Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers has a way of making even the off-ice moments sound like they belong in a hockey story. During a stop in St. Louis, the Kraken found some free time near a casino, and Beniers wound up on the good side of the luck - and on the wrong side of it for then-teammate Andre Burakovsky.
“He was down in the casino and I was up a little bit. He was like, ‘Give me your chips.’
I gave it to him. He took the watch off his hand and gave it to me.
It was a fifth of the price of the watch, the chips I gave him. He’s the best.”
The chips didn’t turn Burakovsky’s night around.
Away from the table, Beniers says he keeps the noise level down in his game. He’ll jaw with opponents some, but he’s not looking to turn every shift into a back-and-forth.
“I’m not a big chirper. I try not to pull any extra attention on myself.
I’ll play my game and let guys come at me and I won’t say anything back. I just let it happen.
What am I going to chirp? The next time, you’re lining me up (for a big hit).
I’m fine without them trying to kill me.”
Faceoff talk is a different matter. Beniers said centers “always kind of chat” before draws, and sometimes that conversation turns into the kind of small ask that never really gets granted.
“Guys do that. Yeah, they do, all the time.
It’s like, ‘What? No.
I need this one!'”
He also had a little back-and-forth with Mitch Marner, even though the Vegas Golden Knights winger usually lines up on the right side. Beniers said he enjoys that matchup because Marner keeps talking at the dot.
“I like playing against him. He’s funny.
He talks to me on the dot. One game, I kind of roasted him in draws.
The next game, he was killing me, and chirping me after. ‘I got ‘ya!
I got ‘ya!’ I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?
This guy’s not even a center.'”
Then came one of the heaviest hits Beniers says he’s taken, delivered by Golden Knights winger Ivan Barbashev. And on the bench, one of Beniers’ fellow centers wasn’t exactly rushing to his defense.
“Chandler Stephenson is sitting on the bench laughing at me while I’m on the ice.”
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For Seattle, the angle is less about Schneider himself than the kind of conversation his availability could trigger around the league. When a defense-first player with age and upside is floating in trade chatter, it tends to open the door for broader talks involving young talent on other rosters, and that is where the Kraken would naturally be paying attention. The league still has a few notable unsigned and available names out there, but this is the sort of developing market that can shift quickly once one team decides to move. [Read more 🡒]
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Coachella Valley opens its home slate on October 2 against the Ontario Reign, just as the Kraken are starting their own season with two road games before returning for the NHL home opener on October 4. The overlap offers an early-season snapshot of how closely the two teams are linked, and for fans who follow the system as much as the big club, it also sets up a busy start to October on both sides of the organization. [Read more 🡒]