The Last Dance: Jamie Benn’s Farewell Season in Dallas?

The Last Dance: Jamie Benn’s Farewell Season in Dallas?

He’s worn the sea for over a decade in Dallas, led them through some of the most troubling times in franchise history. His jersey will no doubt hang in the American Airlines Center one day. But the inevitable end is near. One more season, a final chapter. Is this the last dance for Jamie Ben? Your Locked On Stars, your daily podcast on the Dallas Stars, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Howdy Stars fans. I’m Joey Ericson, former producer 105 through the fan. Please be sure to subscribe. We are freaking available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. And as always, thank you so much for making us a part of your day and making us your first listen. Welcome to a Wednesday edition of Locked On Stars, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. your team every single day. And today we’re going to discuss the potential of this being the last dance for Jamie Ben with the Dallas Stars. Could 202526 be the final season for Ben in victory green? One of the best Dallas stars of all time. But he has one thing that is missing from his resume. A Stanley Cup. No doubt. Will his jersey hang in the AAC one day? But can he grab that illustrious Stanley Cup to add to his resume with the other greats in the franchise’s history? The Mike Madanos, the Sergey Zubs. Can Jaime Ben finally capture hockeyy’s ultimate glory? We’re going to talk about some of his career milestones and the digital legacy of Jaime Ben as well. And of course, I’m not here to say that this is going to be the last season for Jamie Ben, but after what we saw from the captain in the Stanley Cup playoffs, I think a lot of Stars fans, including myself, felt like it was maybe time to move on. But he signed a one-year deal worth $1 million with potential of $3 million to acquire via bonuses for this upcoming season. And this really could be the last season for Jamie Ben in Dallas. He’s 36 years of age now and the decline is certainly showing. Remember a couple of years ago he had that renaissance, right? We were calling it the Renaissance when he had 78 points in 82 games. He had 33 goals in 2022 23. He had 21 goals in 2324. that dropped to 16 this past season. He had 49 points. He declined from 78 points in 2223 to 60 and then to 49 points this past season. And look, he’s hands down going to go down as one of the best Dallas stars in franchise history. Talked about some of these numbers when we were going through our season grades. The least amount of power play goals in his career. I brought this statistic up a lot because it’s still just mindboggling to me. One power play goal this past season. Third least amount of shots on goal in his career as well. 136. And what is his role going to look like next season in Dallas? I think that’s one of the biggest questions going into this season when we look at the Dallas Stars. Is he going to have the opportunity to play alongside Wyatt Johnston in Maverick Bour? Does he get relegated to the fourth line, a checking role? He made that joke with Wayne Gretzky at the end of the series against Winnipeg, how he’s just basically turned into a fourthline checker. And we saw that in the amount of time on ice he was getting. this past season was the third least amount average time on ice in his career, 15 minutes and 18 seconds. To be fair, the Stars have been loaded recently with depth. So, they were asking some of their players to play less and that was sort of the philosophy with Pete Dbor. If this was another coaching staff, another head coach, maybe Jaime would play a tad bit more. But the Stars did have a lot of young talent, the influx of youth and speed that they were able to take some minutes and take some of the load off of Jamie Ben. But the playoffs is what was really concerning. 13 minutes and 6 seconds was his average time on ice, the least of his career. And that goes back to uh 2019, 2018, 2013, right? He was playing over 21 minutes in that postseason in 2013, 2014 when he was just a young buck. only 13 minutes, just over 13 minutes. He had three points in 18 games. The one goal is that power play goal against Colorado in game three on the road and he was a minus 11. We talked about and documented his struggles with staying out of the penalty box. He took a lot of unnecessary penalties in the Stanley Cup playoffs as well. Fortunately, not a ton of those came back to haunt the stars in his team. But what is his role going to look like in Dallas next season? It’s one of the more fascinating conversations because I think he’s going to get the opportunity to play with maybe Matt Duchain or Wyatt Johnston right off the hop. Who knows what Glenn Gooson thinks about the roster and how he’s going to set up the line combinations for this upcoming season. That’s where we’re going to get a good idea of his philosophy and where the lines are going to be in training camp here in a few months because right now Jaime Ben is your second best left winger. You could maybe say third behind Sam Steel if you wanted to argue that. Uh Oscar Beck, Ben Steel, and Robertson is your group of left wings for this upcoming season in Dallas. Again, not a lot to jump up and down about there. And more than likely Beck or Steel’s going to have to get relegated to be a left winger just because Foxa who was signed in the offseason will be your fourth line center. Sam Steel does he get the opportunity to move up play that third line center role if Wyatt Johnston is moved up to play with Hen Ranton. Maybe he’s moved up to play with Henon Robo. Maybe Ranton and drops to play with Duchain and Ben and then Sean and so far so far. uh or so long so forth is the expression I I was going for there. It just feels like Jaime Ben is going to hover anywhere around I think 14 and a half minutes a night. Maybe 15 is sort of where he’s going to live. I think it’s going to be closer to 14 for this upcoming season. And now it’s the inevitable decline of of Jamie Ben. We’ve we’ve seen that now for the last three years. And you have to give credit to Jamie as well. He wants to be in Dallas. He wants to finish his career in the Lone Star State. And I think he’s going to adapt and play whatever role they ask him to be, but he also needs to play in a role that’s going to to suit him. Man, we’ve had this discussion a bit over the summer and when we were sort of recapping the Stanley Cup playoffs, is Jamie benefiting the team playing in a fourthline role because that’s just not him, but he’s going to have to be that player. He’s going to have to be a guy that maybe plays 13 and a half to 15 minutes a night. He’s heavy on the forch check and he plays that physical style of game. Now the concern is with age with the loss of speed, the loss of that first step, it’s hard to be physical and play that game night in and night out for 82 games. And if if there’s one thing you can’t knock on Jamie Ben, it’s his ability to just be available. um late in his career. He has been in Dallas and for the most part he’s played he played 80 games this last year. He played 82 in the three previous seasons. Like so he he’s been available and he had 52 in the year where they played what was it 54? I can’t remember. Uh it was a weird COVID season and whatnot. It wasn’t the the the full 82 slate. So if there’s one thing he can’t knock he’s he’s been available. He’s gonna play anywhere from 70 to 80 games in Dallas. I also don’t think it would hurt for Gulletson and the staff to give Jamie and Tyler Tyler I think needs to be lumped into this conversation as well. They need five to 10 games off this next season. They need 5 to 10 games off and they’re going to get a nice break with the Olympics, but maybe you give them two to three games off before the Olympics. maybe give them two to three games off after the Olympics just to keep them more fresh for the Stanley Cup playoffs. And you need that experience. You need their leadership, but you need them to be fresh and be able to benefit and be productive for Dallas as well come Stanley Cup playoff time. And if his role is going to be diminished to just this fourth line checking, well, have him at his best. Make sure he’s at his best playing in those spots. And it’s important for Dallas to realize he doesn’t need to play all 82. Tyler Sean as well, of course, with the amount of injuries he’s had recently. No reason that they need to play all 82. It’s great that they’re there and they’re available. But if Dallas can influx some of that youth, throw some guys in the lineup here on certain nights just to give them a break, I think it’ll benefit Jamie a as well because this may be the last two raw and Sean of course will be under contract for the next two years. So 2026 27 this is sort of the end of an era. It’s it’s kind of felt like that already with this young core and now we’re kind of ushering in this like this is Mo Ranton in in company now um in rope hints going forward and Ben is just kind of the the the last piece hanging on a thread right of this this era from the early 2010s that Jamie has carried them in and he’s been incredible but what is his role going to be can he be still effective as a leader playing in these certain roles maybe not playing heavy minutes, maybe not getting power play time. That’s a uh a a possibility that he doesn’t get some of those opportunities like he did in his past. And um it it’s just going to be really really intriguing to see how Gooson sees his captain. Seemed to have a great relationship. I know Golden Conference he’s talked to Jamie ever since he left um a long time ago. of course they ran into each other or Jamie had him as this coach with the Texas Stars when he was um in the AHL for a cup of coffee. So um the final year a one-year contract. Is he going to get another one? I don’t know. And that’s why I feel like this really has the potential to be one last season for Jamie Ben in Victory Green with a chance to hopefully bring the Stanley Cup back to the Lone Star State. Let’s touch on some of the career milestones, just some of the uh numbers he’s put up while being a Dallas star as well. We’ll do that in just a moment. Today’s episode of Locked On Stars is brought to you by Game Time. We’ve all been there, logging on early, waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale, only to lose your spot for a show you’ve been dying to see. 