Jordie Benn retires after 12-season NHL career
Defenseman Jordie Benn has decided to hang up the skates, as he confirmed his retirement with CHEK News’ Paul Haysom on Monday.
Happy Retirement Jordie Benn!🎓
12 NHL seasons with six different organizations (DAL, MTL, VAN, WPG, MIN, TOR).
137 Pts (26G/111A) in 607 career GP. https://t.co/BSq8EHpBRt
“It’s a weird feeling that training camp is not around the corner, but it’s been a really fun ride,” Benn said to Haysom.
Benn spent the last season of his NHL career with Brynas IF in HockeyAllsvenskan, the first division below the Swedish Hockey League. He had 3 goals and 19 assists for 22 points in 39 games in the regular season, along with 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points in 13 playoff games as Brynas won the league and was promoted back into the SHL after being relegated the season prior.
Benn last played in the NHL in the 2022-23 season, where he served as a depth defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs with 1 goal and 1 assist for 2 points in 12 games. He also played with their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, where he had 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points in 23 regular season games, along with 3 assists in 7 playoff games.
Benn will probably be best known for his time with the Dallas Stars, where he spent six seasons playing alongside his younger brother, Jamie, who is currently the captain of the team.
“My brother and I just loved playing hockey,” says Jordie. “When we weren’t on the ice we were in the garage shooting pucks, we just loved the game.”
Benn was never selected in the NHL Draft by any team, and ultimately secured an NHL role through the Stars’ ECHL and AHL affiliates, likely helped by the success of his brother on the NHL squad. After a three-game stint in the NHL in 2011-12 for his debut, Benn secured a full-time NHL gig with the Stars in the 2012-13 lockout shortened season. He then spent another four seasons with Dallas before he was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline in 2017.
Benn played the rest of that season for the Habs, as well as the following two years before the Canadiens opted to let him walk to unrestricted free agent in 2019. He then spent two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks before he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets at the 2021 trade deadline. He then played a season for the Minnesota Wild in 2021-22 before playing his final season with the Maple Leafs in 2022-23.
“A lot of people thought I never should have made it, and maybe I shouldn’t have, but I just worked as hard as I could every night and tried to be the best teammate possible,” Benn said.
Benn retires with 607 career NHL games across 12 seasons in the league, where he had 26 goals, 111 assists and 137 points. He also had 4 assists in 23 playoff games.