Inside the NHL
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kraken winger Jordan Eberle remembers well the last time a team of his went through a season without naming a captain.
Eberle was with the Edmonton Oilers and an alternate captain just as now with a Kraken franchise opening its sophomore season here Wednesday night against the Anaheim Ducks. Andrew Ference had been Edmonton’s captain in 2013-14 and 2014-15 before giving that up in 2015 training camp when his career was clearly nearing its conclusion.
The Oilers, as the Kraken will now do with Eberle, Yanni Gourde, Adam Larsson and Jaden Schwartz, chose to enter that season without a captain and went instead with four alternates. Another similarity with the Kraken is that the Oilers that spring had used their No. 1 overall draft pick on a centerman from the Erie Otters of the OHL that everybody sensed would be special.
In fact, there was a push by Oilers fans to name that draft selection, 18-year-old Connor McDavid, the team’s captain before playing an NHL game. Wisely, the Oilers held off a year before McDavid, who notched 16 goals and 32 assists in 45 games his rookie campaign, was named captain at age 19.
“Yeah, Davey was special,” Eberle said. “He was kind of mature beyond his years. He was 19 years old, but I always say he carried himself like he was a tenured vet. I’m sure he was raised that way. From a young age, I’m sure he was told he was going to be ‘The Next One’. And obviously, he hasn’t disappointed.”
Now, nobody is equating the highest draft pick in Kraken history, Matty Beniers, with a generational talent such as McDavid, even if Eberle’s rookie teammate is also a centerman viewed as mature beyond his years. Let’s just say Beniers has indeed grown in stature within and beyond the Kraken organization since being drafted No. 2 overall in July 2021.
It helped that he returned to the University of Michigan for his age 18 season, leading the Wolverines into the national semifinal game. He also played for Team USA at the Winter Olympics in Beijing before signing a three-year, entry-level deal with the Kraken in April and playing the final 10 games of the NHL season — scoring three goals and adding six assists.
By that point, Beniers started to be viewed beyond a “very good” and relatively “safe” future NHL player from a ho-hum draft class. Suddenly, his perceived ceiling had risen, and the word “elite” was tossed around more frequently.
It didn’t hurt that Beniers waltzed into training camp last month without missing a beat, leading the Kraken with four preseason goals. Never mind that he could easily have scored six or seven.
While the Kraken carefully monitored this summer’s No. 4 overall pick, Shane Wright, in camp to ensure he felt comfortable and not overburdened, there wasn’t quite the same helicoptering with Beniers. Of course, the Kraken also tried not to unduly pressure Beniers as well, but his body language inside the locker room and out on the ice had an air of been there, done that.
The air of somebody that might not look out of place wearing the captain’s “C” a year from now. Not that the Kraken will admit that’s why they’re one of only six NHL teams entering the season without a captain.
Instead, they’ll say the team members are still getting to know each other and haven’t had time for a definitive leader to emerge.
“We’ll go with our assistant captains and our leadership group in this dressing room,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said this week, indicating that will stand all season. “It’s a real good strong leadership group and a real good group of guys that we trust, but more importantly are trusted inside of this dressing room.”
As I’ve mentioned previously, among Eberle, Gourde and Larsson, the Kraken have guys that are captain’s material. But the way Beniers looked this preseason, you hear increasing talk about the Kraken’s future being up the middle with him and Wright. And how this envisioned future isn’t seasons away but will begin — at least the Beniers half of it — Wednesday night.
Beniers tops many preseason rankings as a Calder Trophy favorite given the league’s top rookie. The guy drafted before him at No. 1 overall, Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power, is also up there, but voters almost always pick high-scoring forwards in close races.
Ducks forward Mason McTavish, drafted No. 3 overall behind Beniers and who had two goals and an assist in a nine-game NHL trial stint last season, could therefore be the stiffest Calder competition. And Wednesday will offer a head-to-head early look at how the favored rookies will handle the pressure of increased expectations.
McDavid sure handled it well, placing third in Calder voting while a year younger than Beniers.
“You saw what he brought on the ice,” Eberle said of McDavid. “And you saw how he was, more importantly, off the ice. I think that was what revolved around him being named captain.”
The Ducks, coincidentally, are another of the NHL’s half-dozen captain-less teams — a trend slowly gaining traction in a tradition-driven league.
Eberle can’t say for certain whether modern captains are being named by teams for perceived tangible value or more out of respect for tradition.
The Kraken haven’t had a captain since Mark Giordano was traded in March. Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames team Giordano was selected from in the July 2021 expansion draft hasn’t named a new captain since and just enjoyed their best regular season in 33 years.
“That’s a good question, and I’m probably the wrong guy to ask,” Eberle said of actual value to naming a single captain. “I’ve always been a guy to put my head down and work and try to lead by the way you present yourself at the rink.”
As any good captain will.
Eberle agrees the Kraken have “a lot of guys” who could handle the designation but remain “a young organization” clearly waiting on what comes next.
It’s impossible to tell just yet whether what’s next with the “C” is Beniers. But his career is off to a good start. And the Kraken seem willing to wait on the captaincy to see just how good it gets.