There it is! The Seattle Kraken officially selected Matthew Beniers as their first-ever pick in the NHL Entry Draft on Friday. Since Seattle was awarded the No. 2 overall spot in the Draft Lottery back on June 2, scouts and pundits have been zeroing in on defenseman Owen Power and his University of Michigan teammate Beniers as the likely top-two picks. The Buffalo Sabres, who held the top pick, and the Kraken both took the chalk.
Beniers, an 18-year-old center from Hingham, Mass., is regarded as perhaps the most NHL-ready player in this pool of draft-eligible players, thanks to his powerful skating, relentless approach, and willingness to compete at both ends of the ice. Making him extra valuable is his natural ability as a center, typically the hardest position at which to find elite talent.
After Wednesday’s Expansion Draft, it became immediately clear that the Kraken’s initial roster is strong on the blue line but lacks depth up front and especially in the middle. According to Kraken general manager Ron Francis in his pre-draft availability, this didn’t factor into the decision to take Beniers.
“We really haven’t drafted anybody to this point on the amateur side,” Francis said. “So, I think for us it’s getting the best player available at that position No. 2. [We’re] not really concerned about position as much as just the player himself.” Still, there’s no question that Seattle’s current setup is heavy on defense, so whether this was a factor or not, it should pay dividends in the relatively near future to get some center talent in their very shallow pipeline.
Beniers really emerged as a future top-line NHLer this year with his appearances as the only draft-eligible player on Team USA at both the World Junior Championship and the IIHF World Championship. At the WJC, he had a goal and two assists in seven games, and at the World Championship—where he was competing against current NHL players—he posted a goal and an assist in six games.
At Michigan, he was a point-per-game player as a freshman and before that, he was at or near a point per game at every stage of his career with the US National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. It’s not really his scoring touch that makes him so good, though; it’s his all-around play in every zone on the ice. He never quits, never cheats, and does as much in the defensive zone as he does in the offensive zone.
Like Power, it remains to be seen if Beniers will make the jump to immediately turn pro or if he will return for a second year with the Wolverines. Amongst the trio of Power, Beniers, and Kent Johnson, it was a common theme at the top prospects media availability on July 6 that those players do not feel like they’ve gotten the true college experience at Michigan to this point, so take that as you will.
Whenever he does make the jump, the Kraken will have a potential cornerstone player for many years to come in Matty Beniers.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
After years of speculative protection lists and reading hundreds of mock Seattle Kraken Expansion Drafts, it is your turn to predict who the Kraken will select! This is your chance to fill out an Expansion Draft roster based on the actual protection list that was published on Sunday.
The concept is simple. Pick one player on every team, and the fan that has the most accurate draft based on what the Kraken actually select will win “valuable prizes” (or just a t-shirt).
To help you with navigating the players available, I have made an Expansion Draft tool kit for you to reference when selecting your team.
When you have no skin in the game, it’s always a bit unsatisfying to see a championship trophy awarded to the team that everyone expects to win it. Watching the Tampa Bay Lightning hoist its second Stanley Cup (and then smash it, which is hilarious) in as many tries was no surprise to anyone in the hockey world. But anecdotally, it feels safe to say that the majority of neutral fans were still pulling for the Canadiens to perform a minor miracle in the Final.
For Seattle Kraken supporters, it really should have made no difference which team ended up victorious. The real win is that the 2020-21 season is now in the rearview, and with that finality comes a new beginning for the Emerald City.
You may be inclined to say, “Good riddance, now let’s go party at Gas Works,” but before we fully move onto the next stage of this journey—which is sure to be a wild one—there are some important lessons that Seattle can learn from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Lesson 1 – Master the salary cap and CBA
You’re annoyed that the Lightning’s playoff roster was $18 million over what would have been the salary cap if the rules had remained the same as the regular season, right? Well, as the saying goes, don’t hate the player, hate the game. Everything Tampa Bay did was completely within the rules agreed upon by the league and the NHLPA.
We’ve seen this movie before
There’s interesting and somewhat ironic context to consider here. In 2015, Patrick Kane broke his clavicle in February and was placed on long-term injured reserve, taking his cap hit off Chicago’s books for the rest of the regular season. General manager Stan Bowman then made several trades, pushing the team right back to the cap.
