Poll: Who Will Win The Central Division In 2024-25?
The top of the Central Division has been among the league’s toughest gauntlets over the past few seasons, and there’s little reason to expect that to change this year. There could be some new faces atop the list, however.
The Stars line up for this season with much of the same forward group that’s taken them to back-to-back Western Conference Finals. Yes, veteran top-line fixture Joe Pavelski announced his retirement, but his role alongside Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson is set to be filled by 21-year-old Wyatt Johnston, who’s coming off a 32-goal, 65-point sophomore season. 2024 AHL MVP Mavrik Bourque is projected to replace Johnston’s vacant middle-six spot, so there are no worries there.
Some will raise their eyebrows at Dallas’ defensive depth after losing Jani Hakanpää, Ryan Suter, and Chris Tanev, though. And rightfully so – their right defense depth chart is now headed off by free-agent signings Mathew Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin, both of whom are likely safe bets for bottom-pairing roles on a lot of other contending teams. They’re hoping a three-headed monster of Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley, and Esa Lindell on the left side is enough to keep them atop the Central Division’s regular season pecking order.
The Jets were a solid possession team last year, but make no mistake – the franchise’s second-ever 110-point season can be attributed almost entirely to goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who posted a .921 SV% in 60 games en route to his second Vezina Trophy win. Aside from losing mid-season pickup Sean Monahan to the Blue Jackets in free agency, their forward corps remains identical and will likely finish near the middle of the pack again after finishing 15th in goals last season.
Like Dallas, defensive depth is where Winnipeg’s alarm bells begin to sound. They managed to keep Dylan DeMelo off the free agent market, signing him to a four-year, $19.6MM extension to keep one of the league’s better top pairings last season with Josh Morrissey intact. However, they bought out Nate Schmidt, who, while overpaid, was one of their best even-strength possession players last year. Losing top-four fixture Brenden Dillon on the open market also stings and leaves a struggling Neal Pionk, arguably the Jets’ worst defensive player last season, with more responsibility than they’d like.
The Avalanche will again begin the season with a notable list of absences. Captain Gabriel Landeskog won’t be in the opening night lineup for the third season in a row as he continues to recover from multiple knee surgeries, but unlike in the past two years, they’re expecting him back at some point. That’ll be a huge boon to an offense that still managed to lead the league in goals last season despite pre-deadline depth concerns, as will be the return of Valeri Nichushkin from a six-month suspension and stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in November. Their wing depth looks dicey to start, but last year’s acquisition of Casey Mittelstadt at the deadline gives them the best center depth they’ve had since winning it all in 2022.
Their defense is also improved with a new-look third-pairing of low-cost free agent pickups Erik Brännström and Oliver Kylington, both of whom should thrive in an up-tempo Colorado system. Goaltending remains a concern, with Alexandar Georgiev coming off a subpar season, but backup Justus Annunen is pushing for more responsibility after logging a spectacular .928 SV% in 14 games. All indications point to the Avs replicating last year’s 107-point performance, if not improving on it.
The Predators’ offseason needs no introduction. They enter 2024-25 with their most star-studded forward corps since the mid-2000s (remember Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya‘s days in Tennessee?) after adding 2023 Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault and future Hall of Famer Steven Stamkos to their ranks. They’ll give much-needed depth to an offense that miraculously managed to finish 10th in scoring last season thanks to resurgences from Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist, the latter of whom erupted for a career-high 75 points at age 34 in top-line minutes.
Their defense lost Ryan McDonagh after he was traded to the Lightning but gained one of the better left-shot options on the UFA market in Brady Skjei. With those moves largely canceling each other out and Juuse Saros still manning the pipes, Nashville’s team defense should still finish above average but doesn’t look like it’ll be among the league’s best, with players like Jeremy Lauzon and Luke Schenn still projected to be a bit over-taxed. Still, there’s an opening for them to climb back into a divisional playoff spot and potentially win their first Central title since 2019.