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NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Crane account redeem code LLC edl for $20 off. Download the game time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Jamie Ben has hit a lot of career milestones during his time with the Dallas Stars and he will certainly hit another next season. We thought he scored his 400th career goal a couple of times last year, but he had some bad luck. I think it was a couple of offside um decisions that overruled both of his goals, which would have been his 400th career goal. ly sitting on 400 or sitting on 399 career goals, excuse me, has a potential to get to a,000 points. I think he has a great shot. He’s he’s 44 away from hitting that. Um, as long as he doesn’t drop off a huge cliff. I think he can pencil Ben in for about 40 points ne next season. So, uh, 45 may be a bit of a stretch again depending on what his limited role or what his role in general is going to be with the Stars next season. But, as I said, I think he’s going to get an opportunity to play with Johnston. He’s going to play with Duchain, maybe some uh maybe some minutes with with Sean. So, he’s gonna have some opportunities to to rack up some production early. That’s just my my feeling on on the matter in terms of Ben. So, a,000 points is certainly not out of uh the realm. We’ll be entering his 17th season with the Dallas Stars as well. He’ll hit over,200 games this next season as well. He’s at 1,192. Of course, he won that Art Ross back in 2014 2016. just remarkable that he won it with under 100 points. Under 90 points. Oh man, those were the days in the NHL. 87 points. Of course, he had the four-point night um against Nashville at the American Airlines Center in the final uh game of the regular season. I actually happened to to be at that game uh when he clinched the Art Ross over John Tiveres, who was uh with the New York Islanders at the time. Um the following season after that, so he actually he finished with 89 points. He didn’t win the art Ross but had 40 goals. What a year that was in 2015 2016. That was the fly highf flying stars. He was playing 20 minutes a night. Actually finished third in the hearts trophy. Did not realize that. Third in the heart trophy race. Really remarkable stuff behind Sydney Crosby and Patrick Kaine. Um yeah, he finished third and he got 637 votes. He got eight first place votes. Crosby had 11. Kane hadund and uh and 21. So, um that that’s pretty pretty remarkable there. You know, Patrick Kane had 106 points um that that season. Ben had 89. He actually had more than than Sydney Crosby um that year. Crosby had 85 points. Um and Crosby may have not played the full 82 that year as well. I think that was during a stretch where he’s having some concussion issues. He had his fair share of injuries um as well, but um I found that a bit uh a bit crazy as well. Just looking back, you you forget about some of these things that he finished third um in the heart trophy that year in 2015 2016. Of course, he’s a a twotime allstar. He’s been one of the best goal scorers past regulation in Dallas history. He leads the Stars with 12 overtime goals in his career. Um that is the most Tyler Sean’s behind him uh with 10. So uh we’ll see who ends up finishing at the the top uh of that list by the end of both of their careers. and he’s he’s led Dallas from, you know, bankruptcy and really troubling times in the organization’s history and some disappointing playoff runs as well. I mean, the whatifs. Think back to 2019. The what if Jaime Ben in overtime was able to solve Bennington on that wraparound where the puck was halfway over the red line, over the goal line. What if that would end and the Stars get to the Western Conference final? Do they puncture through? Would have been tough. Certainly would have been tough. But what a run that would be. That was a playoff run that is just etched in my memory. I was in college. I remember John Clingberg scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime against Nashville that season. It just felt like everything was rolling. Zukerello was on the Stars for a cup of coffee. What a run that was. What if there What if the Stars didn’t go down three nothing to Vegas a couple of years ago? What if they won that game three where they were up or was it game two, excuse me, game two where they were up three to2 or whatever it was, two to one. Sudter made the turnover. Those are the things that run through my head when you think of Ben. And of course, you have that everlasting memory in the bubble cup. Jamie Ben in the locker room after coming so close. I know in hindsight they were down 3-1 in that series. They wanted overtime in game five to force to game six, but to come that close and still and that really I mean the prime of of their careers, right? He was 30 years of age and and Sean was was 28 at the time. Crazy to think that was six years ago now or or five years uh ago when they were taking on Tampa Bay who was a bit of a juggernaut and the Stars could not solve Andre Vaselki and Hud Dobin was just standing on his head. But those are the things that flashback when you look at Jamie Ben’s career. Um he’s going to go