It’s not Benn the third or fourth line player that’s the problem. It’s Benn the captain. As long as he’s in there, others can’t step up and help lead. Same thing all those years ago with Mike Modano. It wasn’t that Mo couldn’t play another year and give us a little something - Joe Nieiwendyk believed that guys like Jamie Benn couldn’t step forward to lead as long as Mike was in there. I’m concerned about the Stars internal leadership. Time to turn it over you ask me. But what do I know.
This 'Bring Benn back' is not a hill I'm willing to die on. I just think the left wing depth on this team sucks too much to let Benn go. It sounds dire until you realize Dallas' depth chart is Steel and Back. But I get it. He's borderline washed, and can't self censor his behavior to save his life.
And the GM is more than capable of finding other bottom six options. I’m just bothered that Nill and Gully say this is a no brainer. It’s not and hasn’t been for about three years. I want em to say - we need to make a sober review here of everything. Leadership included. And that we can’t be in the business of letting Benn do what he wants to do regardless. That’s antithetical to winning a Cup. He can’t help them with that anymore.
On the face of it, league-ish minimum for a guy who can put up .6 PPG is absolutely a steal.
But
But.
This past season Benn played his lowest TOI and avg TOI in his career. AND he put up a career high shooting percentage of 20.8% (which is a full 9% higher than last season).
AND when I say he takes boneheaded penalties, what I mean is, using a totally fake stat I just made up, Benn’s PIM per game are a career high (excluding 21-22) at .88 PIM per game. That’s crazy to me- but it’s also not an outlier. Last season he was at .875 PIM per game, so it’s getting worse.
I think the Benn we saw in 25-26 was the best possible Benn- yes aging curves come for us all- but he was the most rested he’s been in years because of the injury and he STILL had a lower PPG than he’s had since 21-22 (again what a cursed season) and that is WITH an absurd shooting percentage to prop him up.
Yeah replacement level contract would be fine EXCEPT if that is a spot and a salary that could go to a player like Hyry or someone else who creates more dynamic scoring and dare I say defensive play AND has a window of efficiency/efficacy that extends past the rapidly slamming shut Benn window. And I’m
Not saying that Hyry even at his absolute ceiling is better than Benn at his ceiling- obviously not- but if I’m taking a gamble it’s not going to be on Benn repeating a 20.8% shooting percentage.
I appreciate Nill’s loyalty and lack of obvious cutthroat tactics- it’s refreshing to have someone aligned with ownership view people as humans- but I think the loyalty to the name on the front has to come first here. Give Benn a send off, hire him as player development or whatever, but don’t sacrifice a potential future bottom-middle six contributor just so Benn can try to make himself a 1. 07 PIM per game player again (21-22).
The only issue here is that Hyry is competing with Blackwell, and Faksa's spot. Otherwise it's Steel and Back as your LW depth behind Robertson. That is DIRE.
I understand the emotional and leadership argument for bringing Jamie Benn back. And at the right number, on the right line, there is logic. But I think there are two bigger concerns that cannot be ignored.
First, we simply do not know what the decline curve looks like from here. Aging in the NHL is rarely linear. Joe Pavelski looked productive until suddenly he wasn’t, and the decline in the second half of his final season came quickly. We may already be seeing the same thing with Benn. Even with the Olympic break giving veterans additional recovery time, Benn’s game noticeably declined afterward. At some point, leadership and toughness no longer offset the loss of pace, slower recovery, and diminished impact shift-to-shift.
The bigger issue is the opportunity cost of the roster.
Dallas does not need to use a roster spot on a player who may be entering rapid decline. They need younger, faster, stronger players who can grow with the true core of this team over the next 2–3 years while the Cup window is still open. The Stars are not building for nostalgia anymore. They are building for a championship. That means every roster spot has to support the future core, not the past core.
And that leads to the more uncomfortable question that probably deserves more discussion.
Jim Nill has been an incredible caretaker of this franchise for over a decade. He stabilized the organization, drafted well, built depth, and kept the Stars consistently competitive. He deserves enormous credit for that.
But is he the decision-maker who can take Dallas from “good enough” to Stanley Cup champion?
