Benning Feels Like His Old Self, Shares Details About New Sharks’ Fantasy Football League

Matt Benning feels like he’s back to his old self.

That’s happy news after last year, a 14-game season for the stalwart veteran defenseman that was cut short by hip surgery.

“Finally feel like myself again,” he said. “The depth of my squats is back. Strength might not necessarily be there, but I think it’s really close, and it’s just one of those things you got to work through, and it takes a little bit of time, but feels like I haven’t lost a step out there, lost anything.”

On Wednesday, in his first day back at Sharks Ice after spending the summer in Edmonton, Benning shared that his injury went back to last off-season.

“Tried to get through it, took some time off, did some treatments, helped for a game or two, and then it was right back to where it was,” the 30-year-old right-hander, signed by San Jose to a four-year contract in the summer of 2022, said. “It was getting to a point of just being super uncomfortable in my daily life too, not only on the ice, but sitting down in a chair for more than five minutes.”

Benning and the rest of the San Jose Sharks are ready to move on from a disastrous season. The Sharks’ .287 Points % was the second-worst of the salary cap era. And Benning couldn’t really help with that: He had season-ending hip surgery around New Year’s Day, and didn’t start skating until April.

“The fun thing about hockey is, whether it’s a tough loss in a game or a season that you don’t want to have, we turn the page pretty quick,” he said. “I think a lot of us have done that already in the summer.”

#SJSharks are back (in Fanatics-branded practice jerseys)!

I see Thrun, Benning, Sturm, Musty, Zetterlund, Blackwood, Sabourin, Graf, Dellandrea, Eklund, Vincent & Grundstrom.

Dell helping (in Reign jersey).

Toffoli, Vanecek, Mukhamadullin among the regulars not here today pic.twitter.com/ZTd0FDzFeC

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) September 4, 2024

And indeed, it’s a new chapter for the franchise: The Sharks took Macklin Celebrini with the first-overall pick of the 2024 Draft and 2023 No. 4 pick Will Smith is also set the make his NHL debut. Top prospects Shakir Mukhamadullin and Yaroslav Askarov looked poised to establish themselves in the best league in the world too.

“There’s a lot of new guys here, a lot of young guys coming in, pushing for spots. That’s exciting,” Benning said. “There’s prospects that are a couple years in the system now, making that jump as well. There’s a good buzz around here.”

Besides expecting to be ready for training camp, Benning is contributing to the good vibes by taking it upon himself to welcome all newcomers to San Jose. Defenseman Cody Ceci, acquired from the Edmonton Oilers two weeks ago, mentioned that Benning, who he didn’t know previously, called to give Ceci and his family the lay of the land in South Bay.

Benning also reached out to Celebrini and Smith after they signed, examples of the leadership that ex-Sharks head coach David Quinn always praised him for.

“It’s good to get to know guys,” Benning said. “I think that with high turnover the last couple years, doing that extra bit is important, just to get to know your teammates a little.”

Another way that the San Jose Sharks are getting to know each other this season? Most of the team appears to be involved in the same fantasy football league, as opposed to past years when captain Logan Couture was the commissioner of a legacy Sharks locker room fantasy league that mixed legends like Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, departed stars like Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl, and present-day Sharks like Benning and Luke Kunin.

This year, off-season trade acquisition Jake Walman is taking over commish duties from Couture. According to Benning, 16-18 current Sharks will be in the 14-team league, including Benning paired with Kunin, and Celebrini with Tyler Toffoli. Smith will be in the new league too.

Mario Ferraro had first pick in the Sharks’ locker room fantasy football draft.

“That [old] league was fun, but a lot of the guys I didn’t know, [so] sending trades, making fun of somebody for making a bad pick?” Benning said, smiling. “It’s a little bit different when you don’t know them.”

This season, Benning and the San Jose Sharks are hoping that familiarity breeds success.