down certainly as as one of the best Dallas stars in history. I’m I’m sure some of this may lead into my conversation about the legacy of of Jaime Ben, but I’ll throw it out there. I feel when Jaime Ben I feel like when Jaime Ben retires, whenever that is, maybe it’s two years from now, who knows? eventually when it happens, let’s just say the Stars do not win a Stanley Cup, he’s he’s going to be looked down upon, I think there’s there’s going to be a lot of negativity that surrounds him and what his career was in Dallas because he didn’t win a Stanley Cup and he was paid all this money and yada yada yada. He’s uh he’s always going to have that baggage sort of, but in 15 years and 20 years, he he’s going to be beloved. And eventually when they do hang his rafter, hang his jersey like, and I know some are going to say he doesn’t deserve to have his his jersey in the Raptors. Uh miss me with that. Um he going to play the second most games in franchise history. He uh has the most overtime goals. He’s going to finish second in franchise history in terms of goals only behind Mike Madano. Pretty much everybody behind Mike Madano. Ben’s going to finish potentially third after this season or second um in most assists in his career. He’s going to finish second in points only behind Mike Madano. He’s um going to he’s going to finish uh fourth in terms of power play goals in franchise history. like a lot of these like uh just really important just records statistics in the Stars franch like you can’t not put his name in like he is a part of the story of this franchise especially in Dallas but in 15 years after some of that’s worn off you get some time just chew on his career he’ll be he’ll be looked upon as I think potentially the third best Dallas Star maybe second. Um Madonna’s going to be first. Um I think you put Zubov in there. Letin if you want he won a Stanley Cup. Like um there’s always going to be the Stanley Cup winners that get revered of course. But in terms of what he did potentially playing his entire career with the Dallas Stars as well, like over,200 games. That’s pretty rare. Um and this sort of will continue in my next conversation. What is going to be the legacy of Jamie Ben? Would love to hear your answers in the comments below. I’ll uh dig into some more of those stats and uh what his potential legacy will be here um in uh in DFW in just a moment. Wanted to throw this nugget at you as well. I just uh looked up uh online players that played at least more than 1,200 games with one team and in their career. The the most ever was Nicholas Litstrom who played 20 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings,564 games. But if you look at that list of over 1,200 games with uh uh one uh one franchise, Patrick Elage with New Jersey, Henry Rashard back in the uh7s, you have Ken Dako, uh Patrice Berseron, Dustin Brown with the Kings, you have the Sadine Twins, Joe Sack, Steve Eisermanman, Shane Don with the Coyotes, Alex Develio um with the Red Wings from 50 to 74. He played 1549, so just a couple uh games less, about a dozen less um than Nick Lststrom. And uh Jamie Ben is going to to join that that company whether he plays this next season or he retires in a couple years. Like he he will go down as one of the few guys to play over,200 games with with one franchise. and he mentions it every time a new season comes to an end or or a season passes like he wants to be here. Nil mentioned Jim Nil he was going to be a part of the Stars as long as he was the GM here and they found a way to make it work and um you can think what you want about him returning to Dallas, but it’s it’s a fine deal. a million dollars. Like that’s that’s uh that’s that’s worth it to keep your your your franchise player around. You keep your captain, but it feels like this is going to be the passing of the church. And I I really am fascinated to hear what y’all will think or y’all will say about Ben. Um, I I just I I think he’s going to be universally loved like like 10 years down the line, but there’s going to be the oh well, he didn’t win a cup, so he means nothing type of of discussion. I feel like we’ll get a little bit of that um in, you know, the two to three years following um his career. there there’s always going to be pessimists uh of course but man I mean just myself I mean I’m I’m 25 right like my prime years of watching hockey like we’re with Jamie Ben as as the the gentle giant that could stick handle and had the puck on his string with the best of them and he could just throw a defenseman eight rows deep and um like scored some big time goals um and had some really good playoff runs uh as well. That 2020 Cup run, he had 19 points and eight goals in 27 games. Like some some monster monster playoff runs when they went to the cup that one year had some really strong playoff performances. I think it gets lost um just because of the failures of the team at 15 points in 13 games, 15 points in 19 games, 10 points in 13 games. um uh he has 80 points in 120 playoff games and 20 um eight goals. I feel like he always played his best when when the Stars got to the Stanley Cup. Um and he’ll just be I I think he’ll be that guy that was didn’t say a whole lot but led with