Sidney Crosby scored fewer points than Jamie Benn last season. So did Steven Stamkos, Alexander Ovechkin, and Patrick Kane. So did every single player in the NHL, for that matter. Thanks to a dramatic, cathartic four-point night against Nashville, our captain closed the 2014/2015 season as the NHL’s scoring champion. Along the way, the Art Ross Trophy Winner (and my goodness is that a fun sentence to type), demonstrated the Olympics/Playoff-fueled star turn of 2013/2014 was in no way a fluke, and that the Dallas Stars‘ captain truly is one of the NHL’s elite talents.
Looking back, it feels like Bennie flipped the switch to Beast Mode and just sort of left it there. He set career highs in goals (35), assists (52), and points (87). Those totals were good for 2nd, 1st, and 1st on the squad. The burly winger also led his squad in hits (120), was second in shots (217), and in selective duty won 52% of his faceoffs. Critically, Benn did so while suiting up in every single game this season.
Us nerds, furthermore, can laud his 57.49 CF% and 56.47 FF% as testament to his positive influence. We can also content ourselves with the fact his PDO 100.68 and shooting percentage (13.8% versus a career average of 12.5%) dispel any whiffs of luck or looming regression. Throw in the fact his Dude Perfect bro Tyler Seguin missed 11 games due to injury, and it’s very possible the league-leading lunatic we enjoyed this season is just ho-hum normal Jamie Benn.
Our little fifth round pick really has grown up. I think I need a minute to process everything.
Okay, I’m back.
It seems almost unfair, but despite his amazing season, Benn somehow managed to leave the impression there was more to accomplish. Yes, from the All-Star break on he was a big scary goal monster, but Jamie also managed to string together three fairly lengthy goal droughts. He went 11 games between goals on two separate occasions (Oct-Nov and Feb-Mar), and threw in another 9 game stretch in December for good measure.
At times, he also seemed to defer too much to Seguin as a shooter. Yes, it led to Seguin being one despicable hit away from true Rocket Richard contention, but it also produced long stretches of power play ineptitude. Somehow, the Stars managed to outscore all but the Tampa Bay Lightning, and still only ranked 12th in power play percentage. Jamie also continues to exhibit a fondness for stick-handling through traffic. It works a lot, but when it doesn’t, it isolates his linemates and gums up the works of an otherwise fluid offense.
He’s really good, though, so those are fairly minor complaints. Jamie Benn has consistently demonstrated the ability to get himself out of goal-scoring funks. He’s also a surprisingly astute playmaker. When the shots aren’t falling, he finds offense in other places. This is a huge deal in a league where team-defense can stifle one-dimensional goal-scorers.
In his time as a Dallas Star, every season has been irrefutably better than the one before on both an individual and team level. Yes, the Stars missed the playoffs, but they did so despite finishing with more wins and points than last season. The bottom line is that Dallas has a 25-year old, Art Ross-winning, Gold Medal-winning, All Star team captain. I guess it’s up to us to decide what kind of grade that’s worth.
What grade would you give Jamie Benn’s 2014/2015 Season?
| A | 902 |
| B | 31 |
| C | 3 |
| D | 0 |
| F – Defending Big D bears no responsibility for the consequences of an “F” vote. Jamie will find you! | 9 |