Fast forward a few months. The regular season ends, Kane is cleared to play just in time for the playoffs, and the Blackhawks roll to another Stanley Cup win while playing way over what would have been the salary cap. Sound familiar?
Well, guess who Chicago’s opponent was in that Final. Bingo! It was Tampa Bay!
At the time, Julien BriseBois was serving as assistant general manager under Steve Yzerman. The Bolts brass certainly didn’t like that the Blackhawks had a seemingly unfair amount of superstar talent, but the ’Hawks showed current Lightning GM BriseBois and his staff of brilliantly evil henchpeople a loophole they did not forget.
Frankly, fans of other teams that are irked about Tampa Bay successfully executing the old Chicago Shuffle to add superstars at just the right time should be more upset that their own respective teams didn’t figure out a way to pull off something similar.
Also, in defense of the Lightning, the fact that they built a squad that can go an entire regular season without its best offensive player and still be one of the best teams in the league says a lot about how well they managed. They added talent to an already talented and pricey team and recognized that the opportunities to win Stanley Cups are fleeting.
The Kraken have leaders who can pull this off
From a Kraken point of view, the lesson here is to use every angle available to maximize cap space. Assistant general manager Ricky Olczyk was hired in part for his deep knowledge of the collective bargaining agreement. In fact, he confirmed to the Sound Of Hockey Podcast in 2020 that he even occasionally sleeps with a copy of the agreement within arm’s reach, just in case something comes up in the middle of the night. Seattle is in good hands on that front.
It’s also well known that general manager Ron Francis has the go-ahead to spend to the salary cap right off the bat. It’s not in the team’s best interest to actually do this right away, because some space will be needed if the team is truly competitive in the first couple years. Still, a time will come when finagling will be needed to improve the team, and the Lightning have written the book on how to squeeze every last ounce out of the salary cap. When they aren’t memorizing the CBA, the Kraken front office should probably read that book.
Lesson 2 – Draft and develop exceptional players
This second lesson is a bit of a no-brainer, but it feels important to mention. The majority of Seattle’s inaugural roster will be constructed through the July 21 Expansion Draft, but there will be a good chunk of players selected who are either on expiring deals or won’t even end up playing for the team. The real long-term health of the organization relies almost entirely on how the Kraken perform at the NHL Entry Draft in the coming years.
The Bolts are not that far removed from a couple of pretty ugly seasons. They returned to prominence after a bit of a dip by building an exceptionally talented core that was almost all drafted by the organization, including Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, Anthony Cirelli, Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat, and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Not only did they hit the jackpot on a whole host of selections, the Lightning also managed to spread the wealth across the roster positionally, creating depth at forward and defense and finding a dominant force to play in net. The general philosophy is to take the best player available in the early rounds, and that will be the approach of the Kraken initially. But down the road, there’s something to be said about having an outstanding player or two at every position.
Lesson 3 – Patience is a virtue
Remember this tweet?
We don’t have any words and we know you don’t want to hear them.
We understand your anger, your frustration, your sadness. Everything you’re feeling – we get it.
This isn’t the ending we imagined, and certainly not the one we wanted. Thank you for being there the entire way.
It was sent just two years ago by the team after Tampa Bay was swept out of the first round of the 2019 playoffs by the Columbus Blue Jackets, despite having one of the best regular seasons by any team in NHL history. This was also after losing in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, then coming close again with losses in the Conference Finals in 2016 and 2018.
The point is, if you have the a great core of players in place and they don’t immediately win it all, they still learn from the experience. The same can be said of the front office and the coaching staff, who will constantly be trying to find ways to make the team better. Draft a great core of talent, pepper in some deft veteran signings and acquisitions, and let them grow together.
Seattle may not win in year one, or even years two, three, or four. But it’s all part of the process, and long-term success should be the goal here.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Man, even when we think we know something before the team has explicitly stated it, they still find a way to throw a curveball, proving once again that the Kraken are quite good at keeping secrets.
Here’s what we know about new Kraken assistant coaches Jay Leach and Paul McFarland.
Jay Leach
Leach, a 41-year-old native of Syracuse, NY, joins the Kraken after four seasons at the helm of the Providence Bruins, the AHL affiliate for Boston. Leach was successful in Providence, posting a 136-77-16 record and leading the P-Bruins to first-place finishes in the Atlantic Division in each of the last two seasons. They lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2017-18 and 2018-19, and no playoffs were held in 2019-20 or 2020-21 due to the pandemic.
