The biggest lingering question facing the Seattle Kraken and general manager Ron Francis this offseason was answered Tuesday. Restricted free agent and 2023 Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers signed a new seven-year contract with the organization at an average annual value of $7.14 million.
“Matty has been a core part of our team since making his NHL debut, not only on the ice, but in his commitment to our community and our fans,” Francis said. “Signing Matty to a new contract was a top priority for our offseason, and we are excited to have it done. We’re looking forward to seeing Matty take the next steps as a player and watching him contribute to many more memorable moments for our franchise.”
Beniers, a 21-year-old, top-line center who was the first draft pick in franchise history at No. 2 overall in 2021, burst onto the NHL scene late in Seattle’s inaugural season when he scored three goals and added nine assists in 10 games after making the difficult jump straight from the NCAA. He followed that up with 24 goals and 33 assists in his first full season, earning him rookie-of-the-year honors and elevating expectations.
One could argue Beniers took a step back in 2023-24, when the league seemed to figure out how to defend him and when his teammates also struggled to produce for long swaths of the season. But even with extended scoring droughts and what was widely considered a disappointing campaign for the youngster, he still managed a respectable 15 goals and 22 assists and played a key role throughout.
The future remains bright for the Hingham, Mass., native, who has now solidified himself as one of the core members of the organization for the foreseeable future. The deal keeps Beniers in Seattle through the 2030-31 season and buys out two years of his unrestricted free agent eligibility.
No real drama, deal done
RFA’s generally don’t have much leverage, other than when things start to come down to the wire with training camp and the start of the season. The uneasiness of negotiations dragging out to a point where team activities are missed creates urgency on both sides but can corner a team into upping its offer. In this case, the start of training camp was beginning to creep up, but the deal got done with plenty of time to spare.
Francis had made no bones about his desire to sign Beniers long-term, and now he gets his guy.
Analysis
This is about where we expected Beniers to land with this contract. If he had matched his 2022-23 stats this past season, he likely could have gotten a higher AAV, but his 2023-24 performance simply did not warrant a significantly bigger number. It’s a fair deal for both sides at present, and the hope is that he continues to develop into a star player, which will turn it into a steal of deal for the Kraken in a couple years.
It’s hard to get a full salary cap picture right now, because it depends on how many extras the Kraken will want to keep around and who they keep after training camp. But, if we plug in John Hayden and Ryan Winterton as extra forwards and Josh Mahura as a seventh defenseman (obviously some big assumptions there, but that would fill out a 23-man roster), that puts Seattle about $1.5 million over the cap. So, there could still be a salary-shedding move or two coming.
We will have more analysis on this new deal on soundofhockey.com and the Sound Of Hockey Podcast in the coming days, so stay tuned.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
All throughout this offseason my personal preference was to see the Kraken sign Beniers to a long-term pact; however, I honestly expected a bridge deal for him instead, given the team’s limited cap space post-free agency frenzy and the difference between his 2022-23 and 2023-24 production. So I am ecstatic that the Kraken figured out a way to get him signed long-term, as I much prefer that cost certainty as the cap continues to rise. $7.14M seems a bit pricey now, but with all deals like this it should become a bargain in short order if Matty continues his upward trajectory.
This move does put the Kraken right up against the salary cap, so as you alluded to above I’ll be interested to see if there are any follow-up moves to open up some breathing room below the upper limit. They could roll with a 21-man roster, or trade away a veteran. With the latter option, Tanev seems like the most plausible candidate, but we’ll see. In the meantime, Congrats to Matty on his shiny new deal!
I’m with you in that I thought it would be a bridge deal as we discussed on capfriendly. I still think Tanev gets traded before the season, and Gourde at the TDL depending on the standings.
Gru could be bought out but I also don’t think Daccord is the answer either. and in a what have you done for us lately category Burakovsky sure seems like it’s a put up or get out type season regardless of injuries.
7 years instead of 8?
I agree with what PHR said, that the Kraken likely view Beniers as a high-end 2C instead of a 1C. Then the moves this summer make more sense, signing Stephenson and drafting Catton.
Let’s assume the Beniers is 2C and Stephenson is just a bridge. Which of Wright or Catton do the Kraken see as their long-term 1C?
Seattle does not even have a top 50 forward yet. Top 1c’s are only as good as their linemates are or allow them to be. Wright adds skill but Catton has still got to prove it.
Should we say good bye to GrubHub Grubaer now and have Koko as the backup to Daccord? Keep in mind that Seattle’s originals are aging fast as well. Some ones Dough has got to go.
Not too surprised here. The recent trend seems to be to sign young unproven players to long term deals and ignore any advantages a team might gain from the restricted free agent process. Seattle even burned a year off Matty’s ELC, which in hindsight might have complicated timing. In any event, it’s great to have Matty locked in for 7 years at an AAV he will most likely end up earning someday. We know he’s a fantastic player and by all accounts has remarkable character.
Is he a fantastic player though? Which Beniers is the real one? The one with an astronomical shooting% as in the first year or the scrawny 2-way 3C that we saw last year? I sure hope it’s the former.
I think that we were beginning to see the real Matty Beniers at the end of this past season when he started going to the net and screening the goaltender while looking for tip-ins. That was when he came out of the slump, and that is an aspect that a 6’2″ center needs to have in his game. I just hope that he is in the weight room right now drinking some disgusting protein shake and putting on some fifty-million dollar muscle. He is going to need it this season, because, in case nobody else noticed, he just passed Chandler Stephenson to become the highest-paid center on the team. This deal says that, despite the Stephenson signing and the Berkley Catton draft pick, Matty is the Kraken’s 1C and will be for a long time.
Unless Shane Wright throws a monkey wrench into the plan by being too damn good.
What “astronomical” shooting percentage? Come on. He shot 16.2 his Calder winning year. That’s not astronomical. Might he settle in at like 13-14%? Sure. But he didn’t pull a Sam Reinhart.
By the way, Vancouver had four skaters shoot 19%+ last year. Yeah, if you’re looking for offense regression next season, look at the Canucks.
Yes, that shooting% is high for Matty. And like the Canucks last year, almost the entire Kraken team was charmed in ‘22-‘23. The Canucks will most definitely fall back to earth, as Matty did. If he doesn’t show up next season having bulked up, I will be very disappointed.
Yes, he is. He’s young, but there’s no doubt he’s a great player. All you have to do is watch him play. If he had another ELC year to develop, it would probably be even more evident. Not many 20-21 year olds get tasked with playing against NHL top lines on a regular basis. Now, if Hakstol was smart enough to actually make him a 3C and give him a little shelter from other teams’ top lines, we would probably be looking at 25+ goals.