The 2023 NHL Awards took place on Monday night and Matty Beniers from the Seattle Kraken took home the Calder Memorial Trophy. Beniers beat out Owen Power and Stuart Skinner who both had remarkable seasons as well.
2023 NHL Awards: Matty Beniers Wins Calder Memorial Trophy
The Calder Memorial Trophy is given out each season to the best rookie in the NHL, and this season the award went to Matty Beniers. Beniers led NHL rookies in goals and points with 24 and 57 respectively.
Beniers was a big factor in the Seattle Kraken making the postseason in just their second season. The former second overall pick is the first Kraken player in franchise history to win the Calder, that might not be a surprise considering it is their second season in the league. Maybe Shane Wright will be next up this upcoming year.
Beniers joins a pretty good group of players in winning the Calder Trophy. Some previous winners include Moritz Seider, Kirill Kaprizov, Cale Makar, Elias Pettersson and Auston Matthews.
Both Stuart Skinner and Owen Power also had great seasons for their respective clubs, but overall Beniers was the clear far and away pick to win it all. In fact, the voting was pretty one sided in this one.
Matty Beniers was a decisive winner of the Calder Trophy, collecting 160 first-place votes en route to becoming the 90th recipient of the Rookie of the Year award. #NHLAwards#NHLStats: https://t.co/CYi6YD6PIf pic.twitter.com/84RdAcCL3U
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 27, 2023
Beniers and the Kraken made it all the way to the second round this past season. That has to be a big accomplishment for the expansion team in just their second year. Making the playoffs, and having a young rookie win the Calder is a big accomplishment.
One player who could potentially win the Calder Trophy in 2024 would have to be Connor Bedard. Bedard was at the 2023 NHL Awards and even won an award himself taking home the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence. But first, we have to wait and see where Bedard ends up getting drafted this upcoming week at the NHL Draft.