I just decided to look up Matty B's stats seeing how he's will new summer fling boybestfriend roommate, I'm going to be honest I can't reconcile this guy going 2OA with the stats he currently has. Will did better this season while playing significantly less games. I'd love your analysis on him if you know anything about his game.
One really important thing to remember is the Covid of it all.
Like everything else in the world, hockey was severely impacted for several seasons (19/20, 20/21 & 21/22). In North America, every league was impacted from the NHL & CHL all the way down to the junior leagues. Seasons were cut short or canceled entirely, most youth teams were not allowed to play at all and the IIHF canceled major tournaments.
(More after the cut.)
This had a lot of repercussions, one of which was player development. 16-18 years old is considered one of the most critical age groups, when players start to face harder & stronger & faster competition, to help prepare them for the future. But some players lost a year or more during that window. The OHL, for example, canceled the entire 20-21 season.
(If you're interested, there's been a lot of discussion about Shane Wright & how much Covid impacted his trajectory. Contrarily, some leagues found ways to continue play. Macklin Celebrini was still able to play two full seasons at Shattuck-St. Mary's from 2020-2022, so his development was not interrupted. Will was able to play at St. Sebastian's, but I believe it was a shorter season. I thought I remembered reading that he went there specifically to play hockey that year, since the Boston Jr Eagles season was canceled, but I can't find the source.)
Another repercussion was the draft. Scouts often weren't allowed to watch games in person, so had to rely on video clips. The Combine was canceled. They couldn't even watch some players for an entire *year* because of those canceled seasons.
Why am I talking about this? Well, no draft class was affected by this quite as much as 2021, which was Matty Beniers draft year. Scouting analysts had incomplete information on the players, so really struggled to come to any kind of consensus on the top 10. The players themselves, as I mentioned, were often behind on their development. A lot of them had to shift plans or move across the country just to be able to play at all. (Matty had to de-commit from Harvard in 2020 because the Ivy League schools opted not to play, and wound up at U. of Michigan instead.)
So while I agree that Matty Beniers numbers aren't really thrilling for a 2OA, there are extenuating circumstances. Maybe he would have developed into a more elite player without the Covid interruption. More likely, in most draft classes he would have been a late 1st round/early 2nd round pick.
He's a very fast skater & great defensively, but in my opinion he's more suited to a 2C role. Which is totally fine! He'll be that reliable guy you can put up against the opponent's best offense and not have to worry much about turnovers. He'll be solidly & consistently getting you 40-60 point seasons, with an occasional really good year over 70 points. Seattle doesn't have the best options on wing, so to be fair those numbers could be more like 50-70 with more help. I think he'll have a long NHL career. Not a superstar, but a player who always contributes to his team & makes his line better.
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hey i've been wondering about this since the drafts, but what does it mean to be undrafted? like I know Collin Graf wasn't drafted but now he plays for the sharks so how does that work? and depending on how that works, does the PWHL have anything similar? like in the NHL if you don't get drafted you can still end up on a team, but is getting drafted the only way to be on a PWHL team?
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might be random but why weren’t gmmg and other boars members etc present at the draft? the stage were filled with people at 23-24 drafts idk
It's called a decentralized draft. The players & their families & people who want to attend the event are all there in person, but the team execs (owners, managers, scouting team, etc) do not attend.
They started doing this last year. It's the way the NBA & NFL do it and it saves the teams time & money. The managers have more privacy to make calls/do trades & have discussions with their scouting analysts between picks. It's also supposed to save time at the actual event, since you don't have to wait for team management to take the stage.
Kind of feels less special though, doesn't it? Also, I've heard lots of teams used to take this time to get deals done behind the scenes. Now that'll largely get done at the Combine.
I don’t keep up with the drafts and stuff cuz I’m kinda new to this whole hockey thing (I’m an og f1 and ⚽️ girl) but are our picks good?? From what I understand they won’t be playing this upcoming season as they’re still super young and still playing for their current teams??
That’s where the confusion comes in cuz wasn’t Sid just a kid as well(hahaha niche reference there) when he was drafted and he started playing immediately, and besides Sid cuz he’s practically superhuman in regards to hockey so we can’t really compare him to the average player, wasn’t kindy the age of some of our 2026 drafts and he also started playing immediately and continued throughout the entire season and into playoffs
Is it that they’d give them a chance for the first couple of games to see how they do and judge based on that?? Or are they solely for the purpose of building a future team later on??
Thank you if you do choose to explain this 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻
Also with all the trades and stuff happening, can we genuinely compete for another cup whilst Sid’s still there or is it that he’s just playing the role of a mentor now to develop the future of franchise? Like could we actually stand a chance in the next like 2 seasons or so???
Hi Anon,
It is a little confusing but I will try to explain. 😩
Most draft picks aside from the top 4-5 either go back to their previous club or to the AHL to continue developing (physically, mentally, and to hone in on their skills etc) Maybe think of it a little bit like F2?
The draft is basically for building the future team. Unless of course you have early picks in the draft then that team will get first access to the highest rated guys (like the Pens + Sid, Avs + Nate and Sharks + Celebrini) those guys will make an immediate impact on your team.
You are right it is likely that none of our 2026 picks will not be playing with the Pens next season. However, it is very likely that a few of our young guys/previous draft picks will make the team! It’s looking like Sergei Murashov will be in goal and many think Harrison Burnicke will make the team out of camp this year. (And potentially Rutger and Avery Hayes) If they don't make the team - they play for our AHL team and usually get called up during the season when we have injuries etc.
Some draft picks can make the team out of training camp- Like Kindy! Some people within the media thought he would be sent back to the WHL at the beginning of the season, not because he wasn’t good enough but they were worried that the NHL schedule would be too grueling for him in his first year. But he completed his 9 game “tryout” and after his 10th game the first year of his entry level contract kicked in and he stayed with Pens the whole season. Since he was drafted out of the CHL - he would have had to go back to his junior team and would not have been able to return to the NHL until his junior season was over.
The Ruck twins were also drafted out of the CHL so they are unable to play in the minors until they complete 4 years in Juniors, or turn 20 OR make the Pens roster out of training camp and follow the same route as Kindy. Currently they will be playing with the Medicine Hat Tigers season and committed to play college hockey at the university of North Dakota the following year. Unless of course they make the team out of training camp and complete the 9 game “tryout”. I don’t think they are projected to do that. BUT YOU NEVER KNOW.
Realistically, in order to make a deep run in the playoffs we will likely need a few impact players and some d-men (specifically right handed defenders if possible 😩) but I would never count out a team with Sidney Crosby & Geno Malkin on it! Sid plays to win!
Hope that helped!
Here is my pic of baby Kindy at the home opener last season🥹🥹🥹
