Introduction
Matthew Beniers has quickly become one of my favourite players for the 2021 NHL Draft. He has an endless work ethic and is extremely hard on the puck. He back checks well and knows where to be positioned defensively. He’s a tough two-way player who is likely to be my number one forward for this draft. Currently standing 6’1 and 174 lbs, Beniers has some pretty good size, and he isn’t afraid to throw the body. Born November 5, 2002, he is older than most of the draft eligibles this year. He spent last year playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program where he potted 25 goals and 57 points in 60 games. He was one of my favourites on the ice last year with that squad and caught my eye well enough to enter my top 10 for this year. Playing for the University of Michigan, he has 6 points in 8 games and even caught some time with the USA U20 team for the World Juniors. In this Prospect Profile, I decided to focus in on his play from the recent World Juniors, where he met my expectations and secured my initial thoughts on him.
Skating
Beniers skating style is really visible. While Beniers doesn’t blow you away with speed, he knows where to skate on the ice. Beniers does an excellent job of pushing the outside of the ice to give himself more room and time to make a play, in addition, he can be deceptive with his skating and fool a defender.
In this first clip, we can see how Beniers breaks out of his own end and crosses over a few times in order to push to the outside of ice in order to create more room. This was done at the World Juniors, in the gold medal game. He’s extremely confident in his ability to create space while skating out of his end and into the opposing end.
In this second clip, it is evident how he keeps his space around the board by using it to chip the puck past 2 Finnish players. It’s noteworthy to show how in this clips, every time he skates, it is with purpose. The purpose here is to continue to drive play forward, and he doesn’t lose out on too much speed while doing so.
When watching this clip, it should stand out how Beniers can read a defender’s feet, and quickly make a play to get around him.
Looking closer, we see how Beniers is pushing towards the middle of the ice, and once he reads how the defender is pushing inside with him, he angles himself to the outside once again to create space and buy time to make a play. If you watch the video again, it shows how he skates with purpose, and how he reads what plays are developing at the same time he is getting up the ice.
Offensive Instincts/Vision
In the first clip here, Beniers is really pushing an offensive rush where he picks up a great pass from Faber, and at the perfect time, pushes a backhand pass over to ensure a beautiful goal.
This second clip for his passing perfectly described Beniers as a player. Just before he makes his beautiful sauce pass off the boards to his teammate in an already beautiful play, he dodges any chance the Slovakian player had at taking the puck away. Beniers is a big-time possession player, so when he is on the ice, he doesn’t allow defenders to take an easy steal from him. Apart from that, his pass was perfectly executed off the boards, ultimately proving how quick Beniers reads a play, and how well he can pull it off. Terrific vision.
This next clips proves once again how accurate Beniers can make a pass, but right before he makes a play to the open player, he blocked off the Finnish player, stole the puck and got it to open ice. Another example of the simplicity and smarts of his game.
Beniers also had the best Controlled Entries / 60 for any forward at the World Juniors by January 1st.
Shooting
If I’m going to nitpick any skill as being Beniers weakness, it may be his shot. While Beniers has a usual shot, I think it could be better. Most of his shots are from high danger areas, and while there is no problem with hitting the goalie on your shots, sometimes it feels like Beniers could pick the angles a bit better, or pose a bigger threat to goalies. However, Beniers still has a good shot, even if he doesn’t use it as often as he should.
This first clip is another prime example of creating space and using deception to get to the area he wants to be in. After the puck becomes free, Beniers pushes to the inside of the net to deceive the goalie into thinking that is the angle he is going to shoot from. He quickly pushes back behind the net and tries a wrap around shot. One thing Beniers does well, is he consistently puts himself in higher-danger areas to shoot the puck.
These two shots in this video show how hard Beniers can fire it. For the second shot, it is clear he just wanted the puck on net to force a face-off in the opposing end. He turns his body, and creates some space to get that shot off as well.
In this final clip, Beniers finds some open space in front of the net and will try to bury it in the net. He sets himself up nicely most of the time in the offensive end to gain scoring chances, whether it is his chance or someone else’s.
Exceptional Two-Way Play/Battles
A great way to describe Beniers as the ideal two-way player. He does a tremendous job of applying pressure to situations, and battles hard to force turnovers. Beniers is a player who can be trusted in both ends of the ice, and he is relentless on fighting for possession.
From this clip, we see Beniers work at the boards to free the puck, then when the USA U20 squad is on the breakout, he fights again to gain control of the puck and keep possession.
In this clip, Beniers plays the body on the Finnish player, his team ends up with the puck, after dumping it in, we see how Beniers works the entire way around to come back and steal it off of them once again. Twice in a matter of seconds.
His ability to gain possession and bring it out of the defensive zone is a prime example of his two-way ability and his stick work. He plays the box well, ends up in the perfect situation to poke that out, and follows up by holding possession and driving to offence.
Beniers follows the Swedish breakout out of their zone, he plays relentlessly to break the puck free and sets up for a pretty good chance coming back. He works extremely hard to gain control of the puck, blocking the pass from going through and lifting the stick quickly to ensure possession. What an exciting player!
Conclusion: Why you want Matthew Beniers
Matty Beniers is definitely a player most NHL teams are going to want a part of come draft day. His exceptional two-way play, endless motor and drive for success make him a top tier prospect, and one of the best forwards of this draft class. Some words that perfectly sum up Beniers are: patience, possession and passion.
His patience is evident in his style of play. He waits to jump in to offensive rushes, and views the game extremely well. He patiently holds on to the puck until a play becomes available, and executes the play perfectly.
His possession is also evident from all of the video clips shown. He will skate to the outside to build room and hold on to possession, and he will put himself in spots where his team can have room and keep possession as well. Another way Beniers can be described by possession is his ability to gain possession from the opposing team. His drive for possession can be seen by his puck battles and his ability to jump back into defence. Anything that grants his team possession, he will do.
His passion comes from his endless motor. Beniers is a work-horse who loves to drive a play, give off nice passes, or battle for the puck. Everything Beniers does on the ice shows his passion for the game. He is so tireless when battling, and when skating that he becomes one of the most noticeable players on the ice at all times. One last clip should show exactly what I mean:
Rankings
#4 – TSN/Bob McKenzie
#7- RecruitScouting (November)
#5- Gavin’s Personal Rankings
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