Being an old guy, I put some value on leadership and captaincy. That didn't seem to show up this year in the playoffs. Where are the days where Benn went "beast-mode", seemingly picked the team up on his shoulders, and willed them to a win? Haven't seen that for a while. That said, his leadership counts for something in my book, and maybe it's on the 3rd or fourth line. Yeah, I'm sentimental about Benn and his contributions. I'm hoping he really does have one more good year in him - he did last season, it just dissipated in the playoffs - it's like he was overmatched. Would love to see him win a cup. I do think Johnston needs to be separated to allow WJ to flourish.
Gave him a C. Though the regular season was strong overall, the downtrend felt like it started well before the end of the season. He looked to be a major part of the team end of season swoon.
Gave him a C, but dangerously close to D territory for me.
It's pretty obvious Johnston was the one driving his point totals in the regular season. What's interesting to me though is Benn seemed to pull Johnston more to his high-event "fun" on-ice results than Johnston pulled him to his "good" on-ice results. I'm not sure what to make of that as far as Johnston's play-driving ability goes. The problem with a "fun" style that is when your shooting goes cold like Benn's did in the back-half and playoffs, you're still giving up lots of chances against and some of those are going to go in.
In addition to that, he was an active drag on the power play pretty much all season. That, plus the awful penalty differential (at or near league worst for the regular season, I think), and you're really relying on even strength finishing for value.
All that said, if Benn is going to play next year, I'm glad it's in Dallas and not somewhere else. He can still contribute and his contract isn't bad even with the bonuses hitting the cap next season. But he's being paid like a depth player and his usage should reflect that at this point.
That Benn, has still produced points over the last 3 yrs (3rd highest on the team!)… as one of the leagues last true power forwards… at his age.. is impressive. Like running backs, power forwards rarely perform past 30 yrs old. I see Benn playing third line with Steel and Seguin. Stack the top 2 lines, put them in a blender, put Hintz at left wing, where his speed can be better utilized, and with Bourque getting a chance to prove himself.
Besides Robertson, Benn is the only true left wing we have.
That's not good news considering that he is now more a 4th liner than anything else.
Nill is a very good GM, but he seems to be too much "sentimental" with his players. It's positive if you want to attract UFA, but it can work against you if you need to make tough decisions and/or thinl outside the box.
Brisebois made a tough one last year with Stamkos. No decent GM would have given him that 4 * 8M$ contract at his age. And it seems that he was right.
Maybe Nill should have done the same thing in order to change the dynamics and leadership in that locker room.
Throwing some of this out there as a talking point.
Benn and leadership go hand in hand, but is it the right leadership? Look at who got the team through the first two rounds while most others were sleepwalking, the guy who hasn’t stewed in the culture of the Stars (and Jake). Like the reference to a veteran RB, this team keeps handing off the ball without asking if they should through in this down and distance. The team cleared out PDB become they needed a change, if that didn’t do it, then Jamie will be the next to go.
Being an old guy, I put some value on leadership and captaincy. That didn't seem to show up this year in the playoffs. Where are the days where Benn went "beast-mode", seemingly picked the team up on his shoulders, and willed them to a win? Haven't seen that for a while. That said, his leadership counts for something in my book, and maybe it's on the 3rd or fourth line. Yeah, I'm sentimental about Benn and his contributions. I'm hoping he really does have one more good year in him - he did last season, it just dissipated in the playoffs - it's like he was overmatched. Would love to see him win a cup. I do think Johnston needs to be separated to allow WJ to flourish.
BTW, great writeup and article, DC.
Sadly I think we have to think of his contract being $3M and not $1M. His bonuses are laughably easy
But ya I really wonder how gulutzan is gonna handle Johnston this season and what that means for Benn.
100% agree that I would've given a B+ if not for the playoffs. Benns playoffs this season really left a salty taste in my mouth ngl
Gave him a C. Though the regular season was strong overall, the downtrend felt like it started well before the end of the season. He looked to be a major part of the team end of season swoon.
Gave him a C, but dangerously close to D territory for me.
It's pretty obvious Johnston was the one driving his point totals in the regular season. What's interesting to me though is Benn seemed to pull Johnston more to his high-event "fun" on-ice results than Johnston pulled him to his "good" on-ice results. I'm not sure what to make of that as far as Johnston's play-driving ability goes. The problem with a "fun" style that is when your shooting goes cold like Benn's did in the back-half and playoffs, you're still giving up lots of chances against and some of those are going to go in.
In addition to that, he was an active drag on the power play pretty much all season. That, plus the awful penalty differential (at or near league worst for the regular season, I think), and you're really relying on even strength finishing for value.
All that said, if Benn is going to play next year, I'm glad it's in Dallas and not somewhere else. He can still contribute and his contract isn't bad even with the bonuses hitting the cap next season. But he's being paid like a depth player and his usage should reflect that at this point.
That Benn, has still produced points over the last 3 yrs (3rd highest on the team!)… as one of the leagues last true power forwards… at his age.. is impressive. Like running backs, power forwards rarely perform past 30 yrs old. I see Benn playing third line with Steel and Seguin. Stack the top 2 lines, put them in a blender, put Hintz at left wing, where his speed can be better utilized, and with Bourque getting a chance to prove himself.
100%
Besides Robertson, Benn is the only true left wing we have.
That's not good news considering that he is now more a 4th liner than anything else.
Nill is a very good GM, but he seems to be too much "sentimental" with his players. It's positive if you want to attract UFA, but it can work against you if you need to make tough decisions and/or thinl outside the box.
Brisebois made a tough one last year with Stamkos. No decent GM would have given him that 4 * 8M$ contract at his age. And it seems that he was right.
Maybe Nill should have done the same thing in order to change the dynamics and leadership in that locker room.
Throwing some of this out there as a talking point.
Benn and leadership go hand in hand, but is it the right leadership? Look at who got the team through the first two rounds while most others were sleepwalking, the guy who hasn’t stewed in the culture of the Stars (and Jake). Like the reference to a veteran RB, this team keeps handing off the ball without asking if they should through in this down and distance. The team cleared out PDB become they needed a change, if that didn’t do it, then Jamie will be the next to go.