32 in (roughly) 32 Season Preview: Dallas Stars

Stars are looking to repeat dominant season after adding depth

Team: Dallas Stars

GM: Al Ayotte

Power Ranking Placement: 13/32 in league, 6/8 in division, 9/16 in conference

Significant Additions:

Mackenzie Blackwood, G - 85 OV

Travis Konecny, C/W - 83 OV

Alex Wennberg, C/W - 83 OV

Jaden Schwartz, C/W - 82 OV

James van Riemsdyk, C/W - 82 OV

Jason Zucker, C/W - 81 OV

Alex Newhook, C/W - 79 OV

Seth Jarvis, C/W - 79 OV

Michael Stone, D - 79 OV

Peyton Krebs, C/W - 78 OV

Significant Subtractions:

David Pastrnak, C/W - 89 OV

Ondrej Palat, C/W - 84 OV

Calle Jarnkrok, C/W - 82 OV

Ryan Suter, C/W - 81 OV

Derek Ryan, C/W - 79 OV

Brett Howden, C/W - 78 OV

Kris Russell, D - 78 OV

David Rittich, G - 78 OV

Offseason grade: A

The Dallas Stars were relatively active this off-season. They made 5 trades this off-season in which they acquired 9 players who will either play an active part in their roster this upcoming season or an active part in the team’s future. The biggest in which they sent Pastrnak and Jarnkrok to Boston in return for Krebs, Jarvis, Newhook, and Schwartz. Aside from Pastrnak and, to a lesser extent, Palat, they didn’t really lose anyone of great significance. Meanwhile, they’ve added depth to their roster and added 3 young players who look to be very impactful in a couple years. I’m not sure if they’re a better team, and David Pastrnak’s scoring touch will certainly be missed, but they’ve added enough depth to the point where I think they have the potential to be better. Regardless of how they may perform this season, I believe this off-season will be looked back upon as a truly great one for Dallas once Krebs, Jarvis, and Newhook have had time to develop and reach their potential.

Projected Lineup: 

Tanev - Draisaitl - Konecny

Schwartz - Hayes - JVR

Zucker - Wennberg - Palmieri

Yamamoto - Newhook - Clutterbuck

-

Letang - Graves

Chabot - Holl

Bear - Stone

-

Saros

Blackwood

Quote from the GM:

GM Al Ayotte is hopeful that his team will make the playoffs this year, claiming, “I’m going to try my best to make this a playoff my team. We finished first in the Central division last year in a tight race with Winnipeg. I still have hope that we can be competitive this upcoming season and hopefully, we have better results in the playoffs this season.” 

Season Expectations: Playoffs

I’ll keep this short, as I’ve already expressed many of the thoughts I have about Dallas as I’ve said about the other top 6 teams in the Central that I’ve spoken of thus far. It says a lot that Dallas is ranked 13th in the league, yet rank 6th in the division. They are a great team, and by all means a playoff-caliber team. However, there are 5 other playoff-caliber teams in their division that will all be looking to compete in the playoffs this year, as well as two other lesser teams that are also somewhat solid. So, Dallas will have to play their absolute best this season should they want to make the playoffs, let alone top the Central division once more. Time will tell, but Dallas has a great tandem in nets, they have a pretty deep roster, and a decent defensive core

In the next entry, we’ll be covering the Detroit Red Wings. Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!

Previous entries:

Anaheim Ducks: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-anaheim-ducks

Arizona Coyotes: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-sesaon-preview-arizona-coyotes

Boston Bruins: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-boston-bruins

Buffalo Sabres: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-buffalo-sabres

Calgary Flames: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-calgary-flames

Carolina Hurricanes: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-carolina-hurricanes

Chicago Blackhawks: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-chicago-blackhawks

Colorado Avalanche: https://dchl.ca/articles/league/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-colorado-avalanche

Columbus Blue Jackets: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-columbus-blue-jackets