Dallas stars owner calls out star players jamie benn and tyler seguin

The Dallas Stars have had a tough couple of years, from making the Stanley Cup Finals in the 2019-2020 season and losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning, to missing playoffs in the 2020-2021 season, to being knocked out in the first round in the 2021-2022 season. The Stars certainly are struggling to find their game, and the Dallas Stars owner Thomas Gaglardi has had enough.

Gaglardi put much of the responsibility and blame on the Stars two star players, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Thomas Gaglardi recently spoke to TheAthletic, and said this:

I think those guys signed those contracts and they’ve got to find a way to deliver that kind of value… If they don’t, it hampers the team. That’s the reality of it. They know that.
Dallas stars owner thomas gaglardi

Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are by far the highest earning players on the team, and Gaglardi is not happy with their output. Tyler Seguin has a contract with a $9.85M cap hit [per CapFriendly] for 4 more seasons before he becomes a UFA. This past regular season, Seguin had 24 goals and 25 assists in 81 games played. In playoff, Seguin picked up 4 points in 7 games. From the 2013-2014 season to the 2018-2019 season, Seguin had a 70+ point season every season, but since then his highest total has been 50 points in a season. He has faced his fair share of injuries, only playing 3 games in the 2020-2021 season. This past season, his on ice goal differential was +5, with the best player on the Stars being +52. [Data per MoneyPuck]

Jamie Benn has a contract with a $9.5M cap hit [per CapFriendly] for 3 more season before he becomes a UFA. This past regular season, Benn scored only 18 goals and had 28 assists for a total of 46 points in 82 games played. In the playoff, he only picked up 2 points in 7 games played. The 33 year old winger has struggled more than Seguin has in the past couple of years, picking up 35 points in 52 games in the 2020-2021 season, and 39 points in 69 games in the 2019-2020 season. His on ice goal differential was -6 this past season, with his goals above shooting talent being -7.3, and many other stats being middle of the pack compared to other Dallas Stars players. If you want to see all the in depth stats, look here. [MoneyPuck]

Gaglardi continued to speak about his disappointment in the offensive end of the ice, and how he hopes the change in coaches can spark something:

You just hope that a little change at the top, a different voice, some tweaks and we can fix some of our structural problems, mostly on the offensive side of the puck. I think we’re close.
dallas stars owner thomas gaglardi

It’s obvious Gaglardi wants to see more offensive production, only 3 players on the team had over 50 points last season, which are Roope Hintz (72), Jason Robertson(79), and Joe Pavelski(81). When your paying 2 forwards $9M+ each, you probably expect at least one of them to be in your top 3 point getters, but don’t tell that to the Buffalo Sabres owner. Most Playoff teams averaged 5+ 50 point scorers, and this explains why the Stars were ranked 21st in the league in goals for.

Gaglardi also spoke about his expectations for new coach Pete DeBoer:

There are a bunch of analytics I don’t like. A bunch. His job is to fix the offensive analytics and not give up our identity. That’s his job. That’s what he’ll do.
Dallas stars owner thomas gaglardi

Seems like Gaglardi is a big analytics guy, and certainly doesn’t like what he sees. The Dallas Stars were 21st in the league in Goals For Per 60min in the 2021-2022 season. The Stars goal differential was -11, but their expected goal differential was 31.14. They scored 20 less goals than what is expected based on quality of chances that they create. This dats shows that the Stars are creating offense, 12th best expected goals for in the league, but they aren’t finish those chances, being 21st in the league in Goals For. [Data via MoneyPuck]

This isn’t the first time the Stars duo has been called out, back in 2018 the Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites said this: