Preseason Preview: Dallas Stars

Well, its August and that means there's not a whole much of anything going on. That said, I'm gonna try and nail out 30 team evaluations before the preseason is underway.

Now, the Dallas Stars

Team M.O.: This is a team that likes have a focused, well-balanced attack that is reliant on intelligence to win hockey games. They have guys who are tough, they also have guys who are finesse and highly skilled. When they have it together they're on top of their game. But this group doesn't seem to battle through adversity well and unless all is well with the usual faces in the dressing room, the team struggles mightily.

Last Season: The team finished 12th in the conference and out of the playoff race. This is a far cry from the Western Conference Final the appeared in the season before when they lost to the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings. Some people like to blame the Sean Avery fiasco, but there were plenty of other factors. While Brendan Morrow's injuries were a significant factor, last year's problem centered around Marty Turco's inability to stop a beach ball and Dallas's lack of goaltending depth to help the team should that happen. IMO, the front office with Brett Hull made a series of arrogant moves that could potentially bite them in the ass for a while.

Offense: Brendan Morrow's one of the best power forwards in the league and when you lose a player of his caliber after 18 games into the season, it's not going to make things easy if other players should fail. Brad Richards was also prolific when he was in the lineup, but he too battled injuries throughout the season as was Jere Lehtinen. It wasn't all bad though, as Loui Eriksson had a breakthrough campaign for the Stars and may have been the best forward they had in the lineup all year, notching 63 points and showing excellent dedication to two-way hockey. Mike Riberio wasn't as prolific as he was the season before, but was pretty darn close with 78 points. Steve Ott provided some second-line production while remaining one of the best agitators in the league while Krys Barch supplied the fisticuffs. James Neal and Fabian Brunnstrom made the big squad and will need another season or two until they're truly ready for the NHL. Mike Modano was respectable this past season, but may not have much NHL left in him.
If the team needs to make any moves, it would be to bring in a checking forward to help the bottom forward units. A scoring forward shouldn't be necessary unless injuries start to pile up again.

Defense: The Stars are going into the season with a bunch of defenders who aren't flashy but should be able to get the job done. Stephane Robidas and Trevor Daley should provide solid defense to go along with about 25-30 points. Karlis Skrastins was brought in to provide a veteran top-four defender that will replace Sergei Zubov while Jeff Woywitka was brought in to give the team's defense some depth and grit. Matt Niskanen and Niklas Grossman took impressive strides in their first full NHL campaigns. Mark Fistric, Andrew Hutchinson, and Ivan Vishnevskiy performed respectably in the time they were called up to play with the big club. Dallas will probably have the latter trio battle for their number seventh spot with the nod most likely going to Hutchinson due to the fact he has to clear waivers. Out of any other position in the club, I like their defense the best.

Goaltending: When your big money goaltender starts to lose games, the whole team feels it. Marty Turco has always stood out as one of the premier puckhandling goaltenders in the league that, for whatever reason, watched his game completely unravel last season and he's going to have to prove to the team, himself, and everyone else that last year was just a fluke. Since lack of goaltending depth was a problem last season, the club brought in Alex Auld from the Ottawa Senators and should be able to get in about 40 games for the team if they need him to. As long as the duo can stay healthy and let the prospects develop on the farm, the team won't need to bring anyone else in.

Expectations: Dallas has all the tools to be a successful team in the league but might have seen their best stretch of seasons behind them. The Anaheim Ducks made some smart signings in the off-season while the LA Kings and Phoenix Coyotes are starting to emerge as competitive squads with a deeper youth movement. If these guys are going to have a shot at a successful season, they're going to need to remain healthy and remain focused. Otherwise they'll be on the outside looking in as far as the playoffs go.