2014-15 Dallas Stars Preview

With Seguin and Spezza locked in as the club’s top two pivots and left wing Jamie Benn coming off a season in which he was named a first-team NHL All Star, it’s pretty clear Nill’s Stars are not content with taking a back seat to Central Division powerhouses in Chicago and St. Louis.

Lindy Ruff’s debut season behind the Dallas bench in 2013-14 resulted in the Stars’ first trip to the postseason since 2008, but the club fell to Anaheim in six games during the opening round. By dealing for Spezza, who would be a clear-cut No. 1 center on most NHL teams, Nill is hoping his team not only will return to the playoffs in 2015, but also go deeper into the postseason.

One major flaw preventing the Stars from breaking into the Western Conference’s elite is the club’s lack of game-changing defensemen. The blue line is not terrible by any means, but it’s pretty clear the defensive rotation does not stack up with the NHL’s best.

As always, the health of No. 1 goaltender Kari Lehtonen is a concern in Dallas. The veteran netminder did stay relatively healthy in 2013-14, seeing action in 65 games — Lehtonen’s highest total since his first full season with the Stars in 2010-11.

The Blackhawks and Blues are the favorites to win the Central this season, but Dallas has a decent shot at beating out Colorado and Minnesota for third place and the division’s final automatic playoff spot. If Ruff and the boys can’t pull that off, the Stars would definitely settle for one of the West’s two wild card spots like they did last season.

FORWARDS – At this time last year the trade for Seguin still seemed like a gamble for the Stars, but hindsight makes the deal look like highway robbery.

Seguin left Boston with a reputation as an immature player with a penchant for poor off-ice behavior. His alleged attitude problems allowed Dallas to land Seguin along with throw-ins Rich Peverley and Ryan Button for Loui Eriksson and a trio of prospects.

All Seguin did in his first season with the Stars was finish fourth in the NHL scoring race, posting 84 points while registering team highs in both goals (37) and assists (47). The former second overall pick of the 2010 draft, Seguin hinted at that level of production with Boston (particularly during a 29-goal, 67-point season in 2011-12) before experiencing his true breakout season in Big D.

Helping the now 22-year-old Seguin make his wildly successful transition to the Stars is Benn, who showed immediate chemistry with his new centerman. Benn also experienced his best NHL season, notching personal bests in goals (34), assists (45) and plus-minus rating (plus-21). The 25-year-old also fired 279 shots on net in 2013-14 for an average of 3.44 shots per game. Heading into last season, Benn had averaged 2.55 shots per contest during his NHL career.

The presence of Benn and Seguin leaves Valeri Nichushkin looking like the forgotten man on Dallas’ top line, but the 19-year-old Russian could change that perception in his sophomore campaign. Nichushkin, a first-round pick (10th overall) at the 2013 draft, played in 79 games as a rookie last season and recorded 14 goals and 20 assists. Listed by Dallas at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, Nichushkin could become a feared offensive weapon in his own right as early as this season.

Although Spezza is coming off a down season by his standards, the 31-year- old’s arrival offers Dallas a big boost in terms of offensive depth. Acquiring the former Senators captain, however, cost Nill highly-touted forward Alex Chiasson along with Alex Guptill, Nicolas Paul and a second-round draft pick in 2015. That could prove to be a high cost, especially if Spezza, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, chooses not to re-sign with Dallas.

Spezza is coming off a 23-goal, 66-point season with Ottawa in 2013-14 after playing in only five games during an injury-plagued campaign the season before. However, if you were to remove the lockout-shortened season of two years ago and Spezza’s 33-game rookie season of 2002-03, Spezza has averaged over 73 points a season in years when he plays 60 games or more.

Dallas signed Ales Hemsky to a three-year, $12 million over the summer and Nill hopes the winger can duplicate the chemistry he showed while briefly playing with Spezza in Ottawa last season. Hemsky was dealt from Edmonton to the Sens at the trade deadline and recorded 17 points (4 goals, 13 assists) in 20 games as Spezza’s linemate. The 31-year-old veteran had 43 points on 13 goals and 30 assists in 75 combined games with the Oilers and Senators, but Hemsky has three NHL seasons of 65 points or more on his resume.

Although he is more comfortable playing on the right side, Erik Cole figures to get a shot at the left wing spot on the second line. Cole had 16 goals and 13 assists in 75 games with the Stars in 2013-14.

