Previewing The Stars: A Dallas Stars Preseason Report

Your Dallas Stars are building toward a new season. Last year, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers wrecked our chance at a cup appearance, so they are hungry for another opportunity to show the league their talent. We are going to go through some of the critical parts of the only team in the Lone Star State, and show why it may pay to mess with Texas this year.

The Lingo

First, let me establish some terms for those unversed in hockey slang. The AHL is the American Hockey League. It is the developmental minor league for all 32 NHL teams, each with one affiliate team. For a comparison, think of Triple-A baseball or the NBA G-League. The Dallas Stars’ affiliate is the Austin-area Texas Stars.

Secondly, “points” in hockey statistics are a combination of goals scored and assists for a player. Each goal is worth two points, and each assist is worth one.

Thirdly, AAV is the average annual value, or how much money a player’s contract takes away from the yearly salary cap.

Fourth, a “plus-minus” or +/-, is a measure in sports that determines the impact of a player while taking into account numerous different aspects of their performance.

The Staff

General Manager Jim Nill

As a scouting and player development director, Nill was a vital part of the late ’90s and early 2000s Detroit Redwings powerhouse. He seemed to have a sixth sense for drafting, which is likely why the Stars picked him up as GM in 2013. Since then, he has consistently produced exceptional players out of mid or late-first-round picks and found value in players who were overlooked by other teams for size or other reasons. These drafting skills, as well as his crafting a consistently playoff-contending team post-2019, led to back-to-back Jim Gregory Trophies in 2023 and 2024 for general manager of the year. Look out for some of his picks to appear in the top-position rankings across the league for the entire year.

Head Coach Pete DeBoer

After a failed coaching stint in Florida, the New Jersey Devils took a chance on DeBoer in 2014. He went on to lead them to victory over the rival New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals, and subsequently their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 2003. He then went on to have stints in San Jose, and Vegas, taking both to Stanley Cup Finals. He then wound up in Dallas, where he coached the team to two conference finals, losing both. With proven championship potential on the team, many wonder if he has the ability to push the Stars over the hump to the finals.

The Players

The Dallas Stars return with one of the deepest rosters (especially the forward core) in the entire league. Eight skaters tallied up more than twenty goals in the 2023-2024 season, and all but one are set to return to the Stars to power up our offense once again.

Despite losing veteran defenseman Chris Tanev, a deadline acquisition who massively helped the Star’s defensive core in the postseason, the Stars have replaced him with a mix of prospects and veteran free agents to hopefully replicate his presence.

Old Reliables

1. Jamie Benn

   The captain, affectionately nicknamed “Chubs” by the locker room, is suiting up for his seventeenth year with the team with no signs of stopping. Winning the Art Ross Trophy for scoring the most points in 2016, his career has waxed and waned since then. His massive contract was at one point a cause for concern with his lowered scoring, but his career revival, labeled the “Bennesance,” and his mentoring of younger players on the team have turned him into a fan favorite once again. As a captain, he has gained a reputation as a tough and physical player amongst fans – as an example he is one of the last players in the league to play without a visor – and a goon amongst detractors. Undeniably, Benn has always stood up for his players, and you should expect to see him him in a few scraps if a call is missed this season.

   

2. Tyler Seguin

   An assistant captain for the team, he was run out of Boston in 2013 for his party boy ways despite his massive potential. He has realized much of it with the stars, turning into a bona-fide celebrity and cleaning up his act from the Bruins. Similar to Benn, his massive deal worried Stars fans with lowered scoring and injury, but now he slides into the Star’s “team hockey” style seamlessly.

3. Matt Duchene

   Seeing Duchene on a list of veteran Stars eight, five, or even two years ago would have been about as confusing as a World Series win to a Rangers fan at that point. Duchene was a longtime player for the rival Colorado Avalanche, and a man who had a reputation as a primadonna. Demanding a trade to Ottawa, he was later caught on a hot mic disparaging an assistant coach. He then floated from team to team, ending up in Columbus for a miracle run against the top-ranked Tampa Bay Lighting, and then on to Nashville after that. In 2019, he earned a massive, seven-year, fifty-two million dollar deal in Nashville. He was a leading player there but was bought out in 2023. He was brought in on a one-year “rental” deal for the Stars, where he put up an eighty-point season. His crowning moment on the Stars was an overtime series winner against Colorado. All of these heroics would win him a long-term deal with the Stars, where he will hope to continue his production from last season.

   

4. Esa Lindell

   Lindell is the leader and oldest member of the Dallas Stars’ “Finnish Mafia.” He was drafted to the team in 2012. Since then, general manager Jim Nill has described him as a “stalwart presence” on the team’s defense, taking on penalty kills and every defensive assignment required of him since his debut. He recently inked an under-market deal at a $5.2 million AAV for five years, showing his desire to be in the Lone Star State for the foreseeable future.