For last year’s playoff misses in the Central, this season’s aspirations are conservative. That’s especially true for the Blues, who missed out on a playoff spot by six points and proceeded to have one of the league’s most eventful offseasons. Their offer sheets of Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway completed a summer that saw St. Louis have some of the largest roster turnover league-wide. Their bottom six has more new faces than returnees – only prospect Zach Dean and Alexey Toropchenko were on the team’s roster last season among their current projected opening-night third and fourth lines. They’re hoping some more offensively-inclined talent like Holloway, Mathieu Joseph, and Alexandre Texier can add a little bit of juice to last year’s 24th-ranked offense.
Their defense will feature Broberg starring in the role of veteran Torey Krug, who’ll miss the entire season after undergoing left ankle surgery. If they have any hope of closing the gap for a postseason berth, they’ll also need more of the same from Jordan Binnington between the pipes. His .913 SV% in 55 showings last year was his best since guiding the Blues to a Cup in his rookie season in 2019.
The Wild’s biggest offseason addition comes from inside the house. Captain Jared Spurgeon‘s presence on the blue line will be their biggest X factor after back and hip surgeries ended his 2023-24 season in January. The rest of the roster is mostly familiar faces, but they are projected to carry three goalies, with top netminding prospect Jesper Wallstedt showing he’s ready for full-time NHL minutes. He could churn out numbers that exceed those of Marc-André Fleury and Filip Gustavsson, who are back for a third season in Minnesota as a tandem after struggling to a combined .897 SV% last year.
Then there’s perhaps the conference’s biggest dark horse in its new garb – the Utah Hockey Club. The continuation of the defunct Arizona Coyotes franchise picked up right where they left off at the end of the dark days of their rebuild. With greater financial resources, general manager Bill Armstrong showed extreme confidence that Utah is ready to contend for a postseason spot, reshaping their blue line by acquiring John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev in a pair of trades around the draft. A full season of emerging youngsters Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther, the latter of whom scored at a 64-point pace in last season’s 45-game call-up, will help boost a promising offense squarely into the league’s upper half. But whether the pickup of Marino and Sergachev (who’s not necessarily known for his stay-at-home presence) can help get the league’s eighth-worst defense up where it needs to be for playoff contention remains to be seen.
The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are just looking to be relevant once again. After four straight seasons below 70 points, that demarcation is likely the goal for Chicago, with Connor Bedard beginning his sophomore season. They have a decent shot at doing so after being one of the league’s bigger players in free agency, reshaping their top-six forward group with the pickups of Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen. The additions of veterans T.J. Brodie and Alec Martinez on defense won’t likely have a ton of impact on their record but should give their younger defenders more runway for growth, and they shored up their goaltending by adding one of the league’s premier backups in Laurent Brossoit.
So, we ask you, PHR readers: after an offseason of significant changes, who do you think is best primed to take home the Central Division title? Tell us by voting in the poll below:
Boldy Returns To Practice
- Wild winger Matt Boldy skated today for the first time since being injured last weekend, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Head coach John Hynes indicated that he anticipates that the 23-year-old should be able to get several full practices in before the regular season gets underway. Boldy is coming off a career-best 69 points in 75 games last season and will be counted to play a similar role as Minnesota looks to get back to the playoffs in 2024-25.
Reese Johnson Returns To Practice
- Wild forward Reese Johnson returned to practice yesterday after missing a few days with an upper-body injury, relays Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old signed a one-year deal with Minnesota this summer after being non-tendered by Chicago back in June. He played in 42 games last season primarily on the fourth line, picking up five points while taking a regular turn on the penalty kill. He’s likely to fill a similar role for Minnesota if he cracks their opening night lineup.
Central Notes: Ferguson, Korchinski, Buchnevich
The AHL’s Iowa Wild have inked goaltender Dylan Ferguson to a one-year deal, relays The Hockey News’ Dylan Loucks.
The 26-year-old joins the Wild organization after the Canucks released him from a professional tryout agreement on Sunday. He briefly provided his services in Vancouver’s camp as starter Thatcher Demko remains out with a lingering knee injury, but he became redundant after the Canucks landed free agent Kevin Lankinen on a one-year, $875K deal over the weekend.
Ferguson, a seventh-round pick of the Stars back in 2017, last saw NHL ice with the Senators in the 2022-23 season. He stopped 78 of 83 shots faced in two late-season starts for a .940 SV%, 2.52 GAA, and a 1-1-0 record.
