All-Time Stars: The top 5 forwards in Dallas Stars history
It will not be long before the NHL buzz picks up with Dallas Stars training camp around the corner. The anticipation has Blackout Dallas in a nostalgic mood. There is no better time for fans to talk about the top players in team history.
Blackout Dallas drops the puck on our 2021 “All-Time Stars” series by revisiting the top forwards in Dallas Stars history.
5. Tyler Seguin (2010-Present)
Tyler Seguin moves into the top 5, edging out Joe Nieuwendyk in the process. Apologies to our older fans, but Seguin has surpassed Nieuwendyk in tenure and accomplishments in a Dallas Stars sweater.
Seguin only saw 3 games of action last season, but his absence due to injury, surgery, and recovery was a rarity. The Stars’ stud centerman has been unbelievably durable throughout his career. Seguin played in all 82 Dallas Stars games during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 regular seasons.
Seguin deserves tremendous credit from fans for evolving into a top two-way player.
Tyler Seguin’s durability is one example of how he matured his game to meet the team’s defense-first philosophy. Additionally, the Brampton, Ontario native’s stats show his increased emphasis on face-off win percentage and blocked shots. Seguin deserves tremendous credit from fans for evolving into a top two-way player.
Seguin has sacrificed offense for defense, but remains the Stars’ most productive forward threat. Now 29, Seguin has averaged more than 77 points per season in Dallas, excluding the COVID-disrupted 2019-20 season. However, Seguin’s 50 regular season and 13 playoff points were instrumental in Dallas’s run to the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals.
Seguin’s tenure with the Dallas Stars includes 3 All Star selections. Additionally, Seguin ranks 10th all-time in assists and points in team history.
4. Brenden Morrow (1999-2012)
Brenden Morrow was drafted 25th overall by the Dallas Stars in 1997 and establish himself as a franchise pillar. Morrow spent 13 seasons in Dallas, amassing 528 points over 835 games played. He was also a member of the Stars 1999-00 Stanley Cup championship team.
Morrow provided Stars fans with many memorable goals. One can argue no Morrow goal was more memorable than his 2008 series walk-off against the San Jose Sharks. It was during the 4th overtime when Morrow deflected the puck from a Stephane Robidas shot past the Sharks’ Evgeni Nabokov. The goal advanced the Stars to their first Western Conference Finals since 2000.
The Stars named Morrow team captain after he signed a six-year extension before the 2006-07 season. Such move was a change in guard as it relegated Mike Modano to alternate captain. However, Modano was supportive of the move and recognized Morrow for his emergent leadership.
Stars fans will forever recall Morrow as the captain that was after Modano and before Jamie Benn. However, one should remember and appreciate all that Morrow accomplished during the Stars lean years that spanned 2008-2012.
Morrow is among the Dallas Stars all-time leaders in plus/minus (4th), games played (6th), goals (8th), and points (9th). He was also an All Star in 2007-08 and a 6-time Selke Trophy finalist.
3. Jamie Benn (2009-Present)
There is an argument that Jamie Benn deserves the #2 sport on our list. Benn began playing with the Stars in 2009 and has since become a leader in metrics and inside the locker room.
Jamie Benn ranks top 4 among Dallas Stars all-time leaders in games played, goals, assists, and points. The 3-time All Star was named team captain at age 24, following the departure of Brenden Morrow.
One would struggle to find a pair of seasons in Stars history that top Benn’s best in Dallas. His 87 points in 2014-15 earned him the Art Ross Trophy, an All Star selection, and Hart and Selke Trophy votes. Benn topped said point total by posting 89 points in 2015-16.
Benn’s offensive production has dipped since Jim Nill and Jim Montgomery/Rick Bowness transitioned Dallas to a defense-first approach. However, what the Stars’ veteran has sacrificed in points, he has made up for on the opposite end of the ice. Most important, Benn continues to provide the Stars with invaluable veteran leadership.
One cannot underestimate the job Benn executed in navigating the Dallas Stars through the 2020 playoff bubble. The onus was on Benn to lead the team through unprecedented circumstances and he thrived.
2. Jere Lehtinen (1995-2010)
The youngest generation of Dallas Stars fans may not understand just how good Jere Lehtinen was. Lehtinen played his entire career with the Stars and his No. 26 sweater hangs from the American Airlines Arena rafters.
Lehtinen’s career spanned from 1995, with the Minnesota North Stars, to 2010 with the Dallas Stars. The former alternate captain posted 514 points over 875 regular season games and 49 points over 108 playoff games. Lehtinen is among the team’s all-time leaders in plus/minutes (1st), games played (3rd), goals (8th) and goals created (9th).
Drafted 88th overall (4th round) in the 1992 entry draft, Lehtinen developed into a premier, two-way forward. Lehtinen’s trophy case includes three Selke trophies, four Olympic medals, and a Stanley Cup championship ring. Lehitinen is one of only three players to win the Selke in three consecutive seasons.
We anticipate Jamie Benn will eventually claim the #2 spot on our “All Time Stars” list for forwards. However, for now, the “Finnish Godfather of Dallas” remains firmly entrenched.
1. Mike Modano (1989-2010)
There will never be a Dallas Stars tenure or legacy that comes close to Mike Modano’s. Such feat will not happen due to the current and future states of NHL player movement. Regardless, was there any doubt Modano would remain at the top spot of our “All Time Stars” forwards list?
We hate to, again, pick on younger Stars fans by suggesting a they may not understand just how good Modano was during his career. However, younger Stars fans do not understand just how good Modano was during his career.
The Michigan native was the 1st overall pick of the 1988 entry draft and far exceeded what the old North Stars anticipated . Modano was the ice hockey equivalent of a 5-tool player in the game of baseball. Brett Hull summed up his former teammate’s abilities best by saying:
He is a jack of all trades and master of all of them…[he] can shoot, pass, skate, play defense, kill penalties and run a power play. And he’s one of the top three physically fit people I ever played with.
If there is a professional ice hockey measurable, Mike Modano’s name is embossed at or near the top. He played 1,499 games and posted 1,374 points over his 21-year career. Additionally, Modano remains the all-time leader in goals and points for a U.S.-born professional ice hockey player.
Mike Modano brought a combination of speed and physicality to the ice that was rare during his era. The Hall of Fame forward could win a one-on-one situation, rip a 100 mph slap shot from the line, or bang it out along the boards. Modano was an elite NHL player throughout a majority of his career and carried himself with humility and great respect.
Mike Modano is the Dallas Stars and we do not see that changing any time in the near future.