Following a disappointing ending for the Dallas Stars on Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild, there's one giant elephant in the room that fans have noticed for a while, and it will no doubt become a topic of conversation this offseason.
Jamie Benn was the heir apparent to Mike Modano, arguably the greatest to ever suit up in a Dallas Stars uniform, and one of the best American goal scorers of all time. Benn, who surpassed the 400-goal milestone earlier this year, has officially cemented his status as a Dallas sports legend, but all great stories must come to an end.
Benn isn't the same player he was back in 2015 when he won the Art Ross Trophy, and today, he's more of a facilitator and an enforcer than a goal scorer. Some of his latest playoff experiences have hurt more than helped, and it's time for the Stars to have a tough conversation with him, with the 36-year-old captain becoming an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Stars captain Jamie Benn may have played his last game for Dallas
The playoffs have been more of a reality check for Benn than anything else, as fans have grown tired of his antics hurting the team.
Benn's cross-check on Ryan Hartman deserved a suspension, if we're calling it as we should, but he still got sent to the penalty box in one of the most boneheaded moves of the entire series. Fans immediately flashed back three years ago to the Western Conference Finals, when Benn delivered a similar hit to Mark Stone, the captain of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Benn was ejected and later suspended for two games for his actions. But it's not just the penalties. The Stars' captain has been highly ineffective in the playoffs, as Benn did not record a single point in the first-round series against Minnesota.
Stars fans know how hard a conversation this is, but it needs to happen. All they ever wanted to do was win a Stanley Cup with Benn, but it's never worked. The Stars got close in the 2020 COVID season, but they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.
This was the first season the Stars didn't make the Western Conference Final since 2022, and while fans will claim the NHL's bogus playoff format is a joke (which it is), there's a lot more to it than that.
If Game 6 was Benn's last, hats off to a legendary career, picking up the torch immediately from Modano. But either way, Stars fans are starting to concede to a harsh reality, and they aren't crazy for doing so.
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