Pool Outlook for Dallas

The Dallas Stars, as an organization, have been travelling the right way in their building process, as they were able to secure a top end centre for their scoring winger, playing in front of a franchise goaltender and they've been able to add some reasonable depth, which led them to the playoffs in the 2014 season, nearly making it out of the opening round too.

Arguably, they are still a couple to a few pieces away from really being that contending team, especially in a skill-rich Western Conference, but you can at least see which way they are going.  They have been able to draft some quality talent, which has made some leaps into the NHL already and they are accumulating more talent that can fill in for pieces that move on through other deals.

If there is one knock on the Stars at the moment, it is that they are not quite moving as fast, in the franchise department, like some of their Central Division rivals.  The Colorado Avalanche were shot out of a cannon in 2014, while the St. Louis Blues are hitting their maturation point now and the Chicago Blackhawks are in full stride.  This is the sort of thing that can hurt a team's confidence, but as long as they stay motivated, with a clever addition here and there, the Stars could be just another force in this league full of parity.

In only his fourth full NHL season, first with the Dallas Stars, Tyler Seguin showed why he was a 2nd overall pick in 2010 or even why he should have been selected 1st overall that year.  Seguin was able to flash some real brilliance in a number of games in the 2014 season and his numbers reflected his brilliant year.  Seguin finished with 37 goals and 47 assists for 84 points in 80 games, finishing 9th overall in pool scoring, 4th among forwards.  After this season, I think we can legitimately include Seguin in the hunt for the 1st overall pick in hockey pools conversation.

It wasn't just Seguin up front, as he played as a great compliment to Jamie Benn, as they worked a huge 1-2 combo for the Stars this past season.  Benn scored 34 goals and 45 assists in 81 games, just a shade under a point-per-game, as they went buck wild over a few teams this season.  Once you get past Benn though, it does get thin rather quickly.  Benn was ranked 18th in pool scoring, then the next forward on the team was ranked 229th overall, Cody Eakin, with 35 points in 81 games.  Alex Chiasson (35 points in 79 games), Valeri Nichushkin (34 points in 79 games) and Ryan Garbutt (32 points in 75 games) round out the forwards with young talent, but they all need a little more maturing before they elevate the status of the Stars as a whole.

The Dallas blueline wasn't the biggest treasure trove of points for the hockey pools, but Alex Goligoski led an okay defense corps with 42 points in 81 games.  That was good enough for 22nd among all defensemen, 166th overall in pool scoring.  Trevor Daley (25 points in 67 games), Sergei Gonchar (22 points in 76 games) and Jordie Benn (20 points in 78 games).  The blueline certainly has some room to improve, if the team is going to make their way up the ranks as well.

In goal, the Stars relied heavily on their number one guy, Kari Lehtonen, who did well in 2014, finishing 14th overall, 7th among goalies in pool scoring, finishing with 80 points in 65 appearances for the Stars.  He won 33 games, 5 by shutout and added 4 assists in the year, doing his part to help out at both ends of the ice.  The Stars also showcased a few other goalies, including acquiring Tim Thomas from Florida at the trade deadline, but Thomas only featured when Lehtonen was resting for the playoff run.  The team didn't really give a chance to any of their youngsters, opting to try for wins, instead of giving experience.

2015 Pool Outlook

The Stars turned a lot of heads in the 2014 season and there could be a good rush to some of their better players at the hockey pool draft this Fall.  Seguin, Benn and Lehtonen will all be top prizes for teams, either 1st or 2nd round picks and taken with confidence.  There should be some interest in some of their younger talent, as Nichushkin played himself into a good depth role, while Garbutt came out of nowhere and should feature as a late forward pick with bargain power.  Let's not forget Goligoski... he'll be a good mid-round blueline pick, especially if he's on the power play with the big guns.  Things are looking up for the Stars.

The Stars have a few roster spots open for some young players to slide into and I think the marquee name of the bunch may be Jack Campbell, who may feature as Lehtonen's back-up in the 2015 season.  Campbell was a 1st round pick in 2010 for the Stars and has spent the better part of the last two seasons with the Stars' AHL affiliate, so he has had some time working on his pro game.  I would imagine the team will also give a look to forward Radek Faksa and defenseman Ludwig Bystrom, but there will be no rush for them to make it into the line-up.

Free Agency and the Salary Cap

The Stars have a couple of 40+ year olds hitting the market, if not retiring, this Summer, thanks to unrestricted free agency.  Forward Ray Whitney and goalie Tim Thomas lead the parade and it will be of interest to see what happens with these two.  Whitney had 32 points in 2014, while Thomas had 37 between Florida and Dallas.

Restricted free agency features a few players that featured well for Dallas in 2014, as forwards Cody Eakin and Antoine Roussel and defenseman Brenden Dillon all need new deals this Summer.  Prospects Scott Glennie and Cameron Gaunce are also up for new deals as well.

Eight forwards, four defensemen and a couple of goalies (including Campbell) come in at a very reasonable $48.1 million against the cap, leaving plenty of room against the $71.1 million projected cap ceiling for nine more roster holes to fill.  There are a couple names who may make their way up from the reserve list to the roster, but I would think that the Stars will look to be a player in the market first, before doing much for promotions.

With the aging defense corps the Stars already have, namely Sergei Gonchar, I think the Stars would benefit from finding an offensive defenseman, giving a little more help to Goligoski down the line.  There are a couple of options available in a few lists that I've seen, but playing in the West would likely require a little bit more size, so it would seem more likely, with these two specifics, that a kid like Jack Dougherty could be taken with the 14th overall pick.  Dougherty appears to be headed to college for a couple years, but it appears that he could be a good pick-up for a franchise that is building well.

I think there has to be a grain of salt taken with the excitement surrounding the Dallas Stars.  As it has been outlined, the Stars have a good core group of players, but in trying to make moves to find the right mix of depth, there are chances that those moves can make the team fall flat or just not generate anything.  In these days of parity, it is on management of these teams to make those right decisions, thanks to input from their scouting staff and other key figures.  It doesn't take much to fall off their perch, especially since they had the last wild card spot this year.

With already covering Vancouver, Nashville and Arizona through these Pool Outlooks, it really goes to show how tight the Western Conference is and if one of those teams is going to make a push for a playoff spot, it is going to make Dallas' chances of making it again that much slimmer.  With the number of pieces that the Stars need, it wouldn't surprise me if they fell out of the playoff picture, narrowly missing out, but not without a glorious fight.  The Stars are going to score some goals, but their defense still looks a bit suspect on paper, which could be the last nail in the coffin, come the end of the regular season.  The Stars could improve at the position in the off-season, but there isn't much to be had, so I find it unlikely that they can improve enough to fend off another desperate team.