The Dallas Stars are preparing for a budget season with new ownership not in place to help the management team out financially, which may greatly hinder the overall success of the team, but thankfully, they do have a core group of players that should be able to grow together through this rough patch in the franchise history. There were some key departures during this off-season, but the team did take on some new faces, which could turn this team into quite the spoiler when it is all said and done.
| Forwards | Defense | Goalies | |||
| Mike Ribeiro | 70 | Alex Goligoski | 40 | Kari Lehtonen | 70 |
| Loui Eriksson | 65 | Sheldon Souray | 40 | Andrew Raycroft | 25 |
| Jamie Benn | 65 | Stephane Robidas | 30 | ||
| Brendan Morrow | 60 | Trevor Daley | 25 | ||
| Michael Ryder | 35 | Adam Pardy | 15 | ||
| Steve Ott | 30 | Niklas Grossman | 10 | ||
| Radek Dvorak | 30 | Mark Fistric | 5 | ||
| Vern Fiddler | 25 | ||||
| Jake Dowell | 20 | ||||
| Tom Wandell | 15 | ||||
| Toby Petersen | 15 | ||||
| Adam Burish | 10 | ||||
| Krys Barch | 10 | ||||
| Scott Glennie | 30 | Philip Larsen | 15 | Richard Bachman | 5 |
| Eric Godard | 5 | ||||
| Tomas Vincour | 5 |
Pool Worthy Forwards (Inside the top 160, 40 points)
The loss of Brad Richards in the off-season will hurt this team a lot, leaving a big hole to fill, which the Stars didn't really do. Their acquisitions of depth players will likely make them harder to compete against, but probably not harder to defend against. Only five forwards came out as pool worthy for my draft projections, Mike Ribeiro will be leaned upon, Loui Eriksson will need to earn his keep, Jamie Benn needs to grow as a goal scorer, Brendan Morrow will need to lead by example and Michael Ryder has to dip into his playoff experience to help his new team.
Adding players like Dvorak and Fiddler to help ease the burden on the team doesn't look great on the team, as I don't think they will flourish in this situation.
Pool Worthy Defensemen (Inside the top 80, 25 points)
If there was one spot where the Stars did a good job in making some changes, it was the blueline. The addition of Alex Goligoski at the trade deadline last year, signing Sheldon Souray and Adam Pardy as free agents was a crafty move, which does give the team a bit more depth on the back end, likely helping out their keepers.
Stephane Robidas and Trevor Daley are two viable options for points in the 2012 season, as they normally are, which means that a lot of the Stars' success may have to come from the blueline this year.
Pool Worthy Goalies (Inside the top 40, 25 points)
The biggest question going into the 2011 season was whether or not Kari Lehtonen could return to being a number one goalie in the NHL and he came back with a resounding 'yes' and posted some very impressive numbers. Unfortunately, the Stars' season went down the tubes quite quickly and they fell out of the division lead and out of the playoff picture. With limited offense up front, I can't see Lehtonen winning as many games in 2012, which will limit his numbers.
Andrew Raycroft may figure into the Stars' crease a little bit more, if Lehtonen struggles to win games, so I think he might pick up a few more points in 2012, jumping into the conversation as a good back-up option.
Pool Worthy Rookies
It's hard to say how much patience the Stars have with Scott Glennie, but with their offense waning going into this season, there might be a pretty good push to see Glennie in a Stars uniform in the 2012 season. If he does make the jump, he might not have a great deal of help, which will limit his points, but at this point, he does seem like the only real rookie option in Dallas.
Unsigned Players
None.
Key Injuries
None.
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