Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn comment on Lites’ comments
Mark Stepneski: Tyler Seguin is he’s had any conversations with Lites:
“No, not since the end of the season. So, a little bit of a surprise there, I guess, in one aspect because I obviously didn’t know how he felt. So, it came as a bit of a surprise. But, I said it yesterday in practice that I understand I need to be better, Jamie understands he needs to be better, and we need to lead this team to be better.”
On if he’d like to explain to Lites about his bad luck hitting posts:
“I mean, my phone is out there, my number is out there. I’m not complaining about posts, I’m not ‘wah-wah.’ I’m not whining about it. If anyone asks how many posts I’ve hit, I say, ‘Yes, of course I do. I’m a hockey player. I’m a goal scorer.’ But I’m going to continue to grind, continue to shoot, and continue to get to those areas and try to score goals.”
Mark Stepneski: Jamie Benn when asked if he would have preferred if Lites’ had come to talk to them: “Yeah, I think so.”
When asked if he can still play for the Stars despite a high executive calling him out:
“Yeah. I don’t play for him. I play for every player in this room, the coaching staff. I come to the rink and, like I said, I am proud to be a Dallas Star and I am proud to go out every night and battle with these guys in games. I really put my teammates first.”
Potential fallout in Dallas
Emily Sadler of Sportsnet: Nick Kypreos on Headlines on potential fallout from Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites’ comments about Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.
“Make no mistake about it, both these players were blindsided,” Nick Kypreos said. “They know the scrutiny that follows their salaries and the inability to deliver the offence, so they’re OK with that. Usually that is handled between the general manager and the coach within the dressing rooms.”
The NHLPA will likely take a look in the matter and may have issued a statement already if the Stars played yesterday and they’ll want to talk with both Seguin and Benn beforehand. Kypreos isn’t sure if there is anything the PA can do aside from making a statement.
Friedman on the situation.
“To me the biggest question is, what does this mean?” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said. “Does this mean that Dallas wants to trade these guys, who both have no-move clauses? There were some quotes about Jim Nill — is he in trouble?”
Stars owner Tom Gaglardi to Friedman:
“Our best players have to be our best players. This is not about trading anyone. This is not about firing anyone. We are in danger of missing the playoffs for the third straight year, and this team is built to win and contend now. We need to take advantage of the opportunity we have in front of us.”