Why wasn’t 2 PIM Kraken rookie Matty Beniers a Lady Byng finalist?

Matty Beniers has had an excellent first NHL season with the Seattle Kraken, and his 56 points will make him a strong contender for the Calder Trophy. Some fans in Seattle felt that the forward was snubbed from a chance at an individual award double when he was not named a Lady Byng Trophy finalist. On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live hosts Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna discussed whether Beniers, who was penalized just once all season, deserved the nod.

Frank Seravalli: Alright, Mike, it’s time for Daily Faceoff our inbox question of the day from #AskDFO. There seemed to be a little bit of a kerfuffle on Tuesday evening on social media when the finalists were announced for the Selke and Lady Byng trophies. Jack Hughes, Anze Kopitar, and Brayden Point were announced as the three finalists for the Lady Byng, but there seemed to be an uproar from fans in Seattle saying “hey! What about Matty Beniers?” He’s the first player ever to have 56 points and 2 penalty minutes for the entire season as a rookie. Should he have been one of the finalists, and did you vote for him?

Mike McKenna: Honestly, players joke that this is the “softest player in the league award.” That’s the perception around it. He had two penalty minutes all year, so did he get slighted? I guess so, but he’s also a rookie in the league. Is he tip-toeing around? Is this the real Matty Beniers that we will see next year? If he replicates this again I think he could be a finalist. I had Jesper Bratt in there as well, he had 6 penalty minutes all year long, hardly touched anybody.

The perennial winner is usually Anze Kopitar, I think he should be the guy again. He had 4 penalty minutes and 74 points. I don’t think it was really a slight, it’s just a weird award that’s hard to qualify.

Frank Seravalli: Yeah, I did not have Brayden Point on my ballot. I had Kopitar at number 1, and I always like going defensemen next. I picked Jaccob Slavin and the Winnipeg Jets’ Nate Schmidt. I think it’s so much harder to defend without picking up minutes and Kopitar falls under that category as one of best defensive forwards in the league.

I recognize that Matty Beniers is a complete player, but he’s not in the Selke conversation, and therefore it was easy for me to favor guys who do more work defensively. Beniers still factored in my ballot, he was in the 5 spot and I had Jack Hughes at 4, but that gives you an indication of what I was thinking. I viewed the rookie aspect of it from the same perspective, this is a guy still getting his feet wet. 

You can watch the entire episode here…