The captain will make his long-awaited return.
The Dallas Stars have activated captain Jamie Benn from long-term injured reserve ahead of Tuesday night’s game. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan announced Tuesday morning that Benn will see his first action of the season against the New York Islanders at American Airlines Center.
Benn has missed the Stars’ first 19 games of the season recovering from surgery for a collapsed lung.
The 36-year-old suffered the injury late in the third period of the Sept. 23 preseason game against Minnesota. Benn went to the bench and told team staff something felt off. Team doctors conducted an X-ray at American Airlines Center and found a small hole in his lung. He was taken to Parkland Hospital that night where he later had surgery to repair the hole. Benn was hospitalized for about a week.
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Doctors said Benn could not fly on an airplane or participate in any physical activity for four weeks. Benn has been skating with the team for weeks and traveled with them to their last Canadian road trip.
The team wanted to ensure his conditioning and breathing were up to speed before he returned to game action.
Benn, the longest-tenured captain in franchise history, will begin his 17th season in the NHL — all of which he has spent in Dallas.
Despite being the oldest player on the roster, Benn had avoided serious injuries over the last few seasons. He had played in 326 of the Stars’ last 328 regular-season games entering this season. He missed two games late last season for the birth of his son and maintenance. Up until those games, he had the fifth-longest active streak of games played in the NHL.
Benn scored 16 goals and accumulated 33 assists last season and averaged 15:18 of ice time. He saw a reduced role in the playoffs and a demotion to the fourth line.
The captain chose to extend his career over the summer. As a free agent, he returned to Dallas on a one-year deal worth $1 million, as he continues his pursuit of winning the Stanley Cup before retirement.
That pursuit begins now with the Stars tied for second place in NHL despite the roster being ravaged by injuries.
Even with Benn back in the lineup, the Stars are still without Matt Duchene, Adam Erne, Thomas Harley, Nils Lundkvist and Ilya Lyubushkin.
Lyubushkin was ruled out of Tuesday’s game with an injury, and the Stars recalled defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok in his place.
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