Mike Benning’s path to a new NHL opportunity has taken him from Florida to Calgary, and the St. Albert defenceman says the move gives him the kind of opening he was looking for.
Benning, 24, spent the final two months of last season with the Panthers after injuries hit the reigning Cup champions and he got a call-up from the AHL. It was a brief run, but it was enough to show he could handle himself at the NHL level. Head coach Paul Maurice liked what he saw, using Benning for 18 games and 17 minutes a night while praising him as “he’s a really strong skating, puck-moving defenceman, very good agility going left to right and closing gaps”.
Even with that stretch, Florida did not give Benning a qualifying offer from GM Bill Zito, which pushed him into unrestricted free agency. Benning said he understood the situation, especially with the Panthers looking crowded on the back end once healthy. That proved to be the case, with Florida later signing right-shot defenders Radko Gudas and Alec Petrovic in free agency while Latvian left defenceman Uvis Balinkis remained in the mix.
When his agents Bryan and Scott Bartlett told him the Flames were interested, Benning didn’t hesitate. He signed a one-year, two-way deal that carries a guaranteed $350,000 if he ends up with the AHL Wranglers.
“I thought this was the best opportunity-wise for my game. The Flames are in a different situation than Florida is,” said Benning, who has spent plenty of his career dealing with questions about his size at five-foot-nine and 180 pounds.
He said he felt comfortable in Florida and believed he belonged. “I didn’t seem out of place at all.
But I can think what I want and, at the end of the day, it’s proving it. This is taking on a new goal.
I’m thankful for Florida giving me the opportunity and in my three years there they were up front with me. I appreciate that,” said Benning, who moved the puck crisply and wasn’t overmatched in his end against NHL attackers.
Benning is already thinking about the first impression he wants to make in Calgary. He said, “First impressions are everything. I’ll go there and make a good one,” and added that he has been skating at Perry Pearn’s 3-on-3 pro camp.
He also had one memorable lesson about life on the road during his first year with Florida. “For sure.
I did drive it once from here to Florida in my first year with them, and it was 50 hours. I said never again.
I flew after that, kept a car down there,” said Benning.
The notebook also noted another former Oilers player on the move, with forward James Hamblin leaving Edmonton after six years and signing a two-year, two-way free-agent deal with Anaheim. Hamblin had been a reliable organizational piece for the Oilers, but the opportunity dried up and he saw the situation clearly before moving on.
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