C/LW Matthew Beniers - Univ. of Michigan, NCAA (2021, 2nd, SEA)

nergish

Registered User
Jun 1, 2019
703
777
He really impressed me in the world juniors, I can definitely see a Horvat type player comparison

Bo Horvat - 215lbs
Matt Beniers - 174lbs

To me he rips around like a less mean/douchey left-shot version of Ryan Kesler.

Or whatever comparison you wanna make to a centre that can make plays, good at both ends, skates really fast, and plays really hard...
 

Bertuzzipunch

Registered User
Aug 9, 2020
658
525
Bo Horvat - 215lbs
Matt Beniers - 174lbs

To me he rips around like a less mean/douchey left-shot version of Ryan Kesler.

Or whatever comparison you wanna make to a centre that can make plays, good at both ends, skates really fast, and plays really hard...
No way horvat weighs 215 lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doug Prishpreed

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,225
23,097
New York
Nah fam. Both have great work ethics but that's about where it ends for me. Beniers has great hockey sense. Larkin's best asset is his speed but I wouldn't ever say he has a + level hockey IQ. The guy misses his assignments in the D zone quite a bit.

As does Beniers. Beniers game is way more about effort than hockey sense than some type him as.
 

OgeeOgelthorpe

Baldina
Feb 29, 2020
17,001
17,980
Here's what I posted in the thread earlier about Beniers and his possible potential.

If you're scaling Beniers I think we can look at his comparables like this.

High end of development: Bergeron, Toews
Meets expectations: ROR, Philly version of Mike Richards
Low end of development: Dylan Larkin, Ryan Kesler, Brayden Schenn


At the lower end of the spectrum he's a very good, defensively responsible 2C who can take some tough assignments. At the high end he's the kind of center that allows elite scoring wingers to do their thing while playing hero hockey at the most difficult times.
 

KickHisAssZegrass

Registered User
Sponsor
Nov 18, 2005
2,313
1,116
Portland, OR
Here's what I posted in the thread earlier about Beniers and his possible potential.




At the lower end of the spectrum he's a very good, defensively responsible 2C who can take some tough assignments. At the high end he's the kind of center that allows elite scoring wingers to do their thing while playing hero hockey at the most difficult times.

I totally agree with the Bergeron comp. I think some people forget how fast PB was on the forecheck in Juniors and his first couple seasons.
 

Doug Prishpreed

Registered User
May 1, 2013
9,815
6,531
Brooklyn
Here's what I posted in the thread earlier about Beniers and his possible potential.




At the lower end of the spectrum he's a very good, defensively responsible 2C who can take some tough assignments. At the high end he's the kind of center that allows elite scoring wingers to do their thing while playing hero hockey at the most difficult times.

Dang! If BUF/ANA/SEA scouts come close to agreeing with you, he's going first overall.
 

OgeeOgelthorpe

Baldina
Feb 29, 2020
17,001
17,980
Dang! If BUF/ANA/SEA scouts come close to agreeing with you, he's going first overall.

There's some sites that are saying he could be 1st overall. I personally think he's top 3, probably picked right after Power at #1.

Also if the Eichel situation keeps devolving I could see Buffalo picking him at #1 and trading Jack somewhere. That's the worst situation for any prospect in this draft.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doug Prishpreed

Doug Prishpreed

Registered User
May 1, 2013
9,815
6,531
Brooklyn
There's some sites that are saying he could be 1st overall. I personally think he's top 3, probably picked right after Power at #1.

Also if the Eichel situation keeps devolving I could see Buffalo picking him at #1 and trading Jack somewhere. That's the worst situation for any prospect in this draft.

Bob McKensie said those exact words, that he could see him going first, even though he had him 4th.
 

Doug Prishpreed

Registered User
May 1, 2013
9,815
6,531
Brooklyn
There's some sites that are saying he could be 1st overall. I personally think he's top 3, probably picked right after Power at #1.

Also if the Eichel situation keeps devolving I could see Buffalo picking him at #1 and trading Jack somewhere. That's the worst situation for any prospect in this draft.

I mean, Eichel is being traded, it's just a matter of when.

