Matt Benning’s family tree goes deep.
His father, Brian, had 296 points in 568 NHL games between St. Louis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Edmonton and Florida. His uncle, Elmer, spent two decades as a scout with the Montreal Canadiens. His uncle, Jim, played six year with the Toronto Maple Leafs before eventually becoming an NHL GM with the Vancouver Canucks.
And now, Matt is set to make his mark on his fourth NHL team since breaking into the league in 2016-17.
Benning was the primary piece sent back by the San Jose Sharks in the Timothy Liljegren trade on Wednesday night. On the surface, the Leafs missed out on maximizing Liljegren’s trade value by playing him more this year. But in the end, Toronto gets an extra body on the blueline that isn’t afraid to block shots and get in the way. His numbers aren’t too inspiring – just two goals in his last five seasons, and he played just 14 games with the Sharks last year after requiring hip surgery.
Early on, he hasn’t played a whole lot this year – mainly as a bottom-pairing defenseman with just 13:02 in average ice time. Granted, anybody would look bad on the San Jose Sharks right now, but Benning needed a fresh start, and he’s got it with a franchise that’s important to his family.
The Leafs know what they’re getting here – a 6-foot-1, 203-pound defensive defenseman making just $1.25 million. They’re saving around $1.75 million in cap until 2026, which was something they needed to do. It’s definitely not out of the equation that he ends up getting buried in the AHL – which, at this point, almost feels most likely with the way Conor Timmins is playing. And that’s the thing – Toronto has a ton of depth options to choose from. Timmins has been good, Simon Benoit does his thing on the bottom-pairing and Philippe Myers has drawn in on occasion. Eventually, they could get Jani Hakanpaa, too.
But if Benning does play, it’s to help spice up the physicality on the rear end. At 30, we know what he’s capable of – he’s better when he’s quiet and not making dangerous mistakes. He can move the puck well and isn’t afraid of getting his body in the way. You can play Benning with just about anyone – and it doesn’t help that he’s a right-handed shot, either, given their depth there is a bit weaker with Chris Tanev, Timmins and Myers.
“He’s a very stay-at-home defenseman, steady,” coach Craig Berube told reporters on Thursday morning. “He blocks a lot of shots, things like that.”
There isn’t an area in the game that Benning excels at. Instead, he focuses more on being a true defenseman – someone who makes it his mission to keep players away from his net. And, surprise! That’s kind of the job of a defenseman. If someone like Benoit is struggling, throwing Benning in to bring pure strength won’t hurt.
At his best, Benning isn’t an everyday defenseman on the Maple Leafs. At his worst, he’s a decent AHL veteran to have. He hasn’t been sent down since his three-game stint with the Bakersfield Condors in 2019-20, so who knows how they’ll tackle it. But there doesn’t seem to be a clear path for Benning to be a regular contributor sooner rather than later.
Benning is expected to join the team later today, with Berube saying they’ll talk to him after that. But let’s be honest with ourselves: this is just a cap dump. If Benning plays, great. If not, no real loss – Liljegren was always going to get traded and they were never going to get much for him.
The real important piece in the trade could be the third-round pick Toronto gained. The Leafs will get the earlier of San Jose’s two picks – previously belonging to Edmonton and Colorado – and they could use that as a trade deadline sweetener. The odds of a third-rounder becoming an NHLer aren’t overly high. But Toronto also doesn’t have a first-rounder or their own second and third-round picks, so having an extra one at their disposal doesn’t hurt.
We’ll see what the Leafs do with Benning. He can play a role, and that’s about it – but sometimes you just need simplicity on your back end.
