Skating a Distinctive Script

There are many places to begin telling the Matty Beniers success story, which will add a new chapter at Monday's NHL Awards ceremony in Nashville if the 20-year-old Kraken center's name is called as winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy as 2022-23 rookie of the year.

But let's start with this tale: Growing up as an elite teenage hockey player in the Boston area, Beniers and his parents never talked about the dream of playing in the NHL. The family thought maybe Benier's hockey skills could translate to a college scholarship, leveraging the sport for education and an ensuing career, potentially medicine.

That's why Christine and Bob Beniers were a bit surprised but not unhappy when their son at age 16 declared he wanted to move away from home to join the USA Hockey National Team Hockey Development Program (USNTDP). It was an important step to being recruited by NCAA Divison 1 teams, including hometown Harvard (where he first committed, but later transferred to Michigan because the Ivy League decided to skip an entire hockey season due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Different than Most Prospects' Backstories

Beniers' first day with the USNTDP presented what Hollywood script writers would label an "inciting incident" about how Beniers' rise to NHL superstar-in-the-making is different than most NHL prospects. When the coaches asked each player to provide a fun fact about themselves, Beniers, not considering any social consequences, informed the squad he could sing.

Of course, the coaching staff immediately wanted to hear a song on the spot. Beniers brought the rink down with a rendition of Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" from the Broadway hit, "Jersey Boys." Beniers mom, Christine, is a former Broadway actress (now attorney) who volunteered her time to direct school musical revues during her children's childhoods and routinely recruited her youngest son when she needed more boys.

"Matty was not always a willing participant in the beginning, but once I pushed him through the stage door, he always seemed to really enjoy it," said Christine, laughing. "I would tell Matty you need to be Nathan Detroit ["Guys and Dolls"], come on, take the script.' "

Ready, Set, Goal: Fast Start to NHL Career

Beniers has most definitely seized the script of his pro career, starting with scoring his first-ever NHL goal in his first home game (second NHL game after notching an assist at Calgary on his first night in the league). Christine, dad Bob and older siblings Bobby and Gianna were all cheering in the Climate Pledge Arena stands as part of deafening noise from fans who clearly anticipated the young stardom that has unfolded: First with nine points in his first 10 games during the inaugural season, then the official, full-on, high-gear rookie season in which he scored 24 goals and added 33 assists for 57 points in 80 regular-season games, then played pivotal role in the Kraken advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Beniers scored four game-winning goals during his first full NHL regular season, highlighted by scoring an overtime goal just seven seconds into OT to beat the Washington Capitals Dec. 1 before a full house at Climate Pledge Arena that went bonkers. Beniers lost the opening face-off against veteran Lars Eller, who tried to tap the puck back to star defenseman John Carlson, but the Kraken's André Burakovsky batted down the attempt and the puck was suddenly on Beniers stick. He converted a clean breakaway against Darcy Kuemper, placing the perfect shot between the Capitals goalie's leg pads.

"I was like 'oh, nice! What's going on? Breakaway!'" said Beniers to ROOT SPORTS' Piper Shaw in his usual display of enthusiastic answers to the media while smiling a lot. "I just went and shot it and it went in. It was great."

Impressing Teammates and Opponents Beyond Score Sheet

Scoring pivotal goals is always appreciated. But Beniers, who didn't turn 20 until last November, offers so much more. Whether is it singing a Broadway hit as an unafraid, skinny 16-year-old or chirping the Jordan Eberles and Jared McCanns in the locker room or living in a house with rising defenseman Will Borgen or spontaneously and loudly strategizing alongside Yanni Gourde after a road morning skate about where to find each other with passes on that night's power play, Beniers wins over teammates.

Gourde, he of two Stanley Cup wins and widely credited among peers as "dragging his teammates into the fight" when the Kraken might be off on a night, holds a high standard for relentless play in all zones. Her couldn't say enough about his fellow center when queried about Beniers by media this past season, same for opponents and media members in the know.