The British Columbia native spent last season with Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League, recording a .904 SV% and 2.51 GAA in 23 games with a 9-9-0 record. The 2021 ECHL Kelly Cup champion with the Fort Wayne Komets now heads to Iowa, where he’ll compete with Minnesota prospect Samuel Hlavaj and Kyle McClellan to serve as veteran Troy Grosenick‘s backup. All indications point toward the Wild carrying three goalies on their NHL roster to begin the season, meaning top prospect Jesper Wallstedt won’t be back in Iowa.
Elsewhere in the Central Division:
- Training camp line rushes indicate that Blackhawks defender Kevin Korchinski continues to trend toward starting the season in the AHL, The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus points out. He’s been paired with depth defender Louis Crevier in recent scrimmages and “will have to do something spectacular over the next two weeks to earn an NHL job out of camp,” Lazerus said. It’s far from a new development – reports last month indicated this was the likely scenario for the 2022 seventh-overall pick. He managed just 15 points in 76 games with Chicago last season with a -36 rating, and a lengthy stint with the Rockford IceHogs to begin the season would allow him to once again dominate offensively.
- Blues star Pavel Buchnevich is back on the ice at practice Tuesday, relays Lou Korac of The Hockey News and NHL.com. He’d sat out the past couple days after blocking a shot from Stars defenseman Mathew Dumba in Saturday’s 2-1 exhibition game loss. It’s an important training camp for the natural winger, who projects to start the season at center after signing a six-year, $48MM extension over the summer.
Three Wild Players Out With Upper-Body Injuries
The Minnesota Wild are nursing a few injuries up-and-down the roster in addition to star forward Matt Boldy missing the next few weeks due to a lower-body injury. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Reese Johnson, Pavel Novak, and Michael Milne are all out with mild upper-body injuries with the latter having yet to practice with the team during training camp.
None of the three were expected to be impact players for the Wild this season with Johnson having the highest odds of the trio to crack the opening night roster. Johnson joined Minnesota this offseason on a one-year league minimum contract and already has seven goals and 17 points in 141 games with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2021-2024. Johnson would be isolated to a bottom-six role with the Wild but will likely start in a ‘first man up’ role with AHL Iowa.
Novak and Milne are starting their third seasons with the Wild organization but have exclusively played in the minor leagues. Novak is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he primarily played for the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders scoring 14 goals and 27 points in 44 contests. Milne has yet to be demoted to the ECHL as he scored eight goals and 21 points in 40 games for the AHL Wild last year in a bottom-six role when healthy.
Matt Boldy Out Week-To-Week With Lower-Body Injury
Wild winger Matt Boldy is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the team announced Monday. He was an unexpected absence from today’s practice and there’s no clarity on when he sustained the injury. He’s expected to return by the end of training camp and should be ready for opening night, head coach John Hynes said (via Sarah McLellan of the Minnesota Star Tribune).
It’s tough news for Minnesota, which missed out on the playoffs last season for just the second time since 2012. Their poor record was largely due to injuries. Captain Jared Spurgeon was limited to just 16 games, while core pieces Jonas Brodin and Mats Zuccarello also missed significant chunks of the campaign.
Boldy, the No. 12 pick in the 2019 draft, has quickly grown into a core piece for the Wild in his own right. The 23-year-old set career highs last season with 40 assists and 69 points in 75 games, finishing second on the team in scoring behind Kirill Kaprizov.
He shoots the puck with aplomb – his 595 shots on goal rank 40th in the league since he made his NHL debut on Jan. 6, 2022. His strong offensive showing has been backed up by good possession metrics. The Wild have controlled 53.2% of shot attempts and 56.1% of expected goals with Boldy on the ice at even strength over the past three seasons, per Hockey Reference.
Boldy’s importance is magnified on a Wild roster that doesn’t have a ton of other high-skill scoring threats. A potential season-opening absence puts even more pressure on the likes of Kaprizov and the aging Zuccarello to put up points.
There will be a few options to take Boldy’s place in Minnesota’s top six if he’s not ready for opening night. The most intriguing is certainly Liam Ohgren, Minnesota’s first-rounder in 2022. The sharp-shooting Swede made his NHL debut at the tail end of last season, posting a goal and an assist in four games. He’s a likely candidate for a roster spot for no other reason than his cheap entry-level cap hit, but a short-term vacancy higher up in the lineup could be his to fill, at least to start. The 20-year-old had 12 goals and 19 points in 26 games while on loan to Sweden’s Färjestad BK last season.