That is not criticism. It is the reality every organization eventually faces. There is a difference between building a sustainable playoff team and making the ruthless decisions necessary to win the final four games of the season. Championship windows are short, brutal, and unforgiving. Sentiment cannot be part of the equation forever.
The Stars are close. But “close” is where teams can stay trapped for years.
The Pavelski comp is pretty good. The reason it falls a little short is that Pavelski still had the coach's eyes and ears and was given top line minutes until the end. Benn's presence has been slowly phased out (I believe he played a career low in icetime this year). I agree about the ruthless decisions, but I don't think one year of Benn is holding the team back. If it's his leadership, I can understand that. But Benn is arguably Dallas' second best left winger.
Michael I wholeheartedly agree with you. You are spot on about Dallas being wise on not using a roster spot on a person who may be entering a rapid decline. As you mentioned Pavelski looked very good until all of a sudden he wasn't. I think Benn has seen his best days and while I would like to see him retire as a Star I don't want him to hang around for a year or two too long. It seems like he already has and while I really like the team that Nill has assembled he seems to be fond and nostalgic of Jamie, and this may be what leads to this championship window slamming shut.
I'm a huge Jamie Benn fan, always have been. I like how he can bring the old school yet still gain respect from the younger guys. He is a leader, and the leader of this team. I like his media interviews and know he's laughing inside when he gives his one sentence, Marshawn Lynch-type, mumbling answers. Other teams respect that they are going to deal with his wrath if they go after our guys.
Leadership is hard to quantify sometimes, but the results of the team over the past few years have been great. Not what we wanted as far as getting a Stanley Cup, but about 30 other teams would love to be in our spot. Last year Jamie's performance was way below what we wanted, but then again, he came back from a punctured lung and a broken face. I'm not saying being the toughest guy out there warrants playing time, but he is the leadership heart and soul of this team. if you're at a game, watch the little things he does and how he interacts with teammates during the small moments that the cameras don't catch. I'm all for transitioning him out gracefully on the fourth line (I like that idea) - if he's healthy, he's going to help the offensive numbers. I wouldn't mind having a fourth liner that put up 30 points, let alone also leading by character. And for $1MM + bonuses, hell yeah.
I think Benn is smart enough to know when to call it quits for the sake of the team and is humble enough to even take a healthy scratch. I say let him help transition in another leader next year if he's willing to do the work and can contribute.
I specifically watched Benn this season and noted the leadership he brings on the ice. He played a chunk of the season and playoffs with a concussion.
The trashing of Benn at the end of the season turns my stomach.
I had the privilege of watching him run practice this year and that was an eye opener. The list of players with serious injuries listed in the DMNews was insane. Insane that they played so well given the loss of key players and most of those on the roster with injuries.
I expect him back and also expect that he will train hard in the off season.
These are exceptional players but they are also human beings with families.
Get off their back and be appreciative that they had some great success this year given all of the serious injuries.
“Is Minnesota faltering right now because Jared Spurgeon is their captain, or are they faltering because” Gabriel Landeskog is captaining Colorado? I love this line of questioning because it’s not quantifiable in any meaningful way. (I haven’t actually finished reading yet, so hopefully I’m not—I was about to say, “arguing against your point,” but judging from the other comments, maybe that’s happening anyway 😅😂)
I guess I have no strong opinion on Benn, don’t revoke my fan club membership, y’all!
It's not a question of whether or not Benn is a cheap, serviceable 4th liner, because he is. It's a question of whether or not he's good enough as a player you *cannot scratch*.
He's been not just a liability, but an active detriment the last two postseasons, any other 4th liner would have been stapled to the press box multiple times if not permanently. But you can't do that to Benn/your captain.
Maybe if they reduced his ice time severely instead, but considering they haven't done that before (see: somehow being the extra skater when our season was on the line in Game 6), I'm not sure that's gonna happen. So either you hope and pray he's able to cleanup him game come playoff time, or you just rip the bandaid off now.
