It’s the middle of the summer and the only ice most people are probably interested in are the cubes floating in their libation of choice. There is some hockey-related activity during these days of sunshine and pool parties, even though it doesn’t directly involve puck battles and goals. Things have been a bit quiet in the Pacific Northwest since the first days of free agency a couple of weeks ago, but a few developments have come to the surface. There is another bit of news people who follow the team are waiting for with bated breath. Let’s discuss.
Matty Beniers Contract Mystery
When we last discussed Seattle’s offseason moves, one of the few major elements that remained to be decided was center Matty Beniers’ contract situation. The 21-year-old previously worked under a three-year deal that began in 2021 and expired at midnight this past June 30. A lot happened during that time. Not only was Beniers instrumental in the franchise’s best campaign to date (2022-23), but his efforts earned him the Calder Trophy in June 2023.
Related: Seattle Kraken Early 2024 Free Agency Recap
That season he tallied 24 goals and 33 assists, bolstered by a plus-14 goal differential. Similarly to most of his teammates, his numbers dropped in 2023-24 (15 goals, 22 assists, minus-11). Even so, there is no debating that earning Rookie of the Year honors a little over a year ago has changed people’s perception of the Massachusetts native. With a rookie contract done and dusted and silverware on his shelf, the time has come to pay up. The only thing we know for certain is that a qualifying offer is on the table. That was June 30 and at the time of writing (July 20) there has been no definitive, official response.
It would be a shame should the negotiations fall through. One mediocre season cannot and should not override a brilliant rookie campaign. No one played particularly well last season and Beniers has earned the sort of respect an end-of-season award ceremony merits. According to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) formula, the qualifying offer could be as little as a one-year deal worth about $874,000. The real purpose of said proposition is to retain the player’s free agency rights.
One wonders if the arrival and big paydays for Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson are complicating matters. Not insofar as Beniers believes he is on the same level as those two, but because the club’s cap space has shrunk considerably and Beniers deserves a raise. There is a lot of time before training camp in September. Then again, the duration of the negotiation makes fans and pundits wonder what the concluding deal will resemble.
Keeper Kim Saarinen Inked
On July 14, the team announced that one of its 2024 draft picks was signed to an entry-level contract. Finnish goalie Kim Saarinen, selected in the third round, is under contract for three years at $2.62 million. The average annual value is $975,000, although that involves performance bonuses, making the actual cap hit $872,500 per season.
This is a highly promising deal. Saarinen was present at the Kraken development camp in early July and people took notice. Incidentally, Chris Dreidger was picked up by the Florida Panthers on July 1. Driedger spent most of his time in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. With him gone, Saarinen can fill that void. With all due respect, this makes more sense than keeping the 30-year-old Driedger around. Ideally, an AHL club exists to develop young talent for a few seasons before making the leap to the big leagues.
That Saarinen has been signed to an entry-level deal speaks volumes about what the coaching staff and general manager probably think of him. He is young but talented enough to keep around and put through the grind of the AHL.
Shane Wright’s Contract Structure
On the topic of young talent lurking in Seattle’s waters, there is the Shane Wright odyssey. Selected in the first round in 2022, he has yet to be a main fixture in the Kraken lineup. He was called up for a handful of matches late last season and netted a few goals, sparking renewed excitement for the prospect who has mostly donned Firebirds and Windsor Spitfires colors since being drafted. He looked quite good on the ice last April even though the contests were formalities as the Kraken’s playoff hopes had expired.
There are some intriguing details about his contract situation on his PuckPedia profile page. The upcoming 2024-25 season is the first of three during which he can earn significant bonuses based on his performance. The cap hit of his two-way salary is $886,666, but should he hit a given plateau of goals and assists, he will earn an additional $3.06 million. That structure extends through the 2026-27 season.
That is a very business-savvy way of dealing with a player with a lot of potential who has shown flashes of brilliance at the NHL level but has yet to demonstrate it consistently. To be clear, it hasn’t been Wright’s fault. The team performed at a high level in 2022-23 without him and surely believed it could replicate that in 2023-24. As such, Wright’s number simply was not called up very often. But he’s still a fourth-overall pick who has lit it up in the AHL, so something had to be done to keep him around.
In essence, if he performs at the level many believe he can – and the club hopes he will – he will be rewarded like a regular NHL player. If he doesn’t, he continues to essentially earn the same modest salary he did the past couple of seasons. And talk about an incentive for a young stud to deliver on all that promise, with virtually three-quarters of one’s salary dependent on how well or not one plays!
While it is nice to know that Saarinen and Wright are locked in – albeit in different ways – as long as the Beniers situation remains unclear, Seattle’s summer won’t be over. Maybe this summertime mystery may only be solved early in the fall. Whatever the case, it’s a good sign the club is working towards its future with youthful players and not just splashy free agents, however much those are fun.
