Prospective Look at Dallas

By the end of the giant-killing playoff run, the Dallas Stars didn't have much left in the tank. Sure, there were a couple key injuries in the series against Detroit, but they still managed to win some games out of that series, not to mention the injuries through the first two rounds that they won. It should be a playoff run to be proud of, really. It has to mean good things when the Stars make a run like that.

This summer, the question will be asked, 'how do they build on that momentum?'

The Stars have plenty of key pieces in place and they will have some players on the outs that will give them some more cap space for a good run. They had also taken the chance on the young Swedish forward, Fabian Brunnstrom, who could swoop in and impress some people.

As of today, they have 13 of their key players from this season signed on for next year. Throwing Brunnstrom into the mix is a little premature, but the forward has all the potential (according to the scouts) of cracking the Stars line-up. Currently, the Stars cap hit (for those 13) is st $43.4 million, which should be a fair bit of room to fill in 10 more players full-time.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Mike Ribeiro	Sergei Zubov	Marty Turco
Brendan Morrow	Stephane Robidas
Brad Richards	Matt Niskanen
Mike Modano	Phillipe Boucher
Jere Lehtinen	Niklas Grossman
Steve Ott
Joel Lundqvist

Possibly earning some full-time work for the Stars next season could be Krys Barch and Tobias Stephan, both played had time up with the big club, Barch moreso than Stephan. The inclusion of those two players could help the salary situation a little bit more, as they are already signed on for relatively cheap. Another prospect waiting in the wings is Ivan Vishnevsky. He's got a good sized entry-level deal and the Stars are hoping for big things from this big Russian defender.

Notably hitting the restricted free agent market this summer are Trevor Daley and Loui Eriksson. Both players figured in well, both in the regular season and the playoffs and may have gained enough experience to really make their mark next season. A deep pool would likely serve Daley better as a defenseman, but a really deep pool is good for Eriksson as well. They should both be back next season.

On the other side, unrestricted free agency will see Mattias Norstrom, Stu Barnes, Johan Holmqvist, Antti Miettinen and Niklas Hagman all qualify this summer. Norstrom has been rumoured to be heading back to Europe this summer, while the other players aren't big salary earning players, could be considered to come back. Barnes, Miettinen and Hagman more likely than not.

Free agency may be the way to go for Dallas, as the Draft may only see them make minor deals, if any. At Draft Day, the Stars won't be picking in the first round, as they dealt their pick to Los Angeles in the 2006/'07 season. They will consider Brunnstrom to be their first round pick of the summer and they already have him signed. The Stars have plenty of picks in the remainder of the draft, so they should be able to make some key picks with their new management in place. With that new management, there could very well a shift in the team's mentality at the draft. The team has been very Euro-friendly, but have had little luck with those players coming over, so look for them to shift back to North American style players.