Boldy is entering the second year of a seven-year, $49MM extension he signed in January 2023.
Training Camp Cuts: 9/22/24
Six teams got their preseason schedules underway last night. Many more are set to do so today. That means we’re still a couple of days away from a long list of roster cuts from around the league, but teams are still doing a little bit of maintenance to send lower-end prospects back to their junior teams as those seasons get underway.
As always, we’re keeping track of all of today’s training camp cuts. This piece will be updated throughout the day as more transactions come in.
Anaheim Ducks (per team announcement)
F Alexandre Blais (to QMJHL Rimouski)
F Thomas Desruisseaux (released from ATO to QMJHL Chicoutimi)
F Simon Lovsin (released from ATO to WHL Seattle)
F Maxim Masse (to QMJHL Chicoutimi)
G Michael McIvor (released from ATO to OHL North Bay)
D Vojtech Port (to WHL Moose Jaw)
F Ethan Procyszyn (to OHL North Bay)
D Tarin Smith (to WHL Everett)
D Loic Usereau (released from ATO to QMJHL Chicoutimi)
F Jaxsin Vaughan (released from ATO to WHL Regina)
Columbus Blue Jackets (per team announcement)
F Pano Fimis (released from ATO to OHL Erie)
G Nolan Lolande (to OHL Kingston)
D Luca Marrelli (to OHL Oshawa)
G Jacob Oster (released from ATO to OHL Oshawa)
Dallas Stars (per team announcement)
F Gabriel Frasca (released from ATO to OHL Erie)
F Brad Gardiner (to OHL Barrie)
F Joseph Henneberry (released from ATO to QMJHL Victoriaville)
F Jake Karabela (released from ATO to OHL Guelph)
F Angus MacDonell (to OHL Brampton)
D Niilopekka Muhonen (to WHL Medicine Hat)
Detroit Red Wings (per team announcement)
D Bauer Dumanski (released from ATO to WHL Prince George)
F Brayden Edwards (released from ATO to WHL Lethbridge)
D Marcus Kearsey (released from ATO to QMJHL Charlottetown)
F Chase Lefebvre (released from ATO to OHL Peterborough)
G Landon Miller (to OHL Soo)
F Charlie Paquette (released from ATO to OHL Guelph)
D Zach Sandhu (released from ATO to OHL Oshawa)
D Blake Smith (released from ATO to OHL Flint)
F Borya Valis (released from ATO to WHL Prince George)
D Josh Van Mulligen (released from ATO to WHL Medicine Hat)
D Matthew Virgilio (released from ATO to OHL Niagara)
Minnesota Wild (per team announcement)
F Gavin Hain (released from PTO to AHL Iowa)
G Kyle McClellan (released from PTO to AHL Iowa)
D Kalem Parker (to WHL Moose Jaw)
F Ryder Ritchie (to WHL Medicine Hat)
F Matthew Sop (released from PTO to AHL Iowa)
G Chase Wutzke (to WHL Red Deer)
D Will Zmolek (released from PTO to AHL Iowa)
New York Rangers (per team announcement)
D Joe Arntsen (to WHL Lethbridge)
G Brad Arvanitis (released from PTO to ECHL Maine)
F Maxim Barbashev (assigned to AHL Hartford)
D Seth Barton (assigned to AHL Hartford)
D Zach Berzolla (assigned to AHL Hartford)
D Ryan McCleary (assigned to AHL Hartford)
F Bryce McConnell-Barker (to OHL Soo)
F Max McCue (to OHL London)
D James Petrovski (to OHL Owen Sound)
F Dylan Roobroeck (to OHL Oshawa)
F Sahil Panwar (assigned to AHL Hartford)
Vancouver Canucks (per team announcement)
D Layton Ahac (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
D Parker Alcos (to WHL Edmonton)
D Joseph Arntsen (released from ATO to AHL Abbotsford)
D Zach Berzolla (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
F Josh Bloom (to AHL Abbotsford)
G Dylan Ferguson (released from PTO)
F Ty Glover (to AHL Abbotsford)
F Ty Halaburda (released from ATO, to WHL Vancouver)
F Dino Kambeitz (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
G Jonathan Lemieux (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
F Deagan McMillan (released from ATO to WHL Victoria)
F Riley Patterson (to OHL Barrie)
F Anthony Romani (to OHL North Bay)
D Basile Sansonnens (to QMJHL Rimouski)
F John Stevens (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
F Carsen Twarynski (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
F Cooper Walker (released from PTO to AHL Abbotsford)
Prospect Notes: Heidt, Dumais, Dach, Frondell
Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin didn’t rule out the chances of top prospect Riley Heidt making the opening night roster in an interview with The Athletic’s Joe Smith. Guerin said, “We have guys that still don’t need waivers… If Riley plays so well that he pushes himself on the team, then great. That’s what it’s about. It’s about competition.” Smith went on to acknowledge the hefty jump Heidt would need to leapfrog other prospects like Liam Ohgren and Marat Khusnutdinov – with Guerin acknowledging the former as someone Minnesota expects to make the NHL roster.
