Trophy Tracker: Beniers remains leader for Calder as rookie of year

To mark the three-quarter point of the 2022-23 regular season, NHL.com is running its fourth installment of the Trophy Tracker series. Today, we look at the race for the Calder Trophy, given annually to the best rookie in the NHL as selected in a poll by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Matty Beniers continues to play a lead role down the stretch for the Seattle Kraken in their quest to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in their second NHL season.
Beniers is second on the Kraken in goals (19; behind Jared McCann's 30), fourth in points (45) and tied for fourth in assists (26) while averaging 17:00 of ice time in 61 games. The 20-year-old, who plays center on the top line with right wing Jordan Eberle and McCann, leads NHL rookies in goals and points, as he has much of the season.

"Playing center in this league, as a young guy, is a little bit like throwing as a young guy as a quarterback," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "I would probably compare it to a young player in the end in the NFL because there's a lot coming at you. There's a lot of responsibility and there's leadership with it. Matty's able to handle all of those things. He has those natural leadership qualities about him."
Beniers is the favorite to win the Calder Trophy at the three-quarter mark of the season, according to a panel of 15 NHL.com writers, with 74 points (14 first-place votes). He also was first in NHL.com's poll at the halfway mark in January.
Logan Thompson, a goalie for the Vegas Golden Knights, was second with 49 points, followed by Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power (36 points; one first-place vote) and Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish (22 points).
Thompson is 20-13-3 with a 2.66 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and two shutouts in 36 games (35 starts). His 20 wins are 14th in the NHL this season, but he's missed the past 10 games with a lower-body injury sustained in a 5-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 9.

Power, chosen No. 1 by the Sabres in the 2021 NHL Draft, doesn't have the gawdy offensive numbers (23 points; four goals, 19 assists) as some other rookies this season, but he has played a top-pair role while leading first-year players in average time on ice (23:45). Buffalo had controlled 53.4 percent of all shots attempted at 5-on-5 with Power on the ice.
"What [Power] does on a nightly basis is just amazing when you factor in his age (20) and lack of experience in our league," Sabres coach Don Granato said, "to dominate situations and really full games the way he does. I know he hasn't been talked about for rookie of the year. It's astonishing to me because of how he couldn't be."
Beniers, meanwhile, leads rookies with 15 even-strength goals and 36 even-strength points.
"He has a natural presence and a confidence that doesn't come with any arrogance," Hakstol said. "It's an easy presence and he's a [heck] of a player. There are challenges he's dealt with, he's run up against some bumps in the road, but he's handled them all really well. So, the qualities that I mentioned I believe are really important to him in his success."
Beniers missed two games with an upper-body injury in January and has nine points (two goals, seven assists) and 21 shots on goal in 14 games since returning to the lineup Feb. 7.
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Matty Beniers, Kraken, 74 points (14 first-place votes); Logan Thompson, Golden Knights, 49; Owen Power, Sabres, 36 (1); Mason McTavish, Ducks, 22; Stuart Skinner, Edmonton Oilers, 16; Jake Sanderson, Ottawa Senators, 7; Cole Perfetti, Winnipeg Jets, 5; Matias Maccelli, Arizona Coyotes, 4; Calen Addison, Minnesota Wild, 4; Wyatt Johnston, Dallas Stars, 2; Kent Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets, 2; Shane Pinto, Senators, 1; Kirill Marchenko, Blue Jackets, 1; Jack Quinn, Sabres, 1; Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Sabres, 1