The constant loss of game ones thru different coaches in the play offs is not acceptable and the Captain needs to have them ready he is the constant factor . His penalties which get worse year on year are an issue , he is slower now and his puck distribution is also slow . He needs to retire since Nill is blinded by loyalty . Change is needed or we will be talking about another round one loss
This is what I wanted to say. If Benn wants to remain on the roster, he should find ways to be a net positive on the ice. Draw penalties, play like Perry and be a nuisance at the net front, or just play simple. But he's constantly putting the team in a bad spot at the most precarious moments. I hard disagree with David's post and with any Benn apologists because he's more than proven he doesn't deserve the C anymore.
I thought that the change to Rant as the Captain made sense after the Florida trip early in the season when Benn was hurt...which was about 20 games or so.
Rant looked awesome, scoring, assisting, leading, pounding opponents physically, etc...it was amazing to watch.
But I know we all have to worship Benn and media people especially can’t say that Benn should be replaced now as Captain, which would be detrimental politically for them.
Rant is THAT GUY if ever anyone was/is.
In a sane world Benn(and Seguin) would DEMAND Rant be made Captain, and support him in every way. That would endear them to the fans even more.
But we'll likely waste another season with Benn as Captain(and the culture not changing, no one on the team fears benn, he's actually shy and can't speak well).
The culture would change drastically with Rant as Captain...everyone fears Rant's anger because he's articulate and not afraid to speak up( ask Georgiev).
Anyway...the culture will NOT change under Benn...he'll just be less effective and take more stupid penalties next year...But we'll have an emotional ceremonial send-off for him and Seggy and that's what really matters.
To me the question is pretty simple. If Benn is a real 4th liner now, then you need to ask yourself, can the coach healthy scratch him? If the answer is no, then you let him go.
The coaching staff needs to be perfectly comfortable in scratching any 4th liner without creating chaos in the locker room or anywhere else.
Just like the Habs did with Gallagher this year and in the post season.
It’s not Benn the third or fourth line player that’s the problem. It’s Benn the captain. As long as he’s in there, others can’t step up and help lead. Same thing all those years ago with Mike Modano. It wasn’t that Mo couldn’t play another year and give us a little something - Joe Nieiwendyk believed that guys like Jamie Benn couldn’t step forward to lead as long as Mike was in there. I’m concerned about the Stars internal leadership. Time to turn it over you ask me. But what do I know.
"But what do I know."
More than most!
This 'Bring Benn back' is not a hill I'm willing to die on. I just think the left wing depth on this team sucks too much to let Benn go. It sounds dire until you realize Dallas' depth chart is Steel and Back. But I get it. He's borderline washed, and can't self censor his behavior to save his life.
And the GM is more than capable of finding other bottom six options. I’m just bothered that Nill and Gully say this is a no brainer. It’s not and hasn’t been for about three years. I want em to say - we need to make a sober review here of everything. Leadership included. And that we can’t be in the business of letting Benn do what he wants to do regardless. That’s antithetical to winning a Cup. He can’t help them with that anymore.
I don’t think Benn should be back.
On the face of it, league-ish minimum for a guy who can put up .6 PPG is absolutely a steal.
But
But.
This past season Benn played his lowest TOI and avg TOI in his career. AND he put up a career high shooting percentage of 20.8% (which is a full 9% higher than last season).
AND when I say he takes boneheaded penalties, what I mean is, using a totally fake stat I just made up, Benn’s PIM per game are a career high (excluding 21-22) at .88 PIM per game. That’s crazy to me- but it’s also not an outlier. Last season he was at .875 PIM per game, so it’s getting worse.
I think the Benn we saw in 25-26 was the best possible Benn- yes aging curves come for us all- but he was the most rested he’s been in years because of the injury and he STILL had a lower PPG than he’s had since 21-22 (again what a cursed season) and that is WITH an absurd shooting percentage to prop him up.
Yeah replacement level contract would be fine EXCEPT if that is a spot and a salary that could go to a player like Hyry or someone else who creates more dynamic scoring and dare I say defensive play AND has a window of efficiency/efficacy that extends past the rapidly slamming shut Benn window. And I’m
Not saying that Hyry even at his absolute ceiling is better than Benn at his ceiling- obviously not- but if I’m taking a gamble it’s not going to be on Benn repeating a 20.8% shooting percentage.