Heidt is coming off a dazzling season with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, ranking third in league scoring with 117 points in 66 games. He also ranked eighth with 711 faceoff wins, winning at an effective 51.8 percent. Heidt set career highs across the board but still seems a step behind the NHL lineup. He’d otherwise be bound for a fourth WHL season, though Minnesota could award him up to nine regular-season games to help inform their decision.
Other notes from across the prospect world:
- Top Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Jordan Dumais won’t be taking part in this weekend’s NHL Prospects Challenge, per The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, who shares the winger has been designated with a lower-body injury. Dumais isn’t expected to participate in the start of training camp, either. It isn’t clear if this is related to the lower abdominal surgery Dumais underwent in January, which held him out of the entire second half of the season. He’s been as productive as they come in the QMJHL, recording 325 points across 193 games and four seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads. He’ll get a chance to translate that scoring to the pro level this season – that is, when he’s healed from that’s delaying his pre-season start.
- Chicago Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach shared that he has his sights set on earning an NHL roster spot, telling The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus that he feels he could’ve earned one by now had he not been injured. Dach notably missed extended time with a concussion this season, after a sucker punch from Milwaukee’s Zachary L’Heureux. Small absences cut into Dach’s first pro season, though he still impressed with 27 points in 48 AHL games. Dach has now been heavily limited by injuries in the last two seasons, making a spot on the Opening Day roster a longshot – though Dach could earn his way into an NHL call-up later this year if he continues to stand strong in the minors.
- Top 2025 NHL Draft prospect Anton Frondell is set to undergo knee surgery, shares Djugardens IF insider Robin Fredriksson. No timeline for a return has been revealed. It’s Frondell’s second major lower-body injury in as many years, after a separate injury limited his 2023-24 campaign to just 42 league games. Frondell impressed when he did play, notably scoring 39 points in 29 U20 games, and adding seven points in seven games at the World U17 Hockey Challenge. His name has appeared near the very top of early 2025 Draft rankings, though another significant injury could make him an early faller.
Alex Stalock Likely To Retire
Veteran netminder Alex Stalock is joining the Sharks’ television broadcast crew this upcoming season, the team announced (via Max Miller of The Hockey News). The move likely signals the end of his 15-year professional career.
Stalock, who spent last season in the Ducks organization, was a finalist for the Masterton Trophy in 2023 after working his way back into a regular NHL role with the Blackhawks. The 37-year-old’s career nearly came to an end in 2020 after developing myocarditis after contracting COVID-19, causing him to spend all of the 2020-21 campaign on long-term injured reserve. He returned the following season in a depth/minor-league role for the Oilers and Sharks before serving as Chicago’s full-time backup in 2022-23.
The San Jose 2005 fourth-round pick signed a one-year, $800K deal with Anaheim last summer to provide competition to prospect Lukáš Dostál for the backup role, a job that the young Czech won handily in camp. Anaheim waived Stalock to begin the season and assigned him to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, where he spent most of the campaign aside from a handful of emergency call-ups that didn’t result in any NHL action. He recorded a 3.82 GAA, .888 SV%, and a 2-9-2 record in 15 appearances with San Diego.
