Matty Beniers becomes first Kraken player to win Rookie of the Year Award

Beniers wins 2022-23 Calder Memorial Trophy

Matty Beniers has made history by becoming the first Seattle Kraken player to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. He received the award on Monday night during the 2023 NHL Awards in Nashville, Tennessee.

Beniers was drafted second overall in the 2021 NHL Draft from the University of Michigan. According to NHL.com, he is the first rookie to win the trophy within the first two seasons of an expansion team’s history. The last time this happened was when Peter Šťastný played for the Quebec Nordiques in 1980–81.

He helped the Kraken to a 46-28-8 record in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their second season. The team eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference First Round before losing to the Dallas Stars in Game 7 of the Second Round.

“You know, the boys, my teammates, I love you guys. You taught me so much this year. And you’re a big part and you know, huge reason to why I’m up here today. So, thank you to them,” said Beniers in his speech as a special thanks to his team.

Beniers’ accomplishments as a rookie

The 20-year-old center led all rookies with 57 points (24 goals, 33 assists) in 80 games. He also led in plus-minus (+14), multipoint games (18) and shooting percentage (16.2 percent).

Beniers beat two other rookies: Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power and Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner. Power was Beniers’ former Michigan teammate, as he was selected first and Beniers next in the 2021 NHL Draft. They even debuted in the league on the same night, April 12, 2022.

The assessment found Beniers with only one minor penalty, following the records of Butch Goring (1977-78), Ben Smith (2014-15) and Ryan O’Reilly (2013-14, 2017-18). They are the only players in NHL history to play at least 80 games in a season with two or fewer penalty minutes.

In ice time, he averaged 17:06 per game. He was fourth among all Kraken forwards: Yanni Gourde, Jaden Schwartz and Alex Wennberg. At the same time, the team outscored opponents 63-41 with him on the ice at five-on-five while controlling 52.7 percent of the shots and 52.5 percent of the expected goals.

With all these accomplishments, he has become one of the Kraken’s most important players. Last season only, he played in 10 games after signing a three-year, entry-level contract with the team on April 10, 2022.