I appreciate Nill’s loyalty and lack of obvious cutthroat tactics- it’s refreshing to have someone aligned with ownership view people as humans- but I think the loyalty to the name on the front has to come first here. Give Benn a send off, hire him as player development or whatever, but don’t sacrifice a potential future bottom-middle six contributor just so Benn can try to make himself a 1. 07 PIM per game player again (21-22).
(Sorry, been stewing on this for days now)
The only issue here is that Hyry is competing with Blackwell, and Faksa's spot. Otherwise it's Steel and Back as your LW depth behind Robertson. That is DIRE.
David,
I understand the emotional and leadership argument for bringing Jamie Benn back. And at the right number, on the right line, there is logic. But I think there are two bigger concerns that cannot be ignored.
First, we simply do not know what the decline curve looks like from here. Aging in the NHL is rarely linear. Joe Pavelski looked productive until suddenly he wasn’t, and the decline in the second half of his final season came quickly. We may already be seeing the same thing with Benn. Even with the Olympic break giving veterans additional recovery time, Benn’s game noticeably declined afterward. At some point, leadership and toughness no longer offset the loss of pace, slower recovery, and diminished impact shift-to-shift.
The bigger issue is the opportunity cost of the roster.
Dallas does not need to use a roster spot on a player who may be entering rapid decline. They need younger, faster, stronger players who can grow with the true core of this team over the next 2–3 years while the Cup window is still open. The Stars are not building for nostalgia anymore. They are building for a championship. That means every roster spot has to support the future core, not the past core.
And that leads to the more uncomfortable question that probably deserves more discussion.
Jim Nill has been an incredible caretaker of this franchise for over a decade. He stabilized the organization, drafted well, built depth, and kept the Stars consistently competitive. He deserves enormous credit for that.
But is he the decision-maker who can take Dallas from “good enough” to Stanley Cup champion?
That is not criticism. It is the reality every organization eventually faces. There is a difference between building a sustainable playoff team and making the ruthless decisions necessary to win the final four games of the season. Championship windows are short, brutal, and unforgiving. Sentiment cannot be part of the equation forever.
The Stars are close. But “close” is where teams can stay trapped for years.
Michael
The Pavelski comp is pretty good. The reason it falls a little short is that Pavelski still had the coach's eyes and ears and was given top line minutes until the end. Benn's presence has been slowly phased out (I believe he played a career low in icetime this year). I agree about the ruthless decisions, but I don't think one year of Benn is holding the team back. If it's his leadership, I can understand that. But Benn is arguably Dallas' second best left winger.
Michael I wholeheartedly agree with you. You are spot on about Dallas being wise on not using a roster spot on a person who may be entering a rapid decline. As you mentioned Pavelski looked very good until all of a sudden he wasn't. I think Benn has seen his best days and while I would like to see him retire as a Star I don't want him to hang around for a year or two too long. It seems like he already has and while I really like the team that Nill has assembled he seems to be fond and nostalgic of Jamie, and this may be what leads to this championship window slamming shut.
I'm a huge Jamie Benn fan, always have been. I like how he can bring the old school yet still gain respect from the younger guys. He is a leader, and the leader of this team. I like his media interviews and know he's laughing inside when he gives his one sentence, Marshawn Lynch-type, mumbling answers. Other teams respect that they are going to deal with his wrath if they go after our guys.
Leadership is hard to quantify sometimes, but the results of the team over the past few years have been great. Not what we wanted as far as getting a Stanley Cup, but about 30 other teams would love to be in our spot. Last year Jamie's performance was way below what we wanted, but then again, he came back from a punctured lung and a broken face. I'm not saying being the toughest guy out there warrants playing time, but he is the leadership heart and soul of this team. if you're at a game, watch the little things he does and how he interacts with teammates during the small moments that the cameras don't catch. I'm all for transitioning him out gracefully on the fourth line (I like that idea) - if he's healthy, he's going to help the offensive numbers. I wouldn't mind having a fourth liner that put up 30 points, let alone also leading by character. And for $1MM + bonuses, hell yeah.