Stalock played in parts of 11 NHL seasons with the Sharks, Wild, and Blackhawks from 2010 to 2023. In 179 regular-season games, he held a 70-65-20 record with 11 shutouts, a 2.70 GAA, and a .908 SV%.
He had also had an exemplary career as a minor-league starter, posting a 2.70 GAA, .909 SV%, 12 shutouts, and a 110-87-26 record in 232 AHL games across eight seasons – mostly for the Sharks’ affiliates in San Jose and Worcester.
The St. Paul, Minnesota native also had a spectacular collegiate stint, guiding the University of Minnesota-Duluth to a conference championship in his junior season with a 2.13 GAA, .924 SV%, five shutouts, and a 21-13-8 record in 42 appearances. All of us at PHR wish Stalock the best as he moves up from the ice to the broadcasting booth.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Jordie Benn Announces Retirement
Veteran defenseman Jordie Benn has retired after a 17-year run in the pros, he told Paul Haysom of CHEK News.
Benn, 37, last played in the NHL for the Maple Leafs in the 2022-23 season. The older brother of Stars captain Jamie Benn closes the book on a 12-year, 607-game NHL résumé – an incredibly unlikely run.
Not only was Benn undrafted, he never played high-level juniors or collegiate hockey. The physical, stay-at-home defender spent parts of four seasons in Junior ‘A’ for his hometown Victoria Grizzlies in the British Columbia Hockey League before turning pro in 2008, staying in British Columbia but jumping to the ECHL with the Victoria Salmon Kings.
Benn worked his way up the professional ranks over the next couple of seasons, landing an AHL contract with the Texas Stars for 2010-11 before inking his first NHL contract, a one-year entry-level pact, with Dallas for the 2011-12 campaign. That kicked off a six-year run for both Jordie and Jamie playing together in the Lone Star State.
The elder Benn spent most of 2011-12 back on the farm with Texas, but he did make his NHL debut with two assists in three games with the big club. Two years later, he was a regular in a depth role on the Dallas blue line, saying goodbye to the AHL entirely after splitting the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign between leagues.
While Benn mostly used his 6’2″, 201-lb frame to be a physical force and box out opponents, resulting in some decent possession numbers in his heyday, he wasn’t a complete non-factor offensively. He put up decent production on the Stars’ blue line in a low-scoring era, totaling 11 goals, 60 assists and 71 points with a +7 rating in 302 games there before he was traded to the Canadiens shortly before the 2017 deadline.
Benn remained an effective fringe top-four option in Montreal, posting 39 points and a +12 rating in 171 appearances in parts of three seasons while averaging 18:26 per game, slightly more than he averaged during his time in Dallas. Upon reaching unrestricted free agency in 2019, he inked a two-year, $4MM deal with the Canucks, returning as close to home as possible.
Unfortunately, it was in Vancouver his game began to decline, with his point-per-game production halving and his ice time slipping to exclusively bottom-pairing usage. He was traded to the Jets as a rental at the 2021 deadline and then spent 2021-22 with the Wild before landing in Toronto for 2022-23.
North of the border, Benn struggled with injuries, limited to a goal and an assist in 12 NHL appearances with a -1 rating. He was sent to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies for his first minor-league assignment in a decade, posting six points in 23 games there.
Upon reaching unrestricted free agency again last summer, Benn decided to try his luck overseas by inking a one-year deal with Sweden’s Brynäs IF. He ended up being a major get for the club, which relied heavily on his strong performance (22 points, +24 rating in 39 games) to win the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan championship and gain promotion back to the Swedish Hockey League for 2024-25.
It’s a neat bookend for Benn, who opts to end his pro career on a high note. In his NHL minutes, he recorded a very respectable 26 goals, 111 assists, 137 points, and a +19 rating while averaging 17:28 per contest. He tended to have positive possession quality impacts at even strength over the course of his career, posting a 50.8 xG%, per Hockey Reference.
Benn is about to welcome his third child, he told Haysom, but hopes to work in a front-office role in some capacity when the time is right. All of us at PHR congratulate him on a lengthy run in the pros and wish him the best in his next chapter.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.