Pool Outlook for Dallas

The Dallas Stars didn't do a great deal of tinkering before the 2010 season began, they ended up losing out on their franchise defenseman (Sergei Zubov), injuries reared their ugly head and their number one goalie really struggled to keep the team afloat.  Overall, it was not adding up to a good season for the Stars, whether they liked it or not.   The Stars didn't fare so well in the season, finishing out of the playoffs in the Western Conference and in a lottery pick for the 2010 Entry Draft.  They have already outlined some plans to go in a different direction in the coming season, but let's quickly have a look at what transpired in the season just passed.

One of the few bright spots in the Dallas season was definitely Brad Richards, who led the team in pool scoring during the year.  He finished with 24 goals and 67 assists in 80 games, finishing better than a point-per-game and ranked 12th in the league among all players.   That being said, he was also suffering from a hip problem, which he will have undergone surgery to repair in this off-season, suggesting that he wasn't 100% for the better part of the year.  Richards should be considered a 1st round pick in next year's Draft, especially if his hip recovers fully.

There was definitely some improvement in the healthier forwards on the Dallas squad, as Loui Eriksson finished with 71 points (29 goals & 42 assists) in 82 games and James Neal had 55 points in 78 games.  Both players finished in the top 100 in pool scoring this year, Eriksson all the way up in 35th.  That's definitely a pretty good year to celebrate.  Rookie Jamie Benn scored 22 goals and 19 assists in all 82 games, which didn't get him into the Calder nods, but it's still a pretty good year.  Beyond those three, you can make some arguments for other players, but overall the depth did struggle with injuries, including Mike Ribeiro, who only figured into 66 games and Mike Modano, who figured into 59. 

The defense of the Dallas Stars definitely not as potent as years previous, as the top blueline scorer on the team was Stephane Robidas, who finished with 41 points in all 82 games for the Stars, ranking him 189th in the league scoring for the pool, his highest ranking on record. Before the season started, Robidas was rewarded (?) with a new contract extension, so he'll likely be the Stars best blueliner for a few more years.  Trevor Daley took a dip in pool rankings this year, only picking up 22 points in 77 games, Matt Niskanen and Karlis Skrastins also dropped, having 15 and 13 points, respectively.  Building up their blueline should be a priority this Summer.

Marty Turco was definitely a point of concern for the Dallas Stars in 2010, struggling for a good portion of the season. He did recover near the end of the season to finish with a 22-20-11 record, but it was the first time since the 2003 season that he didn't finish with at least 30 wins.  Turco finished with 56 points in the pool this year, ranking him 91st in the scoring race, but that wasn't enough for the Stars organization, as they have already announced that Turco's contract will not be renewed and he will be a free agent in the Summer.  Kari Lehtonen, who was acquired from the Thrashers this season, will likely take over the number one job.

2011 Season Outlook
It does look like a new direction will be taken in Dallas, as there are going to be some fresh faces in the line-up and likely some new ideas put forward as well, so it's really hard to say how good the outlook is going to be at this point in time.  We can definitely look at the building blocks that they have in place and make some preliminary predicitions, but they are nothing to hang our hats on utnil we get closer to a full line-up.

Forwards	Defense	Goalies
Brad Richards	Stephane Robidas
Loui Eriksson	Trevor Daley
Mike Ribeiro	Karlis Skrastins
Brendan Morrow	Mark Fistric
Jamie Benn	Jeff Woywitka
Steve Ott
Toby Petersen
Tom Wandell
Brian Sutherby

I suppose the biggest question with this group of players listed above is whether or not they are going to be healthy enough to be a good core group. They are definitely cost-effective, counting only $35.9 million against the salary cap for next season and there is 14 names already on the list.  That leaves plenty of room to get their goalies signed, plus a defender or two and five forwards. 

The Stars have some work to do when it comes to their restricted free agents, with James Neal, Matt Niskanen and Kari Lehtonen leading the way as likely priorities for their Summer signings.  I'm curious to see how they deal with fellow RFA, Fabian Brunnstrom, who didn't have a great season with the Stars, not fitting into the system as they thought he might.  Niklas Grossman rounds out the semi-regular players that played for the Stars that also needs a new RFA deal this off-season.

Marty Turco, Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen may have all played their last games in a Dallas Stars uniform this season, all coming up as unrestricted free agents.  Of course, we already know Turco will hit the open market, we're waiting to see if Modano retires or not and I suppose there is still a chance that Lehtinen could be signed to another deal, but that might just go against the younger model being built up by managment.  I can't see any of them being part of the plan going forward, but that's just my somewhat-educated guess.

Looking at the Dallas prospects system today, there isn't really much that jumps out at me from the pages of the Future Watch put out by the Hockey News, but I do recognize some of the names and would definitley be interested in seeing how well they will develop.  Scott Glennie is currently playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL.  His WHL playoffs are done, but he will be playing in the Memorial Cup regardless, as the Wheat Kings are hosting the tournament this year.  Glennie was a 1st round pick in 2009 and should have a lot of upside. The Stars did get to show off Philip Larsen in the last couple games of the season and might get a long look at him at camp this Fall.

At the Entry Draft, the Stars will have the 11th pick overall and I would have to believe that they will be going for the most skillful player at the draft position of 11th, which has been their focus for the last couple years... or so I've been reading. 

What I said at this time last year: "There is plenty to be excited about in Dallas, especially from a pool perspective. With players like Brad Richards, Brendan Morrow and Sergei Zubov hiding among the mediocre players on the 2009 scoring list, they could be very good finds at your next Draft. A season under the belt of Fabian Brunnstrom should help his fantasy stock price a bit, while there are some new names to consider from the team, including Steve Ott. If I didn't have such club allegiances in the West, it wouldn't be so hard for me to pick Dallas Stars on my pool team, but at the right pick, they could all be a steal and that's how you can win your pool quite easily. Keep an eye on those Stars!"

I think the only I was right about last year was that Brad Richards was going to be a good pick as a guy that was hiding among the mediocre players in the Draft.  If you managed to snag Richards at a lower position, you would have loved his production this year.  Morrow didn't recover his scoring numbers fully, Zubov left for Europe, Brunnstrom was a bust, but I wouldn't say that the year was a complete write-off, as Loui Eriksson really impressed in 2010.

I have a feeling that more youth will be served in the 2011 season, but it might not be the most beneficial result right away.  Jamie Benn and James Neal will likely be focal points for the Stars, as they use their playmaking centres of Richards and Ribeiro try to find some chemistry with them.  Benn will be a sophomore in 2011 and the jinx has been a little stronger in the past couple years, so my expectations will likely stay low for him.  Neal was better in his sophomore year, so maybe there is hope for Benn.  I'm also expecting some growing pains with Kari Lehtonen becoming the new number one, I suspect he'll have a medium season, but likely look close to breaking out at a couple of points during the year.