Matty Beniers, Kraken Agree to 7-year Contract Extension with $7.14M AAV
August 20, 2024
The Seattle Kraken have locked in Matty Beniers through the 2030-31 season.
The Kraken and Beniers agreed to a seven-year extension worth $7.14 million per year, the team announced Tuesday.
Beniers, the 2022-23 Calder Trophy winner and No. 2 pick of the 2021 draft, was previously a restricted free agent.
The 21-year-old recorded 15 goals and 37 points in 77 games for the Kraken last season.
Beniers spent most of the 2023-24 campaign skating on the Kraken's first line between veteran wingers Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle.
With Eberle signed through 2026 and McCann locked in until 2027, the extension will allow the Kraken to keep that trio together for a third straight season.
Beniers, a former University of Michigan standout, made his NHL debut in April 2022. He played 10 games for the Kraken that season before joining the roster full-time in 2022-23.
Because Beniers spent the first year of his three-season rookie contract at Michigan, the Kraken had just two full NHL seasons to evaluate when negotiating his extension.
In those two seasons, Beniers recorded 42 goals and 61 assists for 103 points in 167 career games, adding three goals and four assists for seven points in 14 games during the Kraken's two-round playoff run in 2023.
Beniers missed time due to an upper-body injury and saw a drop in his shooting percentage in 2023-24, a combination of factors that led to him falling short of matching the 24-goal rookie campaign that earned him the Calder Trophy.
He took a similar number of shots in both campaigns, however, so the Kraken have reason to hope Beniers' scoring will rebound as he looks to climb back over the 50-point threshold this fall.
Beniers' offensive production will be critical for the Kraken as the team looks to return to the playoffs for the second time in four years of franchise history with him as their first-line center.