Stars recall forwards Rhett Gardner, Joel L'Esperance from taxi squad

FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the team has recalled forwards Rhett Gardnerand Joel L'Esperance from the Taxi Squad.
The club has also placed captain Jamie Benn on injured reserve (lower body) retroactive to Jan. 22.

Gardner, 24, made his 2020-21 season debut on Tuesday night, recording one shot and two faceoff wins (2-for-3, 66.7%) in 8:18 of ice time. He appeared in eight regular-season NHL games with Dallas in 2019-20, posting eight shots on goal, eight hits and an average time on ice per game of 10:08. Gardner also skated in 55 AHL games with Texas last season, registering 24 points (9-15=24). The forward shared second on Texas with three game-winning goals and finished tied for fifth on the team with 15 assists in 2019-20.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound native of Moose Jaw, Sask. was originally selected by Dallas in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft.

L'Esperance, 25, scored one goal (1-0=1) in three NHL regular-season games in 2019-20 with Dallas. He also skated in 58 AHL games with Texas, registering 40 points (25-15=40) last season. L'Esperance shared sixth in the AHL and led Texas with 11 power play goals, while he also posted a team-high four game-winning goals in 2019-20. The forward also finished tied for 10th in the AHL and first on the team with 25 goals and ranked second on Texas with 40 points last season.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound native of Brighton, Mich. was originally signed by Dallas as an undrafted free agent on July, 1, 2018.
Benn, 31, has appeared in one game with Dallas so far this season. The captain shared second on the Stars with 19 goals and ranked second with 39 points (19-20=39) in 69 regular-season games in 2019-20. Benn also led Dallas with eight power play goals and shared third on the squad with four game-winning goals last season. Additionally, Benn finished the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs tied for third on the Stars in goals, assists and points (8-11=19) in 27 postseason games.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound native of Victoria, B.C. was originally selected by Dallas in the fifth round (129th overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft.