Pool Outlook for Dallas

The last of the non-playoff teams in the 2011 season is the Dallas Stars, who made a spectacular splash outside of the top eight teams in the West, after spending so much time at the top of the Pacific Division standings, running over teams with a solid offense, good enough defense and a revitalized starting goaltender.  The Stars almost looked to be locks atop of the Pacific, but the wheels just fell off with injuries and the team sunk faster than a guy and his brand new pair of concrete shoes.  Such an utter disappointment, only to be coupled with ownership uncertainty, this could be a long Summer for the Stars.

Despite the fallout at the end of the season, Kari Lehtonen had some very good numbers for the hockey pools in the regular season, winning 34 games, 3 by shutout and leading all goalies in assists with 6, giving him 80 points on the year, 19th overall in pool scoring, 10th among all goalies.  This was the kind of season the Stars had envisioned Lehtonen to have, thus moving away from Marty Turco in the off-season.  Lehtonen will now have to build on that season, trying to keep the Stars in the playoff hunt a lot longer in 2012.

The Dallas Stars were blessed with some real firepower in the 2011 season, but some key injuries at the worst time really took the team down a peg.  Brad Richards led all Stars forwards with 77 points in 72 games, had a whale of a year and was a big reason for the surge at the beginning of the year.  Loui Eriksson (73 points in 79 games), Mike Ribeiro (71 points in 82 games), Brendan Morrow (56 points in 82 games) and Jamie Benn (56 points in 69 games) all finished in the top 100 in pool scoring along with Richards, which showed some real promise out of this club.  It's too bad they couldn't push it for the entire season.

On defense, the Dallas Stars made a savvy move trading for Alex Goligoski from the Penguins, in what was deemed a very lopsided trade in the other direction.  Goligoski turned out to be a great fit and ended up leading all Stars defense in scoring with 46 points in 83 games between Pittsburgh and Dallas.  Stephane Robidas (30 points in 81 games) and Trevor Daley (27 points in 82 games) both finished in the top 100 in defense scoring in the pool this year, which should get themselves some more consideration for next year in the regular season pools.

Playing behind Lehtonen in the Dallas crease in 2011 was Andrew Raycroft and he showed everyone that he is a more-than-capable back-up in the league, finishing with 8 wins, 2 shutouts for 20 points in only 847 minutes worth of action.  With Raycoft signed on for another season in Dallas, they should be in good hands when it comes to their goaltending.

2012 Pool Outlook
If the Dallas Stars could sort out their ownership situation, then the team would have a pretty good shot at landing some real talent or keeping the talent that is heading out to market this Summer. Sadly, it doesn't sound like that is going to happen any time soon and losses will be had on the roster, which may lead to more losses on the ice.

Forwards	Defense	Goalies
Loui Eriksson	Alex Goligoski	Kari Lehtonen
Mike Ribeiro	Stephane Robidas	Andrew Raycroft
Brendan Morrow	Trevor Daley
Jamie Benn	Niklas Grossman
Steve Ott	Mark Fistric
Adam Burish
Tom Wandell
Toby Petersen
Krys Barch

You can't deny that the Stars do have a very formidable core group of players already signed on for next season and it comes at a reasonable price tag as well.  Nine forwards, five defense and a goaltending tandem, plus the last year of Sean Avery's contract at half price, comes in at a low ball projection of $37.9 million.  The Stars do have some talent in the wings, likely to get a shot at more reasonable costs, so the team could very well pull off the budget-team look in 2012.

The headliner in free agency for the Stars will be their unrestricted free agents, a list that is very bold from top to bottom.  Brad Richards, Jamie Langenbrunner (pictured), Jeff Woywitka, Brandon Segal, Jason williams and Brian Sutherby all head the list that will be open for offers on July 1st.  With money problems tying the hands of management, it's hard to expect any of these players to return for the 2012 season.

Only one potential restricted free agent, Colton Sceviour, played a game in the NHL last season.  The RFA crop is very thin in Dallas.

Accoring to some lists, the Stars have some really good talent coming through the system, but here I'd like to acknowledge some of the talent that would probably be ready to go for the 2012 system, possibly as good pick-ups in the hockey pools.  I've been waiting to see more from Scott Glennie over the past year, but have been disappointed of late.  Glennie should be getting a look at camp, but the question mark remains on whether he'll make it.  Philip Larsen did spend some time on the Stars' blueline in 2011 and with an open spot already, he might be the guy they look to fill it with.  Already with a goaltending tandem in place, it seems less likely, but Jack Campbell will need an injury to be able to make his jump in during the 2012 season, otherwise it will be another year in junior for their top prospect.

The Stars will likely be looking long and hard at their draft picks this season, especially with some of their budget woes being upon them.  With the 14th pick in the 1st round, I would think that they might be looking for someone who is NHL-ready out of the draft, either a forward or defenseman with size and speed, the more impact scoring, the better.  The Stars will need to fill up the roster with some youth, so the bigger and brighter player they can find, will certainly help them in the short-term.

What I said last year at this time... "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."

If expectations were kept low and some picks were made with those thoughts in mind, then your pool team may have done well.  Benn, despite injury, put up some very good numbers, Neal was traded to Pittsburgh and didn't do so well in his early start there.  Richards and Ribeiro had good years in the middle, while many growing pains for Lehtonen and the Stars subsided early and were no trouble at all.  That makes for a pretty good year in Dallas, especially pool-wise.

The 2012 season outlook has some real uncertainty to it, which really hurts this club.  The core is pretty decent, especially with the addition of Goligoski, but if Richards does fly the coop in July, the Stars will have a long road to walk to recover offensively.  Benn should continue to improve his numbers, getting closer and closer to a 40-goal season, Ribeiro would do well to help him with that, Morrow will have to take on more of a scoring responsibility, possibly some career numbers and Lehtonen will have to stand on his head for another long year of starts, if Dallas wants to be anywhere near the playoffs next Spring.  Their success would be improbable today, but certainly not impossible.