Boston had reportedly considered bringing Leach up to the big squad for next season to replace recently departed Jay Pandolfo as an assistant on Bruce Cassidy’s staff, but Divver states that the opportunity with Seattle was just too good for Leach to pass up.
Journeyman player
You have to love Leach’s journey to the NHL, both as a player and as a coach. After four years at Providence College, where he was the captain of the Friars in 2000-01, Leach had to grind in every sense of the word to reach the pinnacle.
BOSTON, MA – JULY 08: Bruins coach Jay Leach during Bruins Development Camp on July 8, 2017 at Warrior Ice Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)
He played in the ECHL for the Mississippi Sea Wolves, Augusta Lynx, Long Beach Ice Dogs, and Trenton Titans. In the AHL, he had stints with the Springfield Falcons, P-Bruins, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Norfolk Admirals, Portland Pirates, Lowell Devils, Worcester Sharks, and Albany Devils.
Leach got a two-game cup of coffee in the NHL in 2005-06 with Boston, two more games in 2007-08 in Tampa Bay, and later had more robust stretches with New Jersey, Montreal, and San Jose.
In all, Leach played 180 career ECHL games, 499 AHL games, and 70 NHL games during his 11-year pro career.
Journeyman coach
Leach began his coaching career in 2014-15 with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany, where he served as an assistant under Geoff Ward. He then joined Mike Sullivan’s staff in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the following season, and when Sullivan was promoted to Pittsburgh, Leach assumed the head coaching role with the AHL club on an interim basis. During Leach’s one year with the WSB Penguins, current Seattle Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill was running the AHL team as the AGM for Pittsburgh.
The next stop for Leach was back in Providence where he played college hockey and several seasons of his pro career. He joined the P-Bruins as an assistant to Kevin Dean in 2016-17, but after that one year and a dramatic run to the AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals, Dean was promoted to become an assistant with the NHL Bruins. Leach was tabbed as Dean’s replacement as full-time head coach to start the 2017-18 season, where he has remained until now.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am for the opportunity to join the Kraken,” said Leach. “From the ownership group to Ron Francis to Dave Hakstol, it is truly an incredible opportunity to work with them. I’m looking forward to the Expansion Draft, free agency, and training camp as we start to see the team come to fruition.”
This will be Leach’s first time coaching at the NHL level. He will be responsible for overseeing Seattle’s defense.
Paul McFarland
You don’t have to look too far to find the connection between McFarland and the Kraken, as he served alongside Hakstol as an assistant in Toronto in 2019-20. At just 35 years old, he has quickly risen through the coaching ranks and proven himself every step of the way.
The Richmond Hill, Ontario, native was most recently serving as general manager and head coach of the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. Ironically, he did not coach a game on this stint, as the team’s season was canceled due to the pandemic, but he did coach a full season for Kingston in 2016-17 when the Frontenacs went 33-26-9.
McFarland spent two seasons running an outstanding power play for the Florida Panthers before joining the Maple Leafs. He was also an assistant with the Oshawa Generals from 2012 through 2014 and was head coach of Team Canada at the U-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2017.
It is expected that McFarland will run the Kraken’s forwards and power play.
Playing career
What makes it even more impressive that McFarland has already reached this level of coaching is that he did not really come close to the NHL as a player, a credit to his abilities behind the bench.
After four seasons in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers and Windsor Spitfires, McFarland went on to play four seasons of U Sports hockey for Acadia University, where he was the captain of the team from his sophomore season onward.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of the Seattle Kraken organization,” said McFarland. “It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I look forward to working with Dave again, the rest of our staff, and our players.”
Assistant coaches are more good finds for the Kraken
The Kraken continue to uncover diamonds in the rough with every hire they make. Leach and McFarland have great track records as both assistant and head coaches, and they are both regarded as having bright futures at the NHL level.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
SEATTLE – JT Brown officially announced his retirement from professional hockey Monday morning, but it didn’t take long for him to be back in the NHL. Along with Brown’s retirement, the Seattle Kraken announced that they had hired Brown to take part in their television broadcast crew as an analyst, joining play-by-play voice John Forslund.
Kraken games will be telecast on ROOT sports, and Brown brings to the booth vast hockey experience and knowledge after playing 11 seasons of both collegiate and NHL hockey.