With Spezza in tow, Cody Eakin drops down to the third line where the 23-year- old centerman should face easier matchups. Eakin had 16 goals and 35 points in 81 games last season and could skate with wingers Ryan Garbutt and Antoine Roussel, who posted 32 and 29 points, respectively, for the Stars last season.

Vernon Fiddler is the obvious choice to center the fourth line where he’ll likely join up with fellow veteran Shawn Horcoff and Colton Sceviour, a 25- year-old winger coming off a season in which he posted eight goals and four assists in only 26 games.

DEFENSE – The Stars were ranked 10th in the league in offense in 2013-14 and expect to be even better this season after adding newcomers such as Hemsky and Spezza. The Dallas defense, however, is going to have to try and improve from within as Nill didn’t bolster the back end with offseason moves.

With Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley serving as the club’s top pairing, the Stars ranked 17th in team defense last season and surrendered 2.72 goals per game.

Despite his undersized stature (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) Goligoski has become the Stars’ No. 1 defenseman. The 29-year-old led Dallas in ice time last season by averaging 24 minutes, 18 seconds of action per game, and his 42 points (6G, 36A) gave him 17 more than Daley — the next most-productive man on the Stars blue line.

The 30-year-old Daley, a second-round pick by Dallas in 2002, is a veteran of 688 regular-season games at the NHL level. He recorded nine goals and 25 points for the Stars last season, but like Goligoski, Daley is undersized at 5-foot-11, 195 pounds.

Fortunately for Dallas, the club’s second pairing should offer more in the size department. Jordie Benn — Jamie’s older brother — is a 6-foot-2, 200- pound rearguard coming off a 20-point season (3G, 17A). The elder Benn also led the Stars blue line with a plus-16 rating.

Brenden Dillon, meanwhile, is a promising young physical defenseman listed at 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds. The 23-year-old had six goals, 11 assists and 86 penalty minutes in 80 games last season. Dillon, however, remains unsigned and even if Dallas gets him under contract before the start of the season, the young blueliner may be adversely affected from missing training camp.

There was a time when Sergei Gonchar was among the best overall defenseman in the NHL, but at 40 years of age he’s no more than a veteran capable of adding depth. Gonchar signed a two-year, $10 million deal with Dallas before last season and posted 22 points (2G, 20A) and a minus-12 rating over 76 games. The Russian blueliner averaged only 17:37 of ice time per game in 2013-14.

The sixth defensemen spot will likely be filled on most nights by either Patrik Nemeth or Jamie Oleksiak, a pair of young and physical defensemen. Nemeth made his NHL debut in April of last season, but wound up earning minutes in the playoffs. The 6-foot-7 Oleksiak, however, could be the better player long term after getting selected 14th overall in the 2011 draft.

GOALTENDING – Lehtonen played in 65 games last season and missed only eight contests due to injury.

Considering the defenseman skating in front of him, it was a strong season for the 30-year-old Finnish netminder, who went 33-20-10 with a 2.41 goals against average and .919 save percentage. Lehtonen also set a personal best with five shutouts, accounting for nearly one-fifth of his 27 career whitewashings.

The playoffs were a different story for Lehtonen, who allowed 19 goals in the six games against the Ducks. Despite being a veteran of 445 regular-season games, it was only the second foray into the postseason for Lehtonen, who entered the 2013-2014 campaign with just two games of experience in the NHL playoffs.

Dallas used four other goaltenders — Dan Ellis, Tim Thomas, Christopher Nilstorp and Jack Campbell — during the course of the 2013-14 season, but only Campbell remains in the organization. However, Anders Lindback, who signed a one-year, $925,000 contract over the summer, expects to serve as Lehtonen’s primary backup.

Lindback was 8-12-2 with a 2.90 GAA in 23 regular-season games for Tampa Bay last season. He also was pressed into duty during the playoffs thanks to an injury to the Lightning’s No. 1 goaltender Ben Bishop but did not fare well, going 0-3 with a 3.91 GAA.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE – By trading for Spezza, the Stars were able to build off the momentum provided by their first playoff appearance in six years. The trick now is to live up to the hype and return to the playoffs for a second consecutive spring. Armed with enough talent to spread out over four lines, Ruff’s