Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin were regularly among the NHLB次元官网网址檚 top scorers when they first started playing together in Dallas a decade ago.

Now 30-something forwards, captain Benn and six-time All-Star Seguin are far removed from skating together on the top line, or even leading the Stars in scoring while having the two biggest contracts on the roster. Their roles have changed and they have played a little less this season on different lines, but that plan has certainly worked out well for the players B次元官网网址� and the team that is in the .

B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檝e seen the effect of it with the season weB次元官网网址檝e had, directly on our standings, directly on our scoring, directly on the consistency of their seasons,B次元官网网址� first-year Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Wednesday. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not a passive stand-around team, so youB次元官网网址檙e expending a lot of energy to play the way we want to play. And I think thatB次元官网网址檚 benefited our team game too, because they have that energy to do that.B次元官网网址�

Benn again played all 82 regular-season games, with 33 goals and 78 points for his best totals since 2017-18, even with an average ice time of 15:47 that was his lowest since his 2009-10 rookie season. He had 18 goals and 28 assists playing the same number a games and nearly a minute more per game last season.

B次元官网网址淲e sat down at the start of the year when he got hired, and I got to talk about individual players, myself and then obviously our group as a whole,B次元官网网址� Benn said. B次元官网网址淵ou know what he wanted to bring here and change a little bit, and heB次元官网网址檚 done a great job so far.B次元官网网址�

Seguin played more than a minute less a game than last season, also his fewest since being a rookie, and had 50 points (21 goals) in 76 games. He is the only player on the StarsB次元官网网址� roster to win a Stanley Cup, but that was as a 19-year-old with Boston in 2011, only a year after he was the second overall draft pick. The Bruins traded him to Dallas on July 4, 2013.

Game 1 of the West final against the Golden Knights is Friday night in Las Vegas. It is the second time in four seasons for these teams to meet in a conference final, though DeBoer was on the other bench in 2020 when the Stars won in five games in the NHLB次元官网网址檚 bubble in Canada. Tampa Bay then took the Stanley Cup in six games.

Seguin was playing with a torn labrum in his hip when the Stars made that Stanley Cup Final, their first in 20 years. After hip surgery and an arthroscopic procedure on his knee, there was a grueling rehab that kept him out for all but three games at the end of the 2020-21 season and made him change how he played.

But when Joe Pavelski went into concussion protocol and missed five games in the first round last month, it was Seguin who moved up to the top line with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz B次元官网网址� a pair of high-scoring young stars like Seguin and Benn in the past. Seguin had four power-play goals against Minnesota and initially stayed on the top line after Pavelski returned for the second round against Seattle that the .

B次元官网网址淵ou get slotted where youB次元官网网址檙e slotted and you just want to contribute as much as you can, whether itB次元官网网址檚 first PP (power play), no PP, first line, fourth line,B次元官网网址� Seguin said. B次元官网网址淲hen you have a team like this, itB次元官网网址檚 exciting. ItB次元官网网址檚 always a lot easier because youB次元官网网址檙e so deep and you can kind of play anywhere. IB次元官网网址檝e been trying to have as much fun with it as I can.B次元官网网址�

DeBoer said he never looked at salary, ego or what they did in the past, and instead coached every player like heB次元官网网址檇 want to be coached. .

B次元官网网址淭he teams you have a chance to win with, those guys accept that coaching, they want that coaching, theyB次元官网网址檙e willing to to buy into to that,B次元官网网址� DeBoer said. B次元官网网址淚n the places IB次元官网网址檝e been where where those key guys have pushed back, you know youB次元官网网址檙e usually not winning.B次元官网网址�

Seguin has four seasons left on a $78.8 million, eight-year contract. BennB次元官网网址檚 $76 million, eight-year deal goes two more seasons, and he wants to take full advantage of an opportunity to finally win a Stanley Cup.

B次元官网网址淓very player goes through this, you come in the league, youB次元官网网址檙e a young guy, you want to prove yourself,B次元官网网址� general manager Jim Nill said. B次元官网网址淚n the end, you get to a point in your career, you want to win the Stanley Cup or you want to win consistently, and I think thatB次元官网网址檚 where theyB次元官网网址檙e at now in their careers.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擲tephen Hawkins, The Associated Press

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