In the Lineup, On the Wakeup

When the Kraken are in the city for games and practices, teammates Will Borgen and Matty Beniers are waking up in the house they share. Typically, Borgen is awake first. Beniers?
"We don't have any house rules, not really, yet, we both do our fair share," said Borgen. "The only thing is I try to get him up in the morning. He's usually asleep later than me. He's still growing. I try to make sure he's ready to go to the rink on time."
Somewhere, Christine Beniers, Matty's mom, is smiling knowingly. For Borgen's part, he has a lot to grin about these days. Last season, he was the seventh defenseman on the 23-man active roster and played sparingly in the first half of the season. He played regularly after former captain Mark Giordano and young defenseman Jeremy Lauzon were traded.

Borgen kept the trend going this season, starting with a strong training camp. This year, Borgen has appeared in all 10 games for the 4-4-2 Kraken, logging just under 16 minutes per game, mostly all of it 5-on-5 play.
"Last year was tough," said Borgen. "We had a lot of good defensemen. I had to wait my turn and be a good sport about it."
Mission accomplished. Teammates enjoy Borgen's lighthearted approach to life and commented more than once last season about what a positive teammate he was whether in the lineup or not.

"It's part of the game," said Borgen during an exclusive conversation Friday. "Other players go through it too. Not super fun, not playing. This year, it's nice being in the lineup. I just try to do my best every night. Hopefully, I'm still in there the next game."
Borgen is doing a lot more than trying. Of 159 NHL defensemen who have played at least 100 minutes this season, Borgen ranks top 25 (21st) for offensive volume while he is on the ice during even-strength or 5-on-5 play. The hockey term is "tilting the ice" in favor of your team in scoring mode more than defending mode.
Borgen has paired most frequently with Carson Soucy in the first 10 Kraken games, though he did partner with Jamie Oleksiak on later-game shifts in Saturday's win over Pittsburgh. The two D-men have carpooled together since last season when they figured out they live near each other. Beniers has joined the carpool group this season.
"We're just very comfortable with each other," said Borgen about Soucy. "We've become pretty close friends riding to the rink together for the last year-and-a-half now. We hang out a lot, we have some good chemistry."
On the ice, fans will notice both Borgen and Soucy go deep in the offensive zone at times, jumping into the play as part of coach Dave Hakstol's systems of offense and defense. In 36 games last year, Borgen, the Kraken's expansion pick from Buffalo, notched his first two NHL goals and added six assists. He has a goal and an assist to date this season.
"If the play develops where I'm supposed to jump in and I see an opportunity, I'm going," said Borgen about how and when he decides to go deeper into the offensive than the usual just-inside-the-blue-line positioning. "But that's not my first instinct. I just do it when it comes. My job is to play defense first and then get the puck to the forwards because I mean, they're more likely to score than me. They're very skilled up there."
One of those skilled forwards is his 19-year-old housemate, who has scored four goals and logged four assists in 10 games.

"My parents came out during development camp and we stayed an extra couple days to look at some places," said Beniers before training camp. "We ended up getting a place with [Borgen] because what you get in an apartment on your own, you get more in a house."
Beniers' scouting report on the housemate situation: "We're pretty similar guys. We kind of like the same foods and tried a bunch of restaurants. We're both pretty easy-going ... we both play video games, not like a ton but sometimes at night we'll both hop on."
Beniers said Borgen introduced him to the "Yellowstone" streaming series and they have watched those episodes. Last week when mentioning "I'm always up for off-day," Beniers told a media scrum he is currently watching "Game of Thrones" for the first time; Borgen said he has watched some episodes with his rookie teammate.
Evident in the locker room and practice, Beniers feels comfortable joking with veteran teammates. Back at the house, Borgen says Beniers "keeps it pretty light there and we have fun."
When asked to compare his 19-year-old self to Beniers' version, Borgen started by pointing out he is "way older" at age 25.
"He's young but way more mature at that age than I was," said Borgen. "I mean, I don't know if I can be doing what he does right now."
What Beniers is doing is playing top-six forward minutes with veterans Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz, with Hakstol casually calling it "Matty's line" in reference to the rookie's position as center. What Borgen is doing is playing the sort of defense that teammates, coaches, and scouts notice maybe more than fans. The housemates' arrangement and carpool are working out just fine.