Young Reliables 

1. Jason Robertson

   “Robo” has been one of GM Jim Nill’s best draft steals. The Filipino-American hails from Arcadia, California, and was drafted thirty-ninth overall in 2017. Since he hit the ice for Dallas in 2021-2022, he has been a revelation on offense, averaging 73 points per season. While his goal-scoring slightly decreased last year, he more than made up for it with increased assists with his partner in crime and linemate Roope Hintz. One small concern has been his absence in the preseason, with a surgery to remove a small cyst keeping him off the ice. However Pete DeBoer and Jim Nill have both reassured fans that he should not miss much regular season time.

   

2. Miro Heiskanen

   Heiskanen was the most obvious pick of the Stars’ blockbuster 2017 draft, being taken third overall. Heiskanen has not disappointed in DFW, ranked the fifth-best defenseman going into the season this year by the NHL. His skill in scoring goals from the blue line is only beaten by his defensive prowess, and he is always on the ice, averaging around twenty-four minutes of skating each game. It’s hard to define his greatness in statistics, but as Stars Goalie Jake Oettinger says, “He’s got that extra step that only God can give you. He has that, and he’s special.” He is also another member of the Finnish Mafia.

   

3. Roope Hintz

   Nicknamed “the Ace of Spades” by his Texas Stars teammates for a tattoo on his shoulder, Roope Hintz has undoubtedly been a wildcard for the Stars when needed. The center has become known for his speed on the ice, creating opportunities where no one else seemingly could. Hintz has tallied up points at a giant clip in the regular season and the playoffs. He and Jason Robertson combined in the playoffs for a three-goal game from Robertson, with Hintz assists breaking open the way. He is the final member of the Finnish Mafia.

   

4. Thomas Harley

   Harley has been a quietly consistent force on the Stars’ defense. Despite longer-than-expected stints in the AHL for a mid-first-round draft pick in 2019, his playoff work in 2024, taking a large number of minutes for a depleted defensive core, earned him a two-year contract this offseason. He is expected to take a more considerable jump this year, as the twenty-three-year-old has the potential to become one of the league’s leading defensemen.

The New (Old) Faces

1. Matt Dumba

   Matt Dumba was an interesting pickup for the Stars. With Jani Hakanpaa’s departure, the team desperately needed a physical defenseman, and Dumba was one they could pick up for cheap. This decision was met with a lot of hostility from fans, not particularly related to Dumba’s actual value. Dumba was an above-average defenseman for the Minnesota Wild but has bounced around the league for a while, being involved in several low-stakes trades. However, he is loathed by die-hard Stars fans for an arguably dirty hit on the Stars forward Joe Pavelski in 2023, knocking him out of the playoffs with a concussion with no extra punishment for Dumba. He will have to take on additional responsibilities for the Stars to win over these fans, something the thirty-year-old defensemen may not have left in the tank. He may also emerge as a hard-checking menace to opposing forwards if they happen to leave their heads down by the boards.

   

2. Alexander Petrovic

   Petrovic is an odd case in the otherwise refined Stars team. A career AHL-er, he never started for the entirety of a season, even in his youth with the Panthers. After floating around, he wound up on the Stars and started seven playoff games, filling in for injured players. While he certainly did not have phenomenal stats, he ended with a positive +/- and plugged gaps that needed to be plugged. If he returns to the active roster, he should be a good stopgap for the time being.

The Young Bucks

1. Logan Stankoven is bordering on the edge of “rookie” at this point in his career, with twenty-four regular season starts and the entirety of the post-season. Funnily enough, the limit for games played for winning the NHL trophy for rookie of the year, the Calder Memorial Trophy, is twenty-five. Consequently, at the time of writing he is tied for second in Calder odds with two 2024 class draftees.In his limited regular season start he has drawn comparison to NHL legend Pavel Datsyuk, “the Magic Man”, for his stickhandling prowess.
2. Mavrik Borque was a powerhouse in the AHL last year, earning the John B. Sollenberger trophy for being the league’s leading scorer. He scored an impressive 71 goals, and looks to continue that into the big leagues. With one playoff and one regular season start, the rest of the team should at least be familiar with his playstyle and strategy.
3. Lian Bischel is a warrior who can sneak the puck into the goal if the need arises. The 6’5″ 216-pound Swiss defenseman bolsters the size of the Stars Defensive-Core, whose small size was a continuous problem throughout the postseason last year. He may spend a portion of the year in Cedar Park with the Texas Stars, but if the need arises he could easily slot into the rotation and make a big difference.

Conclusion

The Stars will begin their season on Thursday, October 10th in Nashville, and play their first home matchup that Saturday, the 12th, against the New York Islanders in the American Airlines Center. So commences the quest for the greatest trophy in sports, Lord Stanley’s Cup, and so the fans of the Stars launch anew their hopes to see it raised under the banner of the Lone Star State. If they do, you’ll hear about it in the Roundup once the postseason rolls around.

Stay tuned to The Roundup for future Dallas Stars coverage!