Seattle Clecon’s 2024-25 report card: Marty Beniels – Hockey Writer – Seattle Clecon
The 2024-25 season has ended for Seattle Kraken for a while. Although they didn’t have a great season and didn’t win the playoffs for the second consecutive year, they ended the 2024-25 season with a final record of 35-41-6. Each player on the team contributes in a different way, some perform better than others. Let’s take a look at how Matty Beniers performed last season.
Beniers’ 2024-25 season with Seattle
Last season, the Beniers played all 82 games for the first time in their NHL career. He recorded his first point on October 15 when he was recording his predators in Nashville. Four games later, he recorded his highest point in one game. He scored two goals when Seattle hosted the Winnipeg Jets and recorded an assist on Oct. 24. For the remaining three games in October, he has assists in each of them.
November became a slow month for Beniers’ points production. Seattle had 14 games that month, and he only recorded 4 points. He scored a goal and recorded an assist on November 5 and another on November 14, with his last point coming from an assist on November 30. Also note that in November, there were three sets of back-to-back matches, and the Beniers recorded only one of these six matches.
Beniers received an assist in December, recording six points in the first half of the month. However, it was a big month for Kraken as they acquired Kaapo Kakko from the New York Rangers in exchange for Will Borgen. Kakko started playing against Beniers in the front line, and Kakko became a different manufacturer of his. The first two games that Beniers played with Kakko won him negative/deductible, but he started strides since then. On December 22, he recorded the assists. He scored goals in each of the following three games. He continues to maintain a strong pattern, recording every two match point in almost every other game.
After Kakko became his line partner, Beniers had 27 of his 43 points. To say that he showed the best thing in Beniers is an understatement.
Beniels’ past seasons with Seattle
Beniers is a solid foundation for Seattle to start as he was Kraken’s first NHL draft pick. He has been working in Seattle since the start of the 2021 draft. He began his college career in the 2021-22 season, competing in 37 games with the University of Michigan. He recorded 43 points, even the team’s replacement captain. At the end of the NHL season, he played ten games in Seattle, where he recorded nine points with 3 goals and 6 assists. The 2021-22 season is his end at the college level.
Related: Seattle Crecon’s 2024-25 transcript: Chandler Stephenson
Beniers transitioned to the NHL full-time game in 2022-23, playing 80 games and recording his highest career score with 57. He scored 24 goals and recorded 33 assists. The team ranked fourth in total for each person that season. In the rookie year, it’s very good. He also helped Claken in his first playoffs in 2022-23, playing 14 games and recording 7 points. However, his praise is not over. He ended the season and won the Calder Trophy, which was awarded Rookie of the Year.
In the 2023-24 season, it was obvious that Beniels fell into a “sooter downturn.” His performance has dropped significantly, 20 points less than the 2022-23 season. He has a negative 11 this season, and his performance has been hit even with higher average time on the ice. He only shot 15 times in the 2023-24 season, and his shooting percentage (s%) dropped from 16.2% to 11.3%.
The Future of Beniers and Seattle
Prior to the start of the 2024-25 season, the Beniers signed a seven-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $7.14 million. He is about to enter the second year of his contract. It lasts so long that Seattle is buying Beniers as a player, believing in his abilities, especially since he is Seattle’s first ever draft pick.
Beniers’ overall results
Overall, the Beniers won a C performance in the 2024-25 season. It wasn’t until Kakko entered the photo that the Beniers began to take off. It was a good thing that he signed with Kraken for three years.
When Beniers was in trouble, it seemed like Kraken had begun to find the formula to snatch him from it. Hopefully, Beniers can prove that he deserves his big contract in the 2025-26 season.
