Stars CEO bashing his own players: Benn could be out the door!?

Our ears are still buzzing from Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites and his expletive-laced criticism of star forwards Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.

Lites ripped Benn and Seguin on Friday, telling reporters their play has been “terrible” and saying owner Tom Gaglardi wasn’t happy with their performances as well. 

“They are f—ing horse——, I don’t know how else to put it,”  Lites told The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro. “The team was ok. But (Tyler) Seguin and (Jamie) Benn were terrible.”

The NHL players’ union called the comments “reckless and insulting,” and now it seems that trade chatter has picked up around the two high-priced players, who aren’t probably pleased to be playing for men who can’t see their value. 

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman kicked off his 31 Thoughts column with worrisome thoughts on the Stars’ captain. The Sportsnet insider knows Seguin can handle the drama - however, he can’t say the same about Benn. 

“Publicly, Benn is quiet, but he is definitely not weak. He doesn’t have a great poker face; his emotions come right to the surface. He was furious, and it showed.”

Friedman is aware that Dallas cannot afford to miss the postseason this spring, and believes there will be consequences if they don’t clinch a playoff spot. 

"Both Benn and Seguin have protection in their contracts, so they control their destinies. Gaglardi did say last week in a statement that this was not about trading either player, or firing GM Jim Nill.”

It is believed that there has been something off between the Stars and Benn, who is a guy you do not want to get riled up. Could it mean that Benn would demanded a trade out of Dallas? 

TSN's Darren Dreger, who was shocked by the CEO’s comments, mentioned that his decision to publicly bash his star players would come back to haunt him, especially if Stars players look to sign elsewhere and the team needs to add on to its roster. 

“In the big picture, I know Tom Gaglardi well. He’s a very passionate and emotional owner. He wants nothing more than to bring a Stanley Cup back to the Dallas Stars and back to the city of Dallas. He’s invested tons of money. And in truth, the team should be better than what they are. 

“But after something like this… these type of things manifest. So now if all of the sudden Gaglardi decides if things don’t go well for the Dallas Stars that he needs a new general manager - which, it kind of feels that way, doesn’t it, based on Jim Lites coming out instead of Jim Nill coming out and softening the blow, but still sending a stinging message. 

“If you feel like you’ve got to renovate or maybe even have a rebuild in mind, you’ve got to dip back into the unrestricted free agent market. Top unrestricted free agents are going to remember these quotes and this approach by ownership for a long, long time. 

“This stuff leaves a mark. I was very surprised.”

For the moment, the only mark it has publicly left is that Benn wasn’t at practice today and is said to be day to day with an upper-body injury. The Stars' captain took a huge hit last night against the New Jersey Devils. However, head coach Jim Montgomery didn’t rule his captain out of tomorrow’s contest.