The smell of hockey is officially in the air (and that’s a good thing). The Seattle Kraken rookies took the ice for the first time on Thursday, and many of the vets have been skating informally for several weeks now.

Before rookie camp got started, though, Kraken general manager Ron Francis addressed the media along with defenseman Adam Larsson and center Matty Beniers on Wednesday. Both players signed new contracts with the team within the last month, a four-year deal for Larsson that kicks in next year and a seven-year contract that starts this season for Beniers.

I won’t lie to you. Before Wednesday, I wasn’t sure if I was 100 percent ready to get this thing rolling. I was probably 95 percent there, but the summer has been a nice break from the rink, and I know that once the hockey machine gets humming, it rattles on for a loooooooong time. 

But being there at Kraken Community Iceplex Wednesday, you could really feel the renewed sense of excitement that comes with the clean slate of a new season. That feeling of optimism, being among the players, the GM, and the local media cohort, injected the hockey bug right back into my veins. Let’s do the damn thing. 

Beniers and Larsson love Seattle 

Driving that excitement were Beniers and Larsson, who both gushed over what it means to play for the Seattle Kraken and their fanbase. 

“It’s been three fun years here in Seattle,” Larsson, whose extension will pay him $21 million over four seasons, said. “Just seeing how much this city and the fans and everyone around the city loves the team, that was something I really wanted to see a lot more of, and I will now moving forward after this.” 

The thing with Larsson is that we knew he loved playing in Seattle. He was one of the guys that chose to sign with the Kraken in advance of the Expansion Draft and was then selected from Edmonton. Seeing him sign on to stay longer was not a surprise to us. 

For Beniers, I wasn’t always totally convinced he wanted to spend the bulk of his career here. He never said or did anything to indicate otherwise, but I always just wondered if a young man who is so close with his family and so far from home would feel an emotional pull to move east sooner rather than later. But by signing for seven years, he eliminated that question from my brain. 

“It’s a great place, I love it here,” Beniers said. “The fans are awesome; you can’t really get a better organization in terms of how they treat us—the rink, the facilities, the stuff behind the scenes, the trainers, the equipment guys, the weight room, they’re all so top-notch and great people. So, that’s the first thing, and then the boys here are just awesome, so I love that too.” 

Beniers said that last part about “the boys” with a wry smile. Also worth noting, although he has now been handed an enormous bag of cash, $49.98 million over the next seven years, he confirmed he will not be getting his own place and leaving roommate Will Borgen in the lurch. 

Beniers is bigger and stronger 

Comically, the biggest news of the day was that Matty Beniers put on 10 pounds this offseason, as offered up by Francis. Could you imagine getting back to work after a break and having people widely discussing how much weight you put on? I digress. 

I actually found this quite interesting, because I remember seeing Matty at training camp last season and being surprised that he still looked as slight as he had at the end of the previous season. 

Indeed, when Beniers arrived in front of the Kraken backdrop on Wednesday, he did look thicker than I remember him looking last season. 

“I’m a leaner guy, so that’s important, putting on some corner weight, and getting back to feeling really, really good on the ice,” Beniers said. “I’m just feeling bigger, feeling stronger, a little bit more heavy on my feet out there, not getting… not falling down as much. I know I have a tendency to do that.” 

It’s no question that after his outstanding rookie season, opposing teams keyed in on Beniers in 2023-24 and found success in knocking him off his skates. You can bet he was challenged by Kraken brass to get stronger this summer, and he delivered. 

How this translates on the ice remains to be seen, but it is a good sign that Beniers is maturing physically and worked hard this offseason to improve. 

Kraken are happy to have these players signed 

While we get the sense that Larsson wasn’t too difficult of a negotiation, being that he made it clear he wanted to continue playing in Seattle, the Beniers talks started last offseason. 

“There’s always challenges on dollar amount and then term are usually the two key factors in negotiations,” Francis said. “We did have some discussions last year, couldn’t get anything done before the season started, played the season out, and then you’re back to kind of square one when we start this year. So it was a lot of dialog, a lot of discussion, talked a lot of different terms, a lot of different scenarios, but at the end of the day, really happy that we got something worked out.” 

The feeling was mutual for Larsson and Beniers as well, and Beniers went so far as to say that he “hates” the business side of the NHL. 

“It’s definitely nice to get that done and have some security, and now you can put the business side behind you and just play hockey, which is the best part of it,” Beniers said. 

Ultimately, the delay in getting the deal done played in the Kraken’s favor. We are quite certain Beniers could have gotten more money had he signed last summer. Regardless, both sides seem pleased to have the deal done.

Hope springs eternal 

Both Larsson and Beniers referenced getting back to playing the way Seattle played two seasons ago, when it scored almost at will, racked up 100 standings points, and came just one goal shy of the Western Conference Finals. 

Larsson, especially, indicated that the players were not happy with how last season went. 

“[The expectations] should be high,” Larsson said. “I mean, everybody walking out of last year, it was kind of a disappointment. I feel like the guys are hungry, and obviously the additions [Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson] are two very, very good good players. So they will for sure help us, push us to where we want to be.”

These kinds of statements are akin to what we heard from players returning after the inaugural season. So, it seems like the motivation to return to relevancy this season is very much there.