NHL Draft profile: Matty Beniers

BlueJackets.com is running feature stories profiling the top nine players in our consensus poll for the upcoming NHL Draft, which is scheduled to begin Friday. Columbus will select fifth overall in the draft with the chance to add a high-level player -- likely from this group -- to the organization.
Matty Beniers' dad, Bob, played wide receiver at Cornell, but the football player-turned-hockey coach made sure his son knew plenty about playing defense growing up.
Being raised in the Boston area, where someone like Patrice Bergeron was in the midst of a decorated career as a two-way center helping lead the Bruins to multiple Stanley Cups, also didn't hurt.

"My dad, when I was really young, he always had a set importance on playing the game the right way, playing defense, making sure you're behind the puck and playing the right way," said Beniers, who has parlayed being a dominant two-way centerman into the No. 2 ranking in our consensus poll of the top NHL draft prospects available.
"Also, growing up watching Bergeron, he does all those things. He's one of the best in the league at playing that two-way center game. I think that's how I grew up, how I played when I was younger, and I continued that year after year, making sure I was good in the D-zone before offense. Play defense before you get to the fun stuff. That's how it's been my whole life."
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Beniers thus can credit his dad -- and perhaps Bergeron, as well -- for his rise into being one of the top prospects available come Friday night. Billed as a coach's dream who plays a responsible game for all 200 feet and uses excellent defensive ability to create turnovers and thus offense, Beniers is expected by many to be off the board in the top five -- perhaps at No. 2 overall to the expansion Seattle Kraken.
Time will tell where he ends up Friday night, but it will cap what has been in many ways a whirlwind season for the Hingham, Mass., native who came out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. Beniers (6-1½, 175) had a standout campaign as a freshman at the University of Michigan, totaling 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points in 24 games, all while finishing plus-21.
But he also got the chance to put on the red, white and blue in two major tournaments. Beniers was a key piece of the USA squad that won gold at the World Junior Championships, posting three points in seven games and finishing plus-3, then went to the World Championships. Playing against men from leagues all across the world at age 18, Beniers had a goal and an assist in six games and came home with a bronze medal.
"Going over there was great," he said. "Playing with a bunch of pros, being around them on and off the ice, it's definitely a different kind of atmosphere. Everyone says you have to be like a pro, you have to train like a pro, act like a pro. Those guys really embody that. It's nice to see it firsthand how they take care of the body so well on and off the ice - stretching, doing the little things, getting up early, working hard. It's really cool to be there in that atmosphere and play against older guys and get that experience of how the pace is going to be, all the different things. The experience was great."
It also had to be nice to Beniers -- who is rated the No. 6 North American skater in the NHL Central Scouting list -- that he wasn't out of place while suiting up on a team full of NHL players, including Blue Jackets Eric Robinson and Adam Clendening.
"I think my ability to make plays, see the ice, my hockey IQ, I think that was pretty good," he said. "I felt good out there. My edges, my skating ability when I'm there, I think those two things allowed me -- it was definitely a faster pace, and I think that helped a lot to play well and make plays and have an impact while I was there. The way I see the ice, the way I move my feet, I think that helped me a lot."
While Beniers is lauded most for his 200-foot game and defensive prowess, he's also someone who brings offensive ability to the table. Not only was Beniers a point-per-game player in his first year with the Wolverines, he had 57 points in 60 games the year prior with the USNTDP.
"He's such a fun kid," Michigan head coach Mel Pearson said. "He's always going. He's got a motor. He plays at one speed, and when I say that, I mean he's just always on. Right from the get-go, you could trust him defensively as well as we could offensively. He plays the 200-foot game. You don't have to coach that. Right from the get-go he was all in. He understands the game and he's committed to that.
"He is a good offensive player, and he led our team in plus-minus as a freshman. It goes to show you that he drives offense but at the same time he is a hell of a defensive player, and that's what makes him the player he is."

What they're saying

Draft Prospects Hockey draft guide:
"A highly competitive, complete, two-way centerman. ... Not overly creative or skilled offensively, but he is an incredibly hard-working player. The first player in on the forecheck every time. An excellent skater, but his best asset would be the way he thinks the game. His play anticipation is some of the best in this draft class. A very mature player. … The puck has a knack of finding his stick. His shot is hard and accurate, but it's his being in the right spot at the right time that makes him a dangerous finisher. In the offensive zone he shows terrific vision and knows when to make a hard or soft touch pass. A relentless player who plays hard all over the ice."
HockeyProspect.com Black Book:
"In any given draft, there's talented dual threat players that are inconsistent; intelligent, creatively deceptive players that have a stopper, and work horse style players that lack enough skill to make it. Rarely, are there players like Matthew Beniers, who takes each positive attribute just described and then optimizes them with a competitive mentality, forming the most complete player available in this year's class. Not only is he the most complete, but he also plays one of the most mature games. He's always involved, and always finding ways to apply pressure correctly, so that he can take away options from other teams, while generating options for his own. Although we wouldn't label any of his offensive skills as dynamic and we do consider him a player that can be defined by being more than the sum of his parts, we think it slightly understates some of his best qualities."
Chris Peters, Hockey Sense:
"The team that drafts Beniers has no worse than a No. 2 center on their roster who can handle tough matchups, play on their power play, their penalty kill and probably one day wear a letter for their team. There are more dynamic offensive players in this draft, but there isn't a single forward who impacts the game in as many ways as Beniers does."