Behind the Sticks of Seattle: Matty Beniers

20-year-old Matty Beniers was born November 5th, 2002, in Hingham, Massachusetts. He is a left-handed center-forward who currently plays for the Seattle Kraken in the NHL. He stands at 6’2 and weighs 174 lbs. He has played in the World Junior Classic for the United States at several different age levels.

Beniers played for the US National U18 Team for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. During his second season, he wore the “A” on his sweater for the team. During his time there, he played 64 games, scoring 26 goals and assisting 35. He also got 32 penalty minutes and a plus/minus score of +23.

Matty’s next step in his hockey career would be with the University of Michigan for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. He also would wear the “A” in his second year. However, he would, at some point, get moved up to the inaugural season Seattle Kraken. With the University of Michigan, Beniers played in 61 of their games, scored 30 goals, got 37 assists, spent 16 minutes in the penalty box, and had a plus/minus score of +50.

He has not left since he moved to Seattle to play in the NHL. He helped the team get through their growing pains in their first season and managed to assist the team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. During their inaugural season, he only played ten games. He did manage to score three goals; two were on a power play, and the other was in an overtime period. He took a total of 18 shots and assisted six goals. The rookie would make a much larger impact on the team this season, as he played in 80 games. He ended up scoring 24 times, assisting 33 goals, and taking 148 shots on goal. Of his 24 goals, four were powerplay goals, four were game winning goals, and 20 were made in overtime. His plus/minus score was +14 in the regular season.

Matty would have been the Kraken’s representative for this season’s All-Star Game had he not gotten concussed mid-January during a matchup against the Vancouver Canucks. Chandler Stephenson ended up taking his place, giving the Golden Knights a second representative.

Moving onto the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, Matty helped the underdogs get into round two, where they’d lose to the Dallas Stars. He played in all 14 of their games, scoring three goals, all happening in overtime periods, and assisted four goals. Due to his incredible performance as an NHL rookie this season, he won the 2022-23 NHL Calder Memorial Trophy, which is given annually to the most outstanding rookie in the league.

Matty Beniers will return to the Seattle Kraken this 2023-24 season, and will he help them get to the playoffs again? Will he be able to help the underdog team get their first Stanley Cup? The team is young and hungry and now have playoff experience under their belts, so Beniers definitely has a chance to take the Kraken to the next level this season.