Matheson: Former Oiler Matt Benning rolling with the punches in Toronto
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So, after his first extended season in the AHL last winter with the Maple Leafs organization after they got him and two draft picks from San Jose for Swedish D Timothy Liljegren in late October, 2024, the 31-year-old defenceman will roll with the punches when Toronto's training camp opens next month.
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Benning knows the score, this son of another NHL defenceman Brian, the grandson of his late decorated amateur hockey scout Elmer, charged with finding kids who might be able to play in the best league in the world. Matt has played close to 500 NHL games as a sixth-round draft pick in 2012—only one player, Connor Brown, from that draft class has played in more games (601) as a sixth-rounder. He has bucked fairly large odds, this former Spruce Grove Saints D, to have gotten this far.
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But now, he's come to an intersection and he's seeing introspection. He's still got the tools to be a 6-7 NHL defenceman, but there is a fair chance, he could be back in the minors again this season because the Leafs are deep on D.
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He's only just turned 31 in May, so far from old but he is on his fourth team after Edmonton, Nashville and San Jose. He has played just 21 NHL games the past two seasons with his hip surgery to repair a torn labrum with the Sharks and his trade to the Leafs. He's played 464 games in the NHL and teams always covet veteran D, but the Leafs never gave him a sniff last season, burying all but $100,000 of his $1.25 million contract in the AHL after the trade of Liljegren.
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Until last season, he had only played five games in the minors for Bakersfield, coming out of Northeastern University in Boston, and making the Oilers as a free-agent in 2016. He's long been a grinder, but he has to prove he's still an NHLer as he skates at Perry Pearn's annual 3-on-3 late summer pro camp here.
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'I was fine with it (AHL last season). I was excited to play more, find my game again after my big (hip) injury. Individually, if I felt I could be in the NHL again, then it was the right move to be down there,' said Benning, who was a starter pretty much for all of his 248 league games as an Oiler and 16 more in the playoffs.
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He's a defenceman, in a lot of ways mirroring the career of Oilers' Troy Stecher, both right-shot D, more defenders than point-producers. The dogged, undrafted Stecher is maybe faster but he's smaller than Benning.
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'Yeah, we're the same age,' said Benning, agreeing to the comparison.
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'I still think I'm an NHL defenceman. I didn't get a chance (call-up with Leafs) for a call-up but their D core is really good. I don't blame them. I need a good camp to either impress them or another team (waiver claim before the season starts.'
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