Glen Gulutzan Says Jamie Benn Is The Leanest He Has Seen Him After Changed Offseason

FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn has spent about the last month training at the team’s facility. On Wednesday, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said he told Benn it is the skinniest he has seen him. Training camp opens Thursday at Comerica Center.

Gulutzan said Benn changed the way he skated and practiced this summer.

“He’s trained like crazy this summer,” Gulutzan said. “He is actually really lean, and I saw him the other day. He’s been in here for basically the last month, so you see him in here training, and I said to him, ‘It’s probably the skinniest I’ve seen you.’ But yet his strength, and he feels good. He’s put in a lot of work.”

“And one of the things that you admire in your captain is that he did some things differently than he normally did,” Gulutzan continued. “He’s always trained hard and all that stuff, but just the way he’s went out and skated and practiced, I know he’s put an emphasis in a different area, so good for him.”

Benn turned 37 on July 18. He signed a one-year contract on July 3 that carries an $850,000 base salary and up to $1.15 million in performance bonuses. According to Pro Hockey Rumors, the bonuses pay $200,000 each at 10, 20, and 40 games played. They also pay $150,000 if Dallas makes the playoffs and $100,000 for each series win.

Last season Benn had 15 goals, 21 assists, and 36 points in 60 games, and he averaged 13:17 of ice time. He missed 20 games with an injury, according to the team. In the first-round loss to the Minnesota Wild, he did not have a point in six games.

All 17 of his NHL seasons have been with Dallas. The Stars took him in the fifth round, 129th overall, in 2007. He has 414 goals and 992 points in 1,252 regular-season games, and he needs 8 more points for 1,000.

Minnesota ended Dallas’ season on April 30. Gulutzan said the team can no longer run fitness testing, but the extra time off showed up in younger players like Wyatt Johnston, who had his longest summer since he was about 19.

“Just looking at it from that lens, and I’ve only got one training camp lens to look at it, but I do see it, and we can’t test anymore, but you can see it in some of your young players like Johnny,” Gulutzan explained. “For a summer of that length that he hasn’t had probably since he’s 19, it has a big effect for a guy that’s only in his mid-20s. He looks bigger and stronger.”

“Some of the older players had a little longer to train too,” Gulutzan continued. “I know, and I’m saying Dutchie. Dutchie looks fantastic. He looks in great shape, and they’ve just had that longer runway to kind of get their bodies back in, and hopefully we can take advantage of that. We had 50 wins last year. Can you take advantage of it through 84? No. But does it pay dividends in the big games? That’s what you hope.”

Matt Duchene had 16 goals, 29 assists, and 45 points in 57 games last season. He is 35 and signed a four-year contract with a $4.5 million cap hit in June 2025. Johnston turned 23 in May. He had 45 goals, 41 assists, and 86 points in 82 games.

The preseason opens Saturday, Sept. 19, at the St. Louis Blues, with puck drop at 6 p.m. CT. Dallas opens the regular season against St. Louis on Oct. 2 at American Airlines Center at 8 p.m. CT on TNT.