No surprise: Beniers signs
Can't wait to be playing the all Michigan team on NHL '26 in a few years! It's gonna be a full roster of studs!
Hopefully they'll be able to figure out the left-wing lock by then.
too soon
Thank you for playing at Michigan
Surprised it took until Sunday.
here is the ESPN article about it: https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/33714708/top-prospect-matty-beniers-19-having-impressed-our-staff-leaves-michigan-wolverines-signs-nhl-deal-seattle-kraken
quotes him here: "I can't wait to get started," Beniers said. "Although we fell short of our goal, I loved my time with Michigan and am looking forward to the next step in my journey. Being drafted last summer was surreal, and I'm excited to get to Seattle."
best of luck to the young man.
April 11th, 2022 at 12:04 AM ^
Release the M-F’ing Kraken. Take your talents to Lake Union, and thanks for all the memories.
Brisson should be gone for sure. I would think we get back Bordeleau, Hughes, and Samoskevich. Beecher could go either way.
Look for Michigan's Johnny Beecher to sign his entry-level contract with Boston soon.
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) April 10, 2022
Im still not sure about Bordeleau. One of the daily guys posted he was going to sign soon but deleted the tweet pretty quick. May have misinterpreted an insta post
I’d expect Bordeleau to leave but I’m not 100% there. More like 70/30. Brisson makes a lot of sense to leave as well. Beecher is expected to sign soon from what I’ve seen.
Plan from NJ sounds like another year of college for Hughes. Everyone else I don’t foresee leaving. Portillo coming back and another crop of strong recruits coming in. Interested to see if anyone uses their CoVid year. Would be a really young roster if not
April 10th, 2022 at 10:29 PM ^
Beecher's gone now. Hughes seems like a decent chance to get back, and I think we have a good chance at the rest of the freshmen, too.
I *hope* for Bordeleau, but there's no real developmental or organizational reason to *expect* Bordeleau to return. The hope is that he decides he wants to come back, lead the team, and score 60 points. But it looks like 2 years is what we're getting from this class... and if you had told me that that's what we'd get when they first came to school, and if you had told me that again when all those guys got drafted, I would have taken that deal in a hot minute.
If "spend two years in college to develop before we sign you" becomes kind of a regular NHL franchise practice, that is EXTREMELY good news for Michigan.
I would label myself as being a "holistic", "big-picture" person and this whole "development" matter intrigues me. It is well-established that we males are not at a particularly sound level of maturity until well into our 20s. Here, I would judge that spending at least two years in a college setting would set a better mental and emotional foundation for future success. However, I do not think there is any question that one would benefit physically from moving on to the pro level sooner as opposed to later. Stephen, you being the thoughtful and knowledgeable one in these regards-and fandom aside, what do you believe is the best balance here???
i'll jump in front of our friend SRJK for a minute. i was a 17 yr old freshman for hockey training camp at U of M, lo those many years ago. i actually grew during camp and took a lot of good-natured ribbing about it. long-story-short though, we men gain strength and endurance well into our 20's and even our 30's, though at some point you start to lose some quickness and agility. if i'm a franchise owner/GM of an NHL team i have no problem having the kids play 2-3 yrs as their bodies, and minds as you mentioned OTB, mature. quite frankly, you are getting a better player and you don't have to pay him. most kids will also mature as young men and then be that much better at handling the grind and temptations of being a pro hockey player, whether its the NHL, AHL, or wherever.
my .02
April 11th, 2022 at 12:22 PM ^
I try to be a knowledgeable fan, but I am just a fan, and I have no idea what the ideal calculus is here. I suspect a significant component of the NHL process with these players is that, given current collective bargaining arrangements with entry-level contracts and salary cap, it is either in the NHL club's interest, or at least a lot closer to a wash, to have the player spend another year before they sign a contract, giving them more of the player's prime with the entry-level deal.
How that affects development, specifically? I don't know. I'm sure they get more franchise-directed development and more time at the AHL affiliate. But if they can get 80-90% of that progress with the player going to college, and in return get another year when he is a contributing NHL player on an entry-level deal (leaving more cap space for other players as well) that could be an attractive option.
In short, I don't know the specifics of development, but my guess is that a lot of this has to do with the team's cap and roster management needs, rather than just finding the "perfect" development situation. I do find it likely that if a development situation were considered seriously sub-optimal, franchises wouldn't think it worth the cost to keep a player there. At least in the case of Michigan, multiple NHL franchises appear comfortable with their players developing here for an extra season.
At least, this year. Covid issues could also be a factor.
April 11th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
Interesting that Luke Hughes signing with the Devils this offseason isn't a given, at this point. They are a dumpster fire, in general, but especially on the back end and with Jack there, I'm kind of very surprised.
Only 5 defensemen on their current roster have contracts for next year and he is their highest ranked defensive prospect.
Being a really bad team is also a reason not to rush your prospects into the league. Just because Luke would make their team and play an important role doesn’t mean he’s READY for that or that it’s best for his development.
If they’re going to be bad anyway, theres more benefit in being patient and waiting for your prospects to be ready.
I agree with you completely. There are plenty of issues that the franchise has that Luke will not fix so I that him staying at Michigan will probably help with his development.
The team is just poorly built and coached in a worse manner. Even with the several top 5 pics they have had, Grandpa Lou left with the cupboards empty when he left town.
Unless you’re looking at a generational talent, I think it’s in the best interest of most teams to let their picks have an additional year or two of development in lesser leagues.
Keeping with the Devils, Jack Hughes would have benefitted greatly from a year of college to get stronger and work on area of his game, he struggled quite a bit as a rookie. Now looking at the Wings, Yzerman has been patient with prospects like Raymond and Seider, bringing them in only once they were ready and they’re both phenomenal young players.
Jack’s development wasn’t necessarily stunted by coming in too early, but it simply doesn’t make much sense from an organizational standpoint to rush your prospects. It’s good to see they don’t plan to do the same with Luke based on what we’ve heard.
Imagine being that young, getting paid almost a million a year in salary plus endorsements, and living in Seattle. I am so happy for this kid.
A million dollars isn't going to get him very far in Seattle, but I agree, sounds like quite the life.
It’s better than the 40k I got to move to LA. If he gets a couple of endorsements, he can get a nice condo.
A million dollars isn't going to get him very far in Seattle,
Nobody's going to force him to buy a 5-bedroom waterfront home on Mercer Island. He can rent a very nice 1- or 2-BR condo near the the Kraken arena at Seattle Center. If he can't live an extremely comfortable life in Seattle without bankrupting himself he's doing something wrong.
Good luck and thanks for the memories.
As expected. We were lucky to have him since he was Harvard bound but for covid cancelling their season. Glad we got to have him for two years. Best of luck Matty
So happy for Matty. He's going to be a solid 2 way center for the Kraken and better as he bulks up. We were so fortunate to have him for one year let alone two.