The 2024-25 season has been over for the Seattle Kraken for a while. While they did not have a great season, failing to make the postseason for the second straight year, they ended the 2024-25 season with a final record of 35-41-6. Each player on the team contributed in different ways, with some players performing better than others. Let’s take a look at Matty Beniers‘ performance this past season.
Beniers’ 2024-25 Season with Seattle
For the first time in his NHL career, Beniers played in all 82 games last season. He recorded his first point on Oct. 15 when the Kraken played the Predators in Nashville. Four games later, he recorded his highest point total in a single game. He scored two goals and recorded one assist on Oct. 24 when Seattle hosted the Winnipeg Jets. For the three remaining games in October, he recorded an assist in each game.
November became a slow month regarding point production for Beniers. Seattle had 14 games that month, and he only recorded four points. He scored a goal and recorded an assist on Nov. 5, scored another goal on Nov. 14, and his final point of the month came from an assist on Nov. 30. Also to note for November, there were three sets of back-to-back games, and Beniers only recorded a point in one of those six games.
In December, Beniers picked up with assists, recording six in the first half of the month. However, this was a big month for the Kraken, as they acquired Kaapo Kakko from the New York Rangers in exchange for Will Borgen. Kakko began playing on the first line with Beniers, and Kakko became a difference maker for him. While the first two games Beniers played with Kakko earned him a negative plus/minus, he began to find his stride after that. On Dec. 22, he recorded an assist. In the three games that followed, he scored a goal in each. He continued on a strong pattern, recording a point in just about every other game to every two games.
27 of Beniers’ 43 points were recorded after Kakko became his line partner. To say he brought out the best in Beniers would be an understatement.
Beniers’ Past Seasons with Seattle
Beniers has been a strong foundation to Seattle’s beginnings, as he was the Kraken’s first-ever NHL Draft pick. Selected second overall in the 2021 Draft, he has been with Seattle literally since the beginning. He began the 2021-22 season continuing his collegiate career, playing 37 games with the University of Michigan. He recorded 43 points and was even an alternate captain for the team. Towards the end of the NHL season, he played ten games in Seattle, where he recorded nine points via three goals and six assists. The 2021-22 season was the end of his time at the collegiate level.
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Beniers transitioned to playing full-time in the NHL for the 2022-23 season, playing 80 games and recording his highest career point total so far with 57. He scored 24 goals and recorded 33 assists. He had the fourth-highest point total out of everyone on the team that season. For a rookie year, that’s pretty good. He also helped the Kraken in their first-ever playoff run in 2022-23, playing 14 games and recording seven points. His accolades didn’t end there, however. He concluded the season by winning the Calder Trophy, which is given to the rookie of the year.
In the 2023-24 season, it is clear that Beniers got into a ‘sophomore slump’. His performance took a huge dip, recording 20 fewer points than in the 2022-23 season. He had a minus-11 for the season, and even though he had a higher average time on the ice, his performance overall took a hit. He only took 15 fewer shots in the 2023-24 season compared to 2022-23, but his shooting percentage (S%) plummeted from 16.2% to 11.3%.
Beniers’ Future with Seattle
Before the start of the 2024-25 season, Beniers signed a seven-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $7.14 million. He is about to head into the second year of this contract. With such a long duration, Seattle is buying into Beniers as a player, believing in his capabilities, especially since he was Seattle’s first-ever draft pick.
Beniers’ Overall Grade
Overall, for the 2024-25 season, Beniers’ performance receives a C. He got off to an okay start in the first month of the season, but then took a dive just one month later. It wasn’t until Kakko came into the picture that Beniers began to take off. It’s a good thing he’s signed with the Kraken for another three years.
While Beniers has been in a funk, it appears as though the Kraken have begun to find the formula to snap him out of it. Let’s hope Beniers can prove he is worth his large contract in the 2025-26 season.
