The Seattle Kraken locked up center Matty Beniers to a seven-year contract extension. Adam Proteau says the deal is a typical big gamble NHL GMs make in up-and-coming youngsters.

At first glance, the Seattle Kraken’s new contract extension for young, promising center Matty Beniers seems like quite the jump in pay, as it usually is for any player coming off an entry-level deal.

The 21-year-old posted only 15 goals and 37 points in 77 games last season, and he's got a new salary of $7.14 million for the 2024-25 campaign and six additional seasons. 

But those numbers shouldn't discredit his Calder Trophy win in his rookie campaign, which showed he clearly has the potential to be a longtime, effective center. And to come anywhere close to justifying the raise, Beniers must at least get back to his rookie year totals of 24 goals and 57 points in 80 games. 

As we all should know by now, progress isn’t always linear, and a small step back or a lateral step is common for young NHLers.

With that acknowledged, it’s entirely possible, if not probable, that Beniers’ new contract could be a major bargain before the deal expires. 

Kraken GM Ron Francis has already shown patience with fellow up-and-coming youngster Shane Wright. Seattle’s addition of impact veterans – namely, former Vegas forward Chandler Stephenson and defenseman Brandon Montour – should take some pressure off Beniers to do all the heavy lifting this coming season.

Beniers isn’t the first prospective high-end NHLer to encounter adversity in his early days in hockey’s best league. After all, Alexis Lafreniere and Quinton Byfield were drafted a year before him, and they only really found their groove last season.

But rather than taking a bridge contract in hopes of getting an eight-figure cap hit two or three years later, Beniers has opted for a long-term package that exponentially raises expectations of him right away. Looking at things optimistically, that’s the kind of self-belief you want to see in an evolving athlete. And Francis is using the cachet he has as a team-builder to instill confidence in Beniers. There’s a method to Francis’ madness here, even if there’s no guarantee but simply a likelihood that Beniers will grow into a true top-tier NHLer.

In the NHL’s salary cap era, GMs often pay young players on projected success, and this deal for Beniers is no different in that respect. The Kraken could hit a home run with his extension, or they could wind up with egg on their face. There’s not really a middle ground for transactions like this one, and only time will tell if Francis’ investment was a savvy maneuver or a blip. We're leaning toward the former.

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