A Random Roster Proposal about Jason Robertson and Jamie Benn

The Dallas Stars are finally back home, and they’re going to be here for a while. They kick off their longest homestand of the season against Joel Hanley and the Calgary Flames tonight, with the Flames just one point behind Dallas in the standings.

It should be a good game, but then, most of them should be, given the price of tickets these days *mugs at the camera*. More interesting than that, Jake Oettinger is going to start yet again, which will give him 20 starts to Casey DeSmith’s 7 this year. That works out to about a 60-game pace for Oettinger, which feels slightly on the high side, particularly if you add any Four Nations play on top of it (though how much he’ll actually play is not at all certain right now).

But then again, the Stars have a three-day break between games after tonight, so maybe it’s fine, and maybe Oettinger is the right call. Jeff Reese and the coaching staff have these things planned out, I am sure, so ours will be simply to watch and wait and wonder why.

Goalies aren’t the roster decision I think about most often, though. That’s usually a good thing, because it means they haven’t been the biggest problem. But the question that has been recurring this year has revolved around the Stars’ top line, and Jason Robertson in particular. What can the coaches do to get Robertson looking more like Jason Robertson!, if anything?

Sean Shapiro and Bob Sturm had a very interesting back and forth about this exact topic the other day, and I’d encourage you to check that out if you’re subscribed to either of their SubStacks. Bob called Robertson’s current performance and contract “terrifying,” and he’s not wrong to be worried, given the slow start Robertson has had on top of his unfortunately less dominant playoff production in the last couple of years.

The most optimistic point of view is that Robertson is simply not completely healed from his foot procedure late in the summer, and that his lost step has hampered his ability to get open and get to the scoring spots he needs to. I’m sure that’s been a factor, but I’m not altogether sold on that being the entire problem, given how solid Robertson’s defensive work has continued to be this year—something for which I still don’t think he gets enough credit. I’m hard-pressed to say Robertson could defend as well as he has if he’s not able to skate even up to his own modest standards. Instead, it appears that he’s slowed the game down in both directions, leading to a lack of chances for either side. That might be a better way to check opposing players, but it also gives him fewer opportunities to impact the game in the offensive zone.

You can see Robertson’s initial defensive struggles were quickly brought under control after five games or so, only for his offensive game to similarly crater in the graph below, from HockeyViz:

Jason Robertson

The end result (or the third-of-a-way result, I guess) is that Robertson has identical production so far this year as one Jamie Benn, with 15 points apiece. That’s not ideal. But the additional problem for Benn has been his racking up penalties at an absurd pace, piling up 50 PIM through 26 games, which is an average of just under two minutes every single night, with only one ten-minute misconduct and two major penalties in the bunch. That isn’t going to cut it for anyone, let alone the captain.

Yes, 19 of those minutes came in the disaster in Winnipeg, but Benn’s line hasn’t been clicking consistently this season, regardless of whether he’s playing with Sam Steel, Mavrik Bourque, Wyatt Johnston, Evgenii Dadonov, or Logan Stankoven. Benn hasn’t been driving a lot of puck possession or scoring chances, and his defensive game hasn’t been the most robust on the team either:

Jamie Benn

Jamie Benn spent two games on a line with Roope Hintz and Logan Stankoven earlier this season. If you don’t remember that happening, it’s because both of those games were in Tampere, Finland, and you all blocked them out. (I did not, because I went to Finland, which makes me better than you, as all international travel always does. Sorry, but it’s true. Would you like to see my vacation slideshow again?) But since then, he’s been back on the third line, from which both Johnston and Stankoven have since departed. It’s to Benn’s credit that he can make it work playing with very different players like Sam Steel, Mavrik Bourque, and Evgenii Dadonov, but that line isn’t as crucial for the Stars’ season to be a success as the top line is.

Like Robertson, Benn was also criticized for his slower skating ability as a young player, but he found a way to not only overcome that, but to win an Art Ross Trophy in his age-25 season—which is exactly how old Robertson is this year. Both players are big, imposing left wings, and both of them have shown the ability to score while also changing their game to suit the team’s style of play.

So, given some of the similarities between the two, here’s a weird and outlandish proposal: Would it behoove the Stars to try swapping lines with those two players for a game or two, or longer?

Yes, I know it’s a ridiculous proposal, as you can see by the words “weird” and “outlandish” (and “and” connecting them). But hear me out. Or at least, hear my subconscious musings out.

The first objection is that Benn, being one of the oldest players on the team, isn’t as effective when he is asked to take more shifts. But maybe playing on a line with Hintz and Johnston would compensate for that, as Benn would have other players doing great playmaking work to open up ice for him, rather than having to play a hard-nosed game in the bottom six. Or maybe you give a few of his defensive zone shifts to Dadonov or Steel or someone else as needed. You can handle it a couple of different ways, similar to how the coaching staff will sometimes deploy Nils Lundkvist differently in the offensive and defensive zones.

The second objection would be that Robertson would then be playing with less-skilled players, which could prolong his scoring rebound even further. My response to that, if I actually wanted to seriously propose this exercise, would be that Robertson might end up finding himself with more scoring chances in bottom-six matchups, rather than so often being forced to defend against the other team’s best players. And maybe that would build some confidence that Robertson could build off of when he’s on the power play, and maybe scoring on the power play would engender more confidence at 5v5, and so on.

I mean, is it that absurd to suggest that Robertson could find himself a bit refreshed playing beside some different players for a bit? Here’s one example of the crazy lines you could get if you wanted to really get crazy. Have I mentioned this is a crazy idea?

Benn-Hintz-Johnston
Marchment-Duchene-Stankoven
Robertson-Bourque-Dadonov
Bäck-Steel-Blackwell

You can play with it even further, maybe swapping Dadonov and Stankoven, or Bourque and Steel. But the point here is that patience is a virtue, and I think the coaching staff has shown a willingness to trust Robertson (and Hintz, and Johnston) to figure things out. And those three have had a fair stretch together where they’ve shown flashes of dominance, but not nearly enough when it’s most needed, like it was in the third period against Vegas and Los Angeles. So, why not try something a bit more radical?

If nothing else, it might help Benn to take fewer minors to play with Hintz and Johnston. And given how highly skilled Benn is, and how in need of a jump start Robertson is, I’m not sure either of them would be harmed by this, in the short term. Benn might even be energized by the added challenge, and his skill is certainly high enough to capitalize on chances that Johnston and Hintz can create, while his defense wouldn’t be as big an issue with two other excellent two-way players on his line pushing possession.

Still, there are other things to consider. It would be seen as a demotion for Robertson, and that added pressure can make life tougher for a player who is already having a tough start. It would also be asking a lot of Benn, and what do you do if Benn and Robertson both continue not to produce in their new roles? Then you have even fewer options remaining, but the same problem.

I’m not sure I would try this even if I were the head coach for a day or something like that. But it’s an idea, and here at Stars Thoughts, we’re all about ideas. And Thoughts. And the Stars. It’s the really clever part of the name, when you think about it.

Great players usually find a way to make things work if you’re patient enough with them. But sometimes, you have to shake the Etch-a-Sketch a bit and draw some new lines to see a clearer picture. So, is this something you would even consider trying, as the coach? Let me know how crazy this is. It’s pretty crazy, I think. But I was thinking about it, and now you are, too.