his presence. He was an intimidating factor. Uh not afraid to mix it up. Would have liked to see that some more this last season. that kind of vintage Jamie Ben. And I think that’s where this conversation all really sort of stems from and why we’re even talking about this potential last dance because we didn’t see that this past year. We didn’t see that intimidation factor. Uh we didn’t see the playoffs bring out the best of Jamie Van and it’s hard not to it’s hard not to think he’s lost it to some degree. Maybe he’s just lost his edge and and maybe there was something else. Maybe he was playing with a bit of an injury. Maybe there’s something uh that was out of his control. We do not know about. But just looking at the numbers and some of the offensive output that’s declined and then just missing the edge. if he finished with three points this last playoffs, but he played with that that Jaime Ben mentality. I I don’t I don’t think we’re having as as big of a conversion about this, but we just didn’t see that guy that was intimidating others, sticking up for teammates, and maybe because he was potentially a bit lost just because of the role he he was playing. And that’s fair. I I can imagine as an athlete like himself that I I I I I would assume looks at himself like he is the guy. He is supposed to lead the stars and for years he’s done that. And then you you sort of go through these emotions and realization on the bench in game five, the Western Conference final. I I I can’t help the team like I once used to. I I I I I wasn’t ready to be in this role. I expected that maybe a year from now or maybe a couple years down the road. I’m sure that’s uh I’m sure that’s really humbling to some degree. I I don’t know the exact word, but uh may maybe I’m losing y’all on some of this uh on this this little tangent, but I think there is some of that like, oh, I I can’t help the team like I used to and you’re almost on the bench like in a bubble, like I feel like a shell of myself. And um again, it’s it’s one playoff run. May maybe it’s it’s different for for next season, but um uh and it’s not like all things were bad. I mentioned too like to be fair his expected goals if you look at some of the he was second on the stars at expected goals at five on five behind Miko Rantin and that’s with him having some issues. He was in the box quite a bit. He was taking some some some uh some penalties but he was he um he was in the mix a little bit. Maybe he just was unlucky. So um uh but Jamie Bin will will go down I mean easily top three style star in franchise history whether you know put Jamie you can put Madano ahead of him um Zubav letin whoever but I think Dallas stars like he’ll be top three easily um and and maybe he’s he’s second behind uh behind Mo and he’s going to finish in a lot of categories behind Mo um in his career. as well. But, um, some good good stuff there. Um, wow. Um, sorry, I just saw this on on on Twitter. This is not even Dallas Stars related, but I think um maybe a good comparison. Maybe not. Uh, but Josh Hamilton, he’s um he’s going to be um inducted into Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. Uh, that’s cool. That’s really cool. Um, oh, I I I just I get even a little emotional just thinking about Josh Hamilton. Uh, anyways, this is a Stars podcast, but I just saw that pop up. I’m like, Josh Hamilton, August 9th. That’s awesome. He’s going to be inducted in the Rangers Hall of Fame. Elvis Andrews did just recently as well. But enough of that. That’s a Stars podcast. Um, Dallas Stars Hall of Fame though, Joe Newandike, Ralph Strangest this upcoming season, class of 2025. Um, to kind of bring it full circle. But thank you as always for the love and support on each and every episode here of Locked On Stars. I apologize for some of the inconsistencies recently. We’re getting it back on track. I I I promise getting it back on and we’re going to uh start hitting you with some content. Have some fun. Um going to have a crossover episode out with uh Seth Tupal locked on Wild. I always love to catch up with him in the off season. Uh we plan to record um today uh when this is out on a Wednesday. So look out for that on either Thursday or Friday. That will be a fun one. I think we’re going to have some cool conversations or cool topics to discuss just because Robertson kind of is in the works for a new contract. So is Capriov and they’re kind of interlink. So I’m sure he’s going to have some interesting takes in the uh two central division rivals of course. But have a great rest of your day, Star Sands. We’ll see you tomorrow. So long.

On today’s episode of Locked On Stars, Joey Erickson goes through the career of Stars Captain Jamie Benn and what could be his final season in the Lone Star State. We look at the implications of Jamie Benn’s one year deal and how his role has changed over the past few seasons especially after the latest playoff run. Where does he fit in the lineup and what are reasonable expectations? Joey also touches on some of his career milestones and accomplishments in Victory Green and where he ranks among the best in franchise history and the legacy he will leave.

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