I don't see it as a bad situation for him though really -- Reinhart, Mittelstadt, Cozens being there in front of him as centers would ensure that he's not put into the "savior" position that Eichel was in when he was drafted. I'm not sure if you caught the tail end of the season but I think people are going to be surprised when they see how Casey has progressed; and while Cozens numbers might not pop out, he was injured and did well matching up against up against top lines as a teen in a tough division.
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Sweetness

Eggtimer

Registered User
Jul 4, 2011
15,066
12,131
Calgary Alberta
First forward off the board most likely? Geunther or Eklund have a chance ahead of him due to a team reaching for a particular skill set or is he a slam dunk to be the first forward taken?
 

simonedvinsson

Registered User
May 26, 2020
748
1,261
First forward off the board most likely? Geunther or Eklund have a chance ahead of him due to a team reaching for a particular skill set or is he a slam dunk to be the first forward taken?
There is nothing so uncertain as a sure thing, but I’ll be mighty surprised if Beniers isn’t the first forward taken.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kalv

lawrence

Registered User
May 19, 2012
15,883
6,620
I was staring a horvat, reinhart tier player a very good 2nd line player type. But of course we can be wrong and he exceeds listed expectations and becomes a good number 1.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HockeyWooot

Artorius Horus T

sincerety
Nov 12, 2014
19,124
11,839
Suomi/Finland
What ive read about him from HFB posters; he looks so good, reminds of him and him.
- is he actually good, or just looks good?, i assume he ranks really high at advanced/analytics stats?
which i couldn't care less of. - and the biggest reason why he is ranked so high?
because analytics, advances stats say he is really really really good

I have to admit,, i have not seen him much, only IIHF tournaments, so i can't say pretty much nothing about him
but still, i have no idea at all, why some are thinking he goes 1st overall.... also, why was he selected to the worlds????:eek::huh:
didn't you learn from Jack Hughes experiment??? - dude is gonna get buried, hammered, at the worlds, my opinion

You can find good/great 2nd line two-way centers in 2-7 rounds, why use your 1st, your 1st overall pick, for someone like Beniers??

Maybe he proves me wrong.
 

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
40,956
11,575
Ft. Myers, FL
Tenacity and smarts are what separate Beniers from Larkin at the same age. I saw both in the USHL. I saw both at U of M. Beniers is going to be the better player.

Beniers is 18, him and Larkin's U of M season was at the same age with Larkin being some 4 months older at the time. His freshman season with Hyman before turning pro was frankly outstanding, with a big WJC performance as well. I don't think Beniers matched or outperformed that season.

I agree with them being comparable. I think there is an industrious nature to both players game. What they need to be their best versions are skill players that use that industry correctly. Larkin had a difficult year, but he is still likely Team USA's #3 center, he is a darn good hockey player that is in a really terrible situation in terms of the hand he has been dealt team wise. If Beniers is stuck in a position like that, I don't think you're getting a lot different. Larkin has plenty of hockey IQ, the amount of chances the team pissed away that he setup 2019-2020 was kind of astounding. Hopefully he figures out what went wrong this season, I think mostly injury and adjusts. I think he needs to put on some weight and that will likely be a big factor for Beniers. If you want to play the kind of game those guys do, I think it is important to get a little bigger to handle the wear and tear.
 

OgeeOgelthorpe

Baldina
Feb 29, 2020
17,001
17,980
Beniers is 18, him and Larkin's U of M season was at the same age with Larkin being some 4 months older at the time. His freshman season with Hyman before turning pro was frankly outstanding, with a big WJC performance as well. I don't think Beniers matched or outperformed that season.

I agree with them being comparable. I think there is an industrious nature to both players game. What they need to be their best versions are skill players that use that industry correctly. Larkin had a difficult year, but he is still likely Team USA's #3 center, he is a darn good hockey player that is in a really terrible situation in terms of the hand he has been dealt team wise. If Beniers is stuck in a position like that, I don't think you're getting a lot different. Larkin has plenty of hockey IQ, the amount of chances the team pissed away that he setup 2019-2020 was kind of astounding. Hopefully he figures out what went wrong this season, I think mostly injury and adjusts. I think he needs to put on some weight and that will likely be a big factor for Beniers. If you want to play the kind of game those guys do, I think it is important to get a little bigger to handle the wear and tear.

Larkin had a great freshman year at U of M, no doubt. That was a really strong team and his skating was phenomenal at that level. When he started to take it through the neutral zone the other team's players had to blow their tank of gas just trying to catch up. But as far as hockey IQ goes, Beniers just consistently makes the right play all the time. He's always on his man in the defensive zone, and he's consistently able to find his teammates in the neutral zone or in the offensive zone for a good give and go. Beniers' smarts are why he's in the discussion for a top 5 or even top 3 pick.

The last 2 seasons and Larkin's rookie and sophomore season he didn't display a high hockey IQ. Lots of blown assignments. Lots of bad reads in the offensive zone and an inability to find his teammates with passes in the offensive zone and neutral zone. Willingly skating into coverage rather than evading it. He could get away with that in college because he was so much faster than everyone else that puck retrieval was easy. Larkin isn't able to get away with it in the NHL because there's a lot of guys closer to him in speed.

His 60 and 70 point season gave us Wings fans hope that he could be a legit number 1 guy but I'm just not seeing it. The true number one centers find a way to shine no matter who is on their line.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pvr

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->