"He's a great player and a great human being which makes him a very special and important person in this organization," Gourde told ESPN's Ryan Clark, adding he knew his young teammate was going to be a bonafide NHL player the first time they stepped on the ice together for a practice in April 2022. "Not only are you trying to build an organization that has a good team every year, but you're trying to build a team with good character and good people. That's how you build a foundation in an organization."

"Pretty dynamic player," Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'amour said to the late and beloved Andy Eide during last season when my dear friend was reporting on game day for NHL.com. "His skills are off the charts. You see that he's got great pace and plays with a lot of confidence. He looks like he has been around a long time and you can't teach that. It's the kind of stuff the great ones all have."

Brind'amour knows about elite centers for another reason: He was one, playing 20 NHL seasons and winning a Stanley Cup with Carolina as captain and playing in another Cup Final with then-Hurricanes captain and now Kraken GM Ron Francis (whom Brind'amour succeeded as captain).

Comparing Beniers and His Boss

Andy sought out Kraken play-by-play man John Forslund this past season for his take on Beniers. Forslund's answer harkened back to his broadcasting days for first the Hartford Whalers and then Carolina when the franchise moved south.

"I see a lot in him that goes all the way back to my initial memories of a player like Ron Francis," said Forslund. "It sounds a little hokey because it's his boss and it's the GM and it's a nice little Kraken story, but I remember Ronnie in the early 80s and how he broke in [with Hartford] as a fourth overall pick. Ronnie and Matty both came into the NHL with the same kind of demeanor - really personable - and then oddly enough they wear the same number, right? Ron started to play the game and show off his intelligence on the ice and I think that's what you see with Matty."

Why Beniers is Media Favorite for Rookie Honors

Fast-forward to this coming Monday night. Beniers is the favorite to win the Calder Trophy (named for the NHL's first president with a term from 1917 to the mid-1940s) despite not once earning the league's Rookie of the Month honors. No matter, as Beniers led all first-year NHLers in goals and total points (and second in assists). He played like a first-line center on a Kraken team that doesn't gravitate to first-line vs. second-line status.

When urged by the Kraken coaching staff and hockey operations group to improve his faceoffs skills and results, he made it part of his stay-late-after-practices routine and, by playoffs time, was routinely taking defensive-zone faceoffs in late minutes of tight games. While leading all rookies in scoring, Beniers endured streaks of games without a goal or assists. Through it all, Beniers defended tenaciously when situations demanded and his disciplined play and hockey IQ are evident in his being called for just one penalty all season.

It's one of the elements of Beniers' hockey portfolio that most impresses Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) voters and head coach Dave Hakstol.

"He's gone through a couple of spells, not long [scoring] draughts," said Dave Hakstol late in the regular season as Seattle was bearing down on a playoff spot. "If it bothers him, he doesn't show it. He just keeps going. He keeps just pushing the envelope and playing hard and that's what we all really respect about him.

"About the defensive zone faceoffs, we've got different guys [to choose from]," said Hakstol. "Matty is improving in that area. He's very competitive in that area ... we would like to see him keep growing."

Putting in Extra Work Has Rewards and Maybe Award?

Later season, Hakstol and penalty-kill leader, assistant coach Dave Lowry, entrusted Beniers with shorthanded time on ice, most noticeably when a key PK forward such as Gourde, is in the box.

"He's done a nice job on the kill," said Hakstol. "He understands it. I think he enjoys the challenge of it, takes a lot of pride in it. Whether he's getting a lot of opportunities or spot duty, he has to do the job, right? Those become real critical shifts because you can't have a hole in the kill."

Another factor sure to have impressed the PHWA members who voted on the Calder award is that opposing teams started game-planning for Beniers and his usual wings, Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann.

"Matty's a good player," said Hakstol, who himself will be on hand Monday at NHL Awards as a finalist for the Jack Adams award for coach of the year. "There's not a lot hidden in this league. [Teams] know he's a real good two-way player for us. He's gonna get a little extra attention. But he handles it well. He's very aware of where he is on the ice, what's around him and he's competitive as hell. Those things will all serve him pretty well."