First Shift 🏒
Seguin’s injury hurts more than any other this season.
And yet…the Stars still have to go “next man up.”
When Seguin suffered an ACL injury on Tuesday at the New York Rangers, it was a kick to the gut in so many ways. One, the 33-year-old forward has dealt with several ailments in his career and rallied back from midseason hip surgery that kept him out for much of last year. Two, Seguin was playing fantastic hockey with 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists) and a plus-10 in 27 games. And three, Seguin is one of the most dynamic personalities on the Stars and was basically the de-facto captain while Benn missed the first 19 games.
“Not only the veteran leadership, but right away you could feel the impact on the ice,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “He’s plus-10 on the year, his faceoff percentage on the right side, now you’re missing that.”
Stars captain Benn stepped into the right wing spot on a line with Hintz and Robertson and tallied two assists Wednesday in a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. Benn has rarely played the right wing, but his performance was typical of this season.
“It’s been like that right from the first game. It’s crazy how many injuries we have had. A lot of guys stepping up, especially the D core,” Benn said. “Hopefully, things will change and we’ll stay healthy when everyone gets back. It’s a lot of mixing and matching with different lines and different positions, it’s just about going out there and getting the job done.”
Gulutzan said he will likely lean toward leaving Benn on the right side. The new head coach has been clear that he doesn’t feel the need to put players in traditional positions.
“It’s just my experience that with big men that have great hands and hockey IQ, they can play on either side,” Gulutzan said. “There’s some benefits to playing the right and with where he is, there’s almost more offense on the other side. I like him there and I have no plans to move him.”
While players like Sam Steel, Mavrik Bourque and Colin Blackwell could get extra minutes with Seguin out, the best possible replacement could be Duchene. The veteran center has been out since Oct. 18 with an upper-body injury. He has been “day to day” for about a month.
“I would say he’s progressing this week, maybe better than any other week that we’ve had,” Gulutzan said. “I’d still say it’s day-to-day for him, but if we can stack some good days upon each other, then I see it’s going to be sooner than later.”
In the meantime, Benn and his teammates will continue to press forward. When asked about getting to play with two pretty good linemates in Robertson and Hintz, Benn replied: “I’m pretty lucky. I get to play with 20 great players in here.”