“It was a big decision to hang up my skates, but one that was made easier by the opportunity to work alongside John Forslund for the Seattle Kraken,” Brown said via a press release. “I am excited for the opportunity to continue my career within the hockey world and to join an organization that is dedicated to making forward progress within the sport, and I look forward to the ability to make a lasting impact on the game I’ve loved for over 25 years.”
Brown, 30, is originally from Burnsville, MN, and played NCAA hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). He played in 81 games for UMD, scoring 40 goals and 84 points along the way. In 2011 he led the Bulldogs to an NCAA National Championship where he was named the Frozen Four’s Most Outstanding Player.
Undrafted, Brown would sign a pro contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and after a season and a half in the AHL became an NHL regular with the Lightning in 2013. He would go on to play 365 NHL games with Tampa Bay, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Minnesota Wild. All told he scored 23 goals, 49 assists, and 72 points over his NHL career which included playing for the Stanley Cup during Tampa Bay’s run in 2015.
“We are excited to welcome JT Brown to the Seattle Kraken,” said Tod Leiweke, CEO of the Seattle Kraken via release. “His experience as a player winning a National Championship with the University of Minnesota Duluth and playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the Tampa Bay Lightning gives him unique insight into what it takes to compete night in and night out at the highest levels of hockey. Off the ice, JT’s values and dedication to the community reflect our own and we know he will be a great addition.”
Active in the community, Brown is a long-time advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He was named to the NHL’s Fan Inclusion Committee in 2020 to help develop action-oriented solutions that positively impact the access, opportunity, and experiences that underrepresented groups have in the game and in the business of hockey.
He has championed ‘Black Girl Hockey Club,’ a non-profit organization that focuses on making hockey more inclusive for Black women and girls and has used his platform as a player and Twitch streamer to raise funds for the NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone campaign.
The Kraken continue to prepare for the NHL Expansion Draft on July 21st and the Entry Draft on July 23rd and 24th.
Last summer, Matt Beniers was preparing to play hockey for his freshman NCAA season with Harvard University. It was his first year of NHL Draft eligibility and one loaded with high expectations for the center. Then Covid-19 became an issue as hockey leagues around the world were making the tough call not to play. That included the Ivy League which meant no season for Harvard and left Beniers scrambling. Beniers would land on his feet to turn in a spectacular season and is poised to be selected at the top of July’s NHL Draft, perhaps even going second overall to the Seattle Kraken.
When the Ivy League announced it was not going to play, Beniers was able to transfer to the University of Michigan. He had been playing in nearby Plymouth, MI for the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP) and was familiar with the coaching staff.
That made the decision easier.
“I just kind of had to make a hockey decision and make a decision for myself,” Beniers said during Michigan’s media day in the fall. “It just kind of fit all the things that I wanted in a school, obviously, great academics and a great program. A lot of guys I already knew were going there.”
Once he made the decision to become a Wolverine, the excitement grew.
Michigan already had two impressive incoming freshmen in defenseman Owen Power and forward Kent Johnson. All three players were projected by NHL’s Central scouting as potential first-round picks in the NHL Draft heading into the season.
“I didn’t really know how great it would be until I got here,” Beniers added. “Every day we’re pushing each other. And those two, like, they obviously also love hockey, and it’s what they want to do with the rest of their life. So, it’s kind of cool being around guys that just love the game and want to get better every day. It pushes me, I push them and so I think it will be a lot of benefit from playing together.”
Playing mostly against older college players, Beniers had a strong season, but Michigan’s run for a National Championship was cut down. Again, Covid-19 was the culprit as the Wolverines had to withdraw from the NCAA tournament due to a number of positive tests.
That disappointment hasn’t soured Beniers’ NHL Draft expectations which will come to a head on July 23 and just may land him in Seattle with the Kraken.
Matt Beniers by the numbers
Beniers, 18, started drawing attention after a strong 2019-2020 season with the USNTDP, splitting time between the U18 and USHL squads. In total, he appeared in 60 games and scored 25 goals to go with 32 assists for a total of 57 points.
He was also a key part of Team USA’s gold medal winning club at the World Junior Championship in January. Beniers was one of the youngest players on the team, a tournament dominated by 19-year-old NHL-drafted players, but by tournament’s end was one of the Americans’ top forwards.
Over the past couple of weeks, he won a bronze medal playing for Team USA at the IIHF World Championship. Playing against older professionals, he recorded a pair of points in six games but drew rave reviews.
He has the size, listed at 6-foot-1 and 174 pounds, and as a ‘late birthday’ he will turn 19 just after the start of the upcoming NHL season.
What do the scouts say about Beniers?
Beniers is consistently ranked high among scouting services. NHL Central Scouting ranked him as the sixth-best North American skater while other services either had him ranked first or second overall.
Chris Peters from Hockey Sense compares him to Chicago Blackhawks star Jonathan Toews in terms of a guy who didn’t pile up numbers in college but who displayed the necessary skill to be an elite two-way center and a guy that will make those around him better.
“I view a guy like Matty Beniers as a franchise building block,” Peters told the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. “I was talking to a scout and he called Matty Beniers a May-June player, meaning this is a guy that’s going to win the Stanley Cup, this is a guy that’s going to be there in the playoffs…He’s such an impact player, he impacts the game in all zones, and then he does have the skill to finish.”
Scouting reports on Beniers all hail him as the quintessential 200-foot center. He hounds pucks in the defensive zone but can quickly transition into offense and lead a rush the other way. His vision is superb, and teammates have to be ready for his pass.
It’s also how he would scout himself when asked what makes him a quality player.
“I would say either my hockey IQ or my ability to play in all situations,” Beniers said about himself. “Just my ability to play defense, produce offensively, but also and play penalty kill, power play, kind of whatever they need, I can fill that role or whatever role they want me to fill.”
Beniers’ skill on display
After winning the second overall pick in the NHL Draft Lottery on June 2, Seattle general manager Ron Francis was asked if there was a player who would be able to step directly into the NHL. Most players need a year or two of further development after being drafted with maybe three or four playing the same year they are selected.
“You wait to get them into training camp and see how they play and how they perform and make sure that they’re ready,” Francis said. “Not only from a hockey game standpoint, but also physically and mentally. It’s not an easy league, and less and less players are stepping out of the draft and stepping into the NHL.”
Could Beniers be such a player?
With his late birthday, he’ll be nearly a year older than most of the players drafted which will certainly help. But his skills will perhaps be the biggest factor.
“He has the physical package, he’s strong, he’s competitive, and I’ve never seen him intimidated in any game.” Peters said. “He has the speed and the quickness; his brain operates at the level that you need at the NHL level. I do think Beniers has the most likely game to translate because the other thing that he can do is you don’t need to put them on your top two lines, you can put them on your third line and he’s still gonna find a way to make an impact.”
Watching Beniers, those skills become evident quickly.
In the clip below from the World Juniors you see the definition of a 200-foot player. Beniers retrieves a loose puck in his own end and quickly turns up ice the other way. He hits the neutral zone with speed and has his head up to spot an open winger at the blue line. Beniers connects a perfect pass for a shot on goal.
Beniers can play in all situations, especially on the penalty kill. In this clip he makes an absurd play on the kill while also showing off how strong he is on the puck. Good luck getting it from him.
Matt Beniers rags the puck for nearly 20 seconds while killing a penalty.
During the World Junior Championship gold medal game against Canada, he showed off his whole tool kit on one shift. Here he handles the puck through traffic in the neutral zone and finds an open shooter for a high-danger scoring opportunity. After the shot is stopped, Beniers hustles down the rebound to set up another teammate.
While he has all the skills and speed to be a two-way center, Beniers can finish. It’s an aspect of his game that can get overlooked. Here we see him put himself in a position to receive a pass for a scoring chance, one that he buries.
#NTDP Alumni Update. Some more fine work from the Wolverines on the 2nd goal of the game for Matt Beniers.
A nice keep in from Cam York ignites the play and such a good play from Kent Johnson as he finds Beniers in tight for the tap in. #GoBluepic.twitter.com/qkUmB4kZSk
Will the Seattle Kraken draft Matt Beniers second overall?
Seattle may not have a say, as the Buffalo Sabres may want to snatch Beniers first overall. This is a draft year where there are no sure things at the top of the list. Rather, there are five or six guys who all have the ability to turn into impact players.
Beniers is certainly in that group and if Buffalo goes in another direction with the first pick, it will be hard to imagine Francis passing up a chance to add a player like Beniers.
