""I still think I'm an NHL defenceman," Benning told the Edmonton Journal's Jim Matheson. "I didn't get a chance for a call-up (with the Leafs) but their D core is really good. I don't blame them. I need a good camp to either impress them or another team (waiver claim) before the season starts.""
""I was fine with it (AHL last season). I was excited to play more, find my game again after my big (hip) injury. Individually, if I felt I could be in the NHL again, then it was the right move to be down there," added Benning."
Matt Benning was traded to Toronto from San Jose in late October and was immediately loaned to the AHL's Toronto Marlies, where he played 39 games and recorded one goal and seven assists. The 31-year-old returned to the AHL for the first time since 2019-20 while completing rehab from hip labrum surgery in January 2024. Benning has 464 NHL games played since being drafted in 2012 and produced one goal and 23 assists in 77 games during the 2022-23 season. He enters training camp healthy in the final year of a four-year, $5 million contract and hopes to earn an NHL spot or attract a waiver claim.
Read at Yahoo Sports
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