Doing his part: Jamie Benn finding ways to succeed amid chaotic 2025-26 season

As NHL superstars took the ice at the Olympics for the first time in a dozen years on Wednesday in Milan, it was hard not to reminisce on the past.

You probably watched Miracle to bask in the famous underdog story of America’s most recent Olympic gold medal. Maybe you spent some time dwelling on Sidney Crosby’s golden goal for Team Canada in 2010. You might have even re-watched T.J. Oshie (or T.J. Sochi, as you may recall) put on a heroic shootout performance against Team Russia in 2014 to get yourself hyped.

Or perhaps you thought about how weird it was to see Jamie Benn wearing no. 22.

When the NHL last participated in the best-on-best tournament in Sochi in 2014, the Dallas Stars sent three representatives. Rookie Valeri Nichushkin played for Team Russia, veteran goaltender Kari Lehtonen made two starts for Team Finland and first-year captain Benn donned the red maple leaf for Team Canada.

When the dust had settled, Lehtonen and Finland had secured a bronze medal while Benn and Canada won gold.

Good times and fond memories abounded.

“I’ve thought about it,” Benn said in regards to reminiscing on 2014. “It was a long time ago and it felt like it went by in the blink of an eye. But definitely a really cool experience.”

Benn had a sizable impact on Canada’s run to the top of the podium, scoring two goals (including the winning tally in a 1-0 victory vs. Team USA in the semifinals) and tallying 18 shots in six games. The 24-year-old was the fifth-youngest member of a star-studded roster overflowing with Hockey Hall of Fame shoo-ins that outscored opponents 17-3 throughout the tournament. It was just his third time representing Canada on the world stage, but the Stars captain delivered.

“It was fun and obviously an honor to represent your country,” Benn said. “Just to be around that group of guys and the best of the best in your country and around the world that you’re playing against. It was fun to learn from those guys, hang out with them and get to know them, and we’re still friends to this day.”

And while the Stars sent seven players representing four different countries to this year’s games, Benn will be cheering on both Canada and his Dallas teammates from afar.

But that’s not a bad thing, especially when you consider the wild season he has navigated up to this point.

It all started on September 23 in a preseason game against the Minnesota Wild when Benn suffered a collapsed lung during play. The sudden injury and surgery that followed caused Benn to miss the first 19 games of the regular season. It was Benn’s first time missing an opening night in his career.

“It’s been a little bit different for sure,” Benn said about the 2025-26 campaign. “Obviously, a collapsed lung in training camp doesn’t help you start your season off the right way. But you’re going to have those ups and downs in a season.”

It was an incredibly unusual change of pace for a player who has built a 17-year NHL career on durability. Benn had never missed more than 13 games in a season and had played in an impressive 929 of 945 games over the past dozen years since becoming captain. That’s a 98.3% attendance rate. Wedged into that was a stretch of 371 straight games from January 2021 to March 2025. It was an impressive run for a player who built his career on playing with a physical edge, which made his extended absence all the more unusual.

In his absence, however, the Stars put together a sturdy 12-4-3 record and provided Benn the runway to get back up to speed in his return.

“It’s just trying to find a groove when you are playing, and the team has been doing a great job this year of collecting points and winning hockey games,” Benn said.

So, what was it like for the captain to spend the first five weeks of the season as a spectator?

“It sucked,” Benn said with a laugh. “Obviously, you want to be out there battling with your teammates and competing every day. That wasn’t the case, but I got to step back during that time and be in a situation I’m not usually in.”

But the 36-year-old still viewed it as a positive learning experience.

“I got to experience something new and I think I learned a lot being out during that time,” Benn said. “Seeing what some guys go through gives you a different perspective on when guys get injured, what they’re going through and learning things that I can do in the future helping other guys out in those situations.”

That’s a good skill to have in your back pocket, especially as the longest-tenured captain in franchise history. It also comes in handy when Tyler Seguin, who has been a teammate of Benn’s for 13 seasons, is dealing with a long-term injury for the second straight season. After missing a little over four months following hip surgery last year, Seguin suffered an ACL injury on Dec. 2 against the New York Rangers. He had surgery on Dec. 16 and his status for the rest of the season will be clarified following a post-Olympic evaluation.

Considering the Stars had played just six games in the previous 13 seasons without both Benn and Seguin in the lineup, this year has been particularly unique for the “Benneguin.”

“It’s been tough,” Benn said about watching his longtime teammate’s injury battles. “Such a tough injury this year to see him go down like that after last year and seeing how hard he worked to get back into the lineup. He finally had a good summer to work out and train, and to go down again is obviously disappointing.

“We’ve played a lot of hockey together in our time here. It sucks and it’s tough, but he’s in the situation again where he’s grinding every day [to get healthy]. We just had him on the road, so that was fun. Having him around the guys brings a spark.”

The same can be said about the captain. Benn’s most recent return to the lineup after a three-game absence (facial injury) has provided a resurgence for the Stars, most notably in the season-long six-game win streak that propelled the team into the break.

Meanwhile, the captain entered the pause on a four-game point streak with two goals and six assists after going pointless in the previous 12 contests. He seems to have found chemistry with fellow veteran Matt Duchene after moving around the lineup for much of the first half of the season.

And though he has spent a large chunk of his career next to either Seguin or Wyatt Johnston, Benn has spent much of this season moving around the lineup. He’s found success from line to line, posting nine goals and 22 points along with a plus-10 rating in 35 games. 20 of those points have come at even strength, and he’s doing so with an average time on ice of 12:32, roughly three minutes lower than the past three seasons.

But Benn seems to be enjoying the challenge.

“It’s always fun playing with new guys,” Benn added. “In the end, it’s doing whatever you have to do to make this team better. For me, wherever Gully slides me in, I’m totally fine with it.”

So where does that leave the 36-year-old captain as the Olympic break continues? He scored his 400^th goal back in November, sits 22 points away from 1,000 in his career and remains securely second in games played, goals, points and game-winning goals in the franchise record books.

And though it’s been an uncharacteristic season with scary injuries and new roles and responsibilities all while on a one-year deal, Benn’s focus and demeanor remain firmly unchanged.

“Just trying to do my part for this team,” he said with a smile.

So far, so good.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Josh Clark is a writer for DallasStars.com. Follow him on X @Josh_Clark02.