connor) McDavids and the (Auston) Matthews and trying to keep them off the board. For me it’s just about continuing to grow my two way game and I think I grew there.”
Also, if the Kraken were to actually acquire a star top-line center to take some of the scoring pressure off their existing pivots, Beniers is more likely to get additional offensive opportunities. Spread the talent around and share the wealth. Right now the club isn’t talented enough or dynamic enough throughout the line-up to give rival defensemen fits.
With the right mix, Beniers and others could take off at both ends of the ice. Last season he started to find some chemistry working with wingers Kaapo Kakko and Jaden Schwartz.
In the meantime, those all important defensive responsibilities aren’t going anywhere. Beniers appears to be a natural.
“He’s getting better and better on the right side of the puck, and he’s always been conscientious of that,” Brisson added, “but like any young player it takes time to get there. The work ethic is there. A player like Matty, his efforts are always there and it was nice to see him winning a Gold Medal. It’s good for his confidence, it’s good for his pedigree, it’s going to help him have a better summer and at the start of camp next year.”
Players like Beniers in a team’s 2nd or 3rd center slot are essential to contending for championships. It’s that simple. As the Kraken add more talent up front, Beniers’s identity and abilities will become more clearly defined.
His 2023 Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie-of-the-year was a nice start. It should be entertaining for all of us to watch and see where his current progressions lead.
