For anyone who watches soccer, I think what Beniers does is really similar to what excellent box-to-box midfielders like Joshua Kimmich or Fernandinho do for their respective teams.
There are a lot of folks asking whether he does anything "elite" or whether he has 1C upside, etc. Personally, I would say that Matt Beniers is as good as any center prospect I've seen in two very simple categories: helping his team win the puck back, and helping his team progress the puck forward.
Beniers is really excellent in helping his team win the puck back anywhere on the ice. In the offensive zone, it's his relentless forechecking, excellent work along the boards, and just a general tenacity to hound defensemen in possession. In the neutral zone, it's great positioning to clog lanes and an active stick to break up passes. In his own zone same thing, he closes passing lanes really effectively, he snuffs guys out on the boards, he's vocal in calling out assignments, he's very good on faceoffs (WJC aside). He's just a nightmare for opposition when they possess the puck.
As far as progressing the puck forward, I think Beniers benefits from a combination of excellent four-way skating, tenacious forechecking, and simple, consistent decision-making.
After winning the puck back in the neutral zone or high d-zone, Beniers has gotten a lot better this year at knowing when to simply recycle the puck back to his defensemen for a line change and controlled entry and when to push the transition offense. When he does lead transitions, that's where his skating really shines. He's very intelligent about knowing when to bomb in north-south when defenders are on their heels and when to sort of carve his way in east-west when the opposition is in a better defensive shape. While he can sort of do it all himself, he really benefits from a smart, skilled left-winger who can serve as an outlet if the opposition defenders cheat in on him (Kent Johnson at Michigan, Matt Boldy at the WJC). On the dump-and-chase, it's pretty simple- he's fast, strong, and savvy at winning board battles. He wins these more often than not, and I think that's going to continue to translate up to higher levels.
With all that considered, it's no surprise Beniers tops the charts in several advanced metrics which try to quantify transitions and general pace of play.
Does he have elite offensive tools?
I mean, no, not really. But he has very good offensive tools, and he has elite puck-winning and transition tools that allow teams to get the most out of the players around him.
Does he have high hockey iq?
Really depends how you define the most vague term in the hockey dictionary. He certainly isn't picking out eye-catching, high danger passes like Mitch Marner. I think he needs to get more comfortable slowing the game down in controlled, offensive zone possessions. But I think he's incredibly intelligent when it comes to dictating the pace of transition, knowing when to bomb forward and when to recycle the puck back to his defenseman, and marshalling defensive shape in 5 on 5 defense and penalty kills. I don't think it's a coincidence that Beniers earns major responsibility very quickly on whichever team he plays for, and I'm confident that will continue into his NHL career.
Can't you get players like this in the later rounds?
You can, but you probably won't. Frankly, I'd rather hunt for untapped goal-scoring wingers in the later rounds than two-way centers who push play as well as Beniers does.
Will he produce enough points to justify a top 5/3/1 pick?
If you're drafting Beniers to be the primary point-generating player on your team I think you're completely misevaluating the player. I think he does enough things well where he can get you ~60 points in his prime years, even north of that on that right team. But for all the reasons I mentioned above, I think Beniers is a player you draft to get the most out of your point-generating wingers and defensemen.
How good will he be?
Depends where he goes I think. In a nonsense organization like Buffalo who've proven countless times that they don't know how to properly develop and deploy their players he probably won't look like a top 5 pick. But if he goes to a team like the Ducks and he's allowed to be the water-carrier for a team with skilled point-generators like Zegras and Drysdale then I think he'll look excellent.
Ultimately I think the value of this player is very, very high. If you put him in a position to win the puck back and move it forward so the skilled players around him can generate offense, I think you'll be totally content with drafting Matt Beniers.
