Benn still ‘putting in the work,’ chasing Stanley Cup with Stars

CHICAGO -- Jamie Benn is feeling great these days, the Dallas Stars captain smiling ear to ear eight games into his 18th NHL season.

But he hopes this one ends better than last, which ended after one round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

“I put in some good work this summer, changed a few things, and obviously the way we ended last year was not up to our standards,” Benn said. “It motivated a lot of us in the summer to be better. With a few tweaks and changes to this year to our system and how we play, we feel we’re in a good spot.”

Dallas is certainly in a good spot, once again expected to be among the Central Division’s best. So is Benn, who is six points shy of 1,000 in his NHL career, all with the Stars, who selected him in the fifth round (No. 129) of the 2007 NHL Draft.

Benn has 994 points (415 goals, 579 assists) in 1,260 games since the 37-year-old forward entered the League in 2009, including two (one goal, one assist) this season. The Stars host the Boston Bruins at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN+).

The 37-year-old, who’s played his whole career with the Stars and has been their captain since the start of the 2013-14 season, has 994 points (415 goals, 579 assists) in 1,260 games.

“How many are we a part of together?” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said with a laugh.

Benn and Seguin have been friends and teammates in Dallas since 2013, when it acquired Seguin from the Boston Bruins.

“It’ll be pretty sweet to see when it happens,” Seguin said of Benn’s 1,000-point milestone. “I think if you ask him, he’s not going to say much about it. But just being able to be a part of a lot of his career and seeing things he’s gone through, it’s going to be a pretty cool moment.”

But it’s not about individual milestones for Benn; it’s about the Stanley Cup championship that has eluded him thus far. The closest he’s come was in 2019-20, when the Stars advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in the COVID-19 bubble in Edmonton but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. They were eliminated by the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference First Round last season in six games.

It’s why he’s changed his workout routine and lost weight to keep pace with the younger, faster NHL players. He’s also made sacrifices financially.

Benn has been on a one-year contract in each of the past two seasons, for $1 million in 2025-26 and $850,000 this season. Stars general manager Jim Nill said he’s sat with Benn at the end of the past two seasons to see where he is mentally and physically.

“We have the good talk, and he comes back about a month later and says, ‘No, I want to come back,’” Nill said. “We’re in a (salary) cap situation. He understands he was paid very well, but he wants to win, so he’s willing to sacrifice the salary part for the ability to give us more options to sign players. He’s been a good teammate that way.

“He’s a little bit of a unicorn in today’s game. There aren’t many of those power forward guys left, and he’s brought a lot to this franchise on the ice with his physicality and scoring ability. What he brings off the ice, too, is so important. He’s the leader of the team. He directs the team and he’s done a great job.”

Glen Gulutzan, who’s in his second stint as Stars coach (2011-13) views Benn being a good teammate in other ways.

“For me, the biggest thing with Jamie is just why he does what he does,” said Gulutzan, who was hired as coach again on July 1, 2025. “He’s the ultimate competitor. He just wants to win and he’s here just to win, whether he plays 10 minutes, 20 minutes, power play, no power play.

“He just wants to win. That’s the mark of a great leader. Seeing him young and seeing him older … as an older coach, you’re proud of a guy like that. He’s really matured into a good human.”

As happy as Benn is on the ice, he’s doubly so at home. His son, Knox Jay, was born April 3, 2025. Fatherhood has brought levity.

“This is Year 2 with the little guy,” Benn said. “It’s fun coming home and just checking out mentally from hockey, to come home and be a good father and a good husband. My wife (Jessica), she’s the champion. She does most of the work. She makes my life pretty easy.

“(Being a father) is the best. Obviously, they don’t know -- win or lose, they’re always super happy. It’s a lot of fun coming home to a happy kid who just loves you, and vice versa. Time off, there’s no laying on the couch. It’s mini hockey, it’s baseball, it’s anything that keeps you on your feet.”

Benn will have more time with his family soon enough. For now, he knows he must relish every moment, unaware how much longer his playing days will last.

“When you’re younger, you just enjoy playing the game, and then the older you get the more you appreciate the game,” he said. “You can’t play this game forever. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve really enjoyed coming to the rink every day and putting in the work and having a lot of fun with these guys.”