The remark drew laughs from the media scrum and generated one of at least a dozen smiles from Beniers during six minutes of questions and answers. He appeared relaxed and appreciative of the efforts by the 12 skaters and two goalies on the ice midday Monday and back Tuesday for another open-to-the-public session.
"That [practice] was a little harder than what we've been doing in summer hockey," said Beniers. "Especially with not as many guys, you kind of go hard with fewer shifts. It's good because you want to be in shape for when it comes time for training camp ... you've got to get out of your summer hockey habits and get into actual hockey."
The "Kraken Training Camp Presented by Starbucks" begins Thursday, with two sessions open to the public, one at 9:40 and a second session at 12 noon (the latter will be livestreamed on NHL.com/Kraken). Forty veteran players will join the rookies for the full camp with 23 spots available to the NHL active roster.
During Monday's session, Beniers and fellow Kraken first-round draft choice Shane Wright were on opposite sides of the puck on frequent occasions, testing each other's moves. Fitting enough, since the two highly regarded prospects have worked out together regularly since Beniers was the first Kraken player to text Wright after 2022 No. 4 overall pick was selected in July. Both players looked good in drills.
Defenseman Ryker Evans worked in sets with Beniers frequently, showed offensive skills that attracted Kraken scouts (along with "jam in his game") to the 20-year-old defender. Evans will play his first professional season this year and will be a high-interest point in training camp to see if he might crack the opening day roster. Wright himself is focused on earning one of those 23 roster spots.
Among other players who likely impressed a large group of Kraken hockey operations personnel (along with American Hockey League affiliate head coach Dan Bylsma, who was running practice): Forward Jacob Melanson looked sharp in shooting drills, same for free agent signee Tye Kartye, David Goyette looked fast and Jagger Firkus continues to get media-type buzzing about his playmaking skills. Two 2022 draft choices, third-rounder Ty Nelson and fourth-rounder Tucker Robertson, prompted more than a few roster checks to see who that was who made a certain play.
Along with Evans' offense, he looked solid defending, as did Beniers. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft said he knows the 82-game schedule will be a grind and different than his NCAA seasons at Michigan. Another factor is other teams' advance scouts will put Beniers on the radar.
"Hopefully, they know who I am," said Beniers, modest in his reply to whether other teams will be clued to his NHL point-per-game average last spring. "But hopefully I can pick up where I left off from last year."