I think Benn is smart enough to know when to call it quits for the sake of the team and is humble enough to even take a healthy scratch. I say let him help transition in another leader next year if he's willing to do the work and can contribute.
It wouldn't be the worst thing to bring him back for one more season, but at the same time, I hope he'll choose to retire.
I specifically watched Benn this season and noted the leadership he brings on the ice. He played a chunk of the season and playoffs with a concussion.
The trashing of Benn at the end of the season turns my stomach.
I had the privilege of watching him run practice this year and that was an eye opener. The list of players with serious injuries listed in the DMNews was insane. Insane that they played so well given the loss of key players and most of those on the roster with injuries.
I expect him back and also expect that he will train hard in the off season.
These are exceptional players but they are also human beings with families.
Get off their back and be appreciative that they had some great success this year given all of the serious injuries.
“Is Minnesota faltering right now because Jared Spurgeon is their captain, or are they faltering because” Gabriel Landeskog is captaining Colorado? I love this line of questioning because it’s not quantifiable in any meaningful way. (I haven’t actually finished reading yet, so hopefully I’m not—I was about to say, “arguing against your point,” but judging from the other comments, maybe that’s happening anyway 😅😂)
I guess I have no strong opinion on Benn, don’t revoke my fan club membership, y’all!
It's not a question of whether or not Benn is a cheap, serviceable 4th liner, because he is. It's a question of whether or not he's good enough as a player you *cannot scratch*.
He's been not just a liability, but an active detriment the last two postseasons, any other 4th liner would have been stapled to the press box multiple times if not permanently. But you can't do that to Benn/your captain.
Maybe if they reduced his ice time severely instead, but considering they haven't done that before (see: somehow being the extra skater when our season was on the line in Game 6), I'm not sure that's gonna happen. So either you hope and pray he's able to cleanup him game come playoff time, or you just rip the bandaid off now.
The constant loss of game ones thru different coaches in the play offs is not acceptable and the Captain needs to have them ready he is the constant factor . His penalties which get worse year on year are an issue , he is slower now and his puck distribution is also slow . He needs to retire since Nill is blinded by loyalty . Change is needed or we will be talking about another round one loss
This is what I wanted to say. If Benn wants to remain on the roster, he should find ways to be a net positive on the ice. Draw penalties, play like Perry and be a nuisance at the net front, or just play simple. But he's constantly putting the team in a bad spot at the most precarious moments. I hard disagree with David's post and with any Benn apologists because he's more than proven he doesn't deserve the C anymore.
I thought that the change to Rant as the Captain made sense after the Florida trip early in the season when Benn was hurt...which was about 20 games or so.
Rant looked awesome, scoring, assisting, leading, pounding opponents physically, etc...it was amazing to watch.
But I know we all have to worship Benn and media people especially can’t say that Benn should be replaced now as Captain, which would be detrimental politically for them.
Rant is THAT GUY if ever anyone was/is.
In a sane world Benn(and Seguin) would DEMAND Rant be made Captain, and support him in every way. That would endear them to the fans even more.
But we'll likely waste another season with Benn as Captain(and the culture not changing, no one on the team fears benn, he's actually shy and can't speak well).
The culture would change drastically with Rant as Captain...everyone fears Rant's anger because he's articulate and not afraid to speak up( ask Georgiev).
Anyway...the culture will NOT change under Benn...he'll just be less effective and take more stupid penalties next year...But we'll have an emotional ceremonial send-off for him and Seggy and that's what really matters.
You have to say that bringing back Benn is ok…i would do the same thing in your shoes, anyone would.
We don’t have as much free will as we like to think we do.
It all comes down to how he feels about another year. What does his crystal ball say?
To me the question is pretty simple. If Benn is a real 4th liner now, then you need to ask yourself, can the coach healthy scratch him? If the answer is no, then you let him go.
The coaching staff needs to be perfectly comfortable in scratching any 4th liner without creating chaos in the locker room or anywhere else.
Just like the Habs did with Gallagher this year and in the post season.
But Gulutzan is not Martin St-Louis.
Thanks for the article.