Dallas Stars Media Day Interviews: Roope Hintz's Foot, Nils Lundkvist's Past & Future, and Jamie Benn's First Contract Negotiation in Eight Years

We heard from a lot of folks today. Let's start with three.

The Dallas Stars held their End-of-Season Media Availability on Saturday morning in Frisco. And with a lot of questions looming for the offseason, only some of those got answered.

• Pete DeBoer spoke today, and he answered a lot of questions about his approach in pulling Jake Oettinger in Game 5, as well a lot of other things.

• Jim Nill will be speaking with the media next week, we are told.

• Matt Duchene said he wants to return to Dallas, but that with a young family, he’s looking for more security than another one-year deal.

We’ll have a lot more on those and other players in the coming days, but for today, let’s focus on three specific ones: Jamie Benn, Nils Lundkvist, and Roope Hintz.

Jamie Benn

For starters, Jamie Benn reiterated what he’s said before: he’s planning to play for Dallas next year, even if the contracts haven’t been worked out yet.

“I’m gonna go into the summer planning on playing next year, and prepare like I do every summer,” Benn said.

As for the contract, Benn was hopeful, but not quite definitive.

“I’m looking forward to it, to be honest,” Benn said of the negotiation process. “I don’t see myself going anywhere else. This is all I know, so hopefully we can get something figured out.” He smiled, then continued, “Then I won’t have to answer these questions.”

Everyone from Tom Gaglardi on down has said that they want Jamie Benn back next season, so I think the smart money is probably on Benn returning. But with a lot of contracts still be to be hammered out (and perhaps some salary cap room to be cleared, too), time will tell how that process works itself out.¹

---

Roope Hintz

Speaking of processes, Roope Hintz confirmed to Stars Thoughts on Saturday that his foot did indeed get fractured after the slash by Darnell Nurse in Game 2 against Edmonton.

“So, there was a fracture, or a crack, however you call it,” Hintz said. “So it was pretty painful. I tried to go in Game 3, but I couldn’t. Then we find a way that I was able to play in Game 4.”

The injury was obviously a horrible blow for Dallas at the worst time, but Hintz was sanguine when discussing the injury.

“Playoffs always, there’s something that happens,” Hintz said. “So you try to fight through and play through a lot of stuff.”

We talked earlier this week about how the Stars chose to respond to things like the Nurse slash (and the subsequent Evan Bouchard whack) by focusing on scoring and winning games rather than retaliating with similar sorts of plays.

But does Hintz himself feel that way, being the one whose foot got fractured?

“Playoffs, there’s always some plays, like little dirty plays, or like a little bit of whacking, hacking, hitting. It’s playoffs,” Hintz said. “But I would say also that the best thing is to win and score.”

As for the Stars’ offense, Hintz scored the second-most goals in the playoffs for Dallas, with six (including a Game 5 power play tally). Still, Hintz acknowledges the Stars didn’t score enough.

Did he see a theme in what caused the offense to dry up against Edmonton?

“I thought we had some good looks, and we were on top of our game, at least like 40 minutes into the game,” Hintz said, referring to the Stars’ inability to generate much of a third-period push later in the series. “But then we just didn’t find a way to score when we had those chances.”

As for Jake Oettinger’s getting pulled in Game 5, Hintz was quick to point to how much Oettinger has done for the group.

“He’s been there for us [for] so long,” Hintz said. “Being the guy who was winning us games. And when we haven’t been playing well, he’s been there to stand on his head so we still have a chance to win the game. Of course, you never want to see that happen.”

As for his thoughts on Jamie Benn, Hintz was unequivocally positive.

“He’s a great, great player,” Hintz said of Benn. “Just the best guy there is. He’s just…everybody who knows him would probably say the same things about him. Everybody likes him.”

---

Nils Lundkvist

While Hintz was working to get back into the lineup with a fractured foot, there was at least one other player who had been working his way back from injury, too: Nils Lundkvist, whose season ended with shoulder surgery after playing on January 21 against Carolina.

“It’s been obviously a tough season for me, with only playing half a year, and doing the surgery in January,” Lundkvist said. “It started bothering me like late December, early January, kinda. And you try to figure out a way to tape it up, or play with something on it, but it just kept kinda getting worse and worse.”

Lundkvist said at that point, he had an MRI done to look at the shoulder, and it showed that “something was up.” Lundkvist looked at trying to play through the injury nonetheless, but it quickly became apparent that wasn’t going to be possible. So Lundkvist had the surgery, knowing it would likely end his season, in order to avoid risking any longer-term damage.

Lundkvist’s surgery also happened to coincide fairly closely with Miro Heiskanen’s knee surgery, which meant the two players ended up spending a lot of time together during the rehab process.

“You never want to see anyone be out for a long time, but me and Miro kind of shared the same things. We’ve been with each other and with Roy [Nelson, the Stars’ physical therapist], and all those guys,” Lundkvist said, “So it’s been a really good team.”

“I think I learned a lot from it, too,” Lundkvist said. “Like, just being injured. How much you enjoy playing in the NHL and what a privilege it is, sometimes you take things for granted.”

Still, Lundkvist acknowledges that the mental grind of not being on the ice with the team is a tough part of the rehab process.

“When you’re injured, like the third month, you’re like, ‘I just wanna be on the road with the boys’,” Lundkvist said. “But it’s been good. Learned a lot, and injuries are part of the process.”

Perhaps the most heartbreaking thing about Lundkvist’s injury was the timing of it. Lundkvist had been having his best start as a Dallas Stars in three seasons, and it looked like he had elevated himself beyond the group of players in consideration for healthy scratches.

But because of Lundkvist’s injury coinciding with Heiskanen’s, Jim Nill would have to bring in reinforcements, so he traded for Cody Ceci. That meant the Stars wound up with a glut of available defenseman at the season’s end, leading to Matt Dumba, Brendan Smith, and even Ilya Lyubushkin all being healthy scratches as the Stars’ playoff run ended.

Lundkvist had just joined that list, too. He confirmed to Stars Thoughts on Saturday that he had actually gotten back to full health on Wednesday—just in time to see the Stars’ season end.

“I was cleared to play the day before the last game,” Lundvkist said. “So I was good to go. I’m healthy.”

The Stars didn’t end up activating Lundkvist for Game 5, but it’s likely he wouldn’t have cracked the lineup regardless for an elimination game after not playing in four months.

Had Lundkvist been healthy all year, there’s a chance he would have stayed on his pairing with Esa Lindell for the whole playoff run. Instead, the Stars went with Ilya Lyubushkin, Cody Ceci, and Alex Petrovic—until Lyubushkin was scratched early in the third round for Petrovic to stay on a pairing with Lian Bichsel.

It’s fair to wonder if seeing that Lyubushkin scratch might have made Lundkvist think again about his own future in the Stars’ system, given that he was similarly sidelined by Pete DeBoer in the prior two Dallas playoff runs.

Lundkvist is a restricted free agent going into this summer, and with the Stars’ limited cap space, he looks like he could be a great bargain of a top-four defenseman for Jim Nill to bring back, now that he’s healthy again. But Lundkvist has a say in that process, too.

So, does he see himself back in Dallas next year?

“I mean, I would love to be here. I love the city. Me and my fiancée love it here,” Lundkvist said. “Great organization from top to bottom, chance to win, great teammates. We love it here. I would really like to come back, yeah.”

Parsing that sentence is a pointless exercise for now, as the Stars first have to decide whether or not to extend a qualifying offer to Lundkvist. Last summer, the Stars surprised many by not qualifying Lundkvist, allowing him to explore unrestricted free agency—only for the right-shot defenseman to wind up signing back with the Stars after all.

Lundkvist acknowledges that while his numbers in his injury-shortened 2024-25 season may not have been his best in one sense, he has more confidence in his game than ever.

“I’m taking steps. This year was maybe my worst statistics year, but I think I played my best hockey,” Lundkvist said. “It’s about finding a role in a team, being reliable, and stuff like that. I think I’m learning every year, and I think I’m a better defenseman right now. But I still think there are steps to go, for sure.”

On a personal note, Lundkvist said he’s known his fiancée for nearly eight years, and they’re excited to get married this summer. That will make it yet another Dallas Stars offseason with at least one wedding taking place, after players like Benn, Marchment, Oettinger, Seguin, and Hintz have tied the knot in the last couple of offseasons.

As for his other summer plans, Lundkvist takes a lot of pride in working out and keeping his body in great shape. He’s often one of the top performers in training camp when players get tested for everything from baseline mental acuity to lung capacity, and that all stems from Lundkvist’s own desire to put that work in.

“I take big pride in working out and being in the best shape as possible and trying to prepare myself as good as I can,” Lundkvist said. “I think you can gain some confidence in the gym, too. Like working out, feeling strong and stuff like that. I’m trying to do my best to give myself as good a chance as possible to perform.”

As for the Stars team itself, Lundkvist says there is a lot of reason for optimism.

“The leadership here is crazy, right? You play with, like the last three years, Joe Pavelski, Jamie Benn, Ryan Suter, Seggy, Rantanen now, all the Finns—there’s a bunch of guys to follow that have played a thousand games in this league—Dutchy.”

But it’s not just the veterans who Lundkvist sees as key parts of the team.

“There’s a lot of younger guys getting older and more experienced. Like, we have a bunch of guys, what, in their twenties? Like, you can’t imagine Miro is even a 25-year-old, right? He’s in his seventh year. Wyatt is 22, and he’s already played four² years in the league.”

It’s clear in talking with Lundkvist that he sees the same roster everyone else does. And while Lundkvist has half a decade of NHL experience under his belt, the 24-year-old defenseman still thinks of himself as someone in that younger group.

“To be a young guy on this team, it’s unbelievable to just learn. The day-to-day activity, the expectations in this league, how to win,” Lundvist said. “My first year in New York, I Black-Aced, but we went to the Conference Final. Three years here, Conference Finals.”

Lundkvist knows his experience is a bit of an outlier, though.

“Some of these guys have never made it this far, and they’ve played 15 years. So you can’t take those for granted. You really wanna be a part of it, find a role on the team, and be on the ice when the playoffs come.”

Finding that role will be the key for Lundkvist. If he does indeed return to Dallas, it’s clear that even veterans like Evgenii Dadononv, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Matt Dumba aren’t guaranteed a spot if the coaching staff doesn’t think they’re in the best group of players to help the team win on a given night.

That’s a challenge in one sense, but it’s also a testament to the group of players Jim Nill has assembled, which Lundvkist recognizes.

“It’s a great team. It’s a great core to be around. Definitely something special growing here,” Lundkvist said. “The leaders here are incredible.”

1. Before some pedantic reader points this out: yeah, it’s technically Benn’s first contract negotiation in nine years, as he signed his extension in 2016 with a year still remaining on his contract. But I think alluding to the eight-year contract is less confusing. So, deal with it.

2. Johnston will play his fourth NHL season in the coming 2025-26 season, of course.