Maple Leafs Make A Move With Matt Benning

Ever since he was acquired from the San Jose Sharks in return for Timothy Liljegren, the Toronto Maple Leafs have made two things clear about veteran defenseman Matt Benning: 

A) He does not fit into their plans.

B) They "want to do right by him" in finding him a new home. 

When it comes to (B), it seems like they haven't been able to find a taker as of yet, as they have now placed the 30-year-old on waivers, and any team in the league can claim him and his $1.25 million cap hit that runs through the 2025-26 season. 

Placed on NHL waivers today: Matt Benning (TOR).

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) November 11, 2024

The Leafs do have a roster crunch situation, despite the unfortunate news of Max Pacioretty's extended absence that came down today. Auston Matthews will be coming back this week, as will Connor Dewar (coming off the LTIR), along with defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, also seemingly just about set to make his season debut. He rejoined the team at practice on Monday after a conditioning stint with the AHL's Marlies. 

Philippe Myers is also ahead of Benning on the depth chart on the blueline. 

Benning, a nine-year veteran, has 464 games of NHL experience, registering 102 points and plus/minus rating of -21. 

He was a decent contributor in mainly a third-pairing role (with some second-pairing minutes) with the Edmonton Oilers in his first four years in the league, recording a plus-32 rating over that span, playing over 15 minutes a game on average for the Oil.

He played over 19 minutes a game for the Sharks in 2022-23 and recorded a career-high 24 points. 

He only played 14 games last season due to season-ending hip surgery, and in seven games this year with the Sharks, had a minus-5 rating in seven games with no points, playing a career-low 13:02 minutes per game, and sitting for a number of healthy scratches.

Photo: © Eakin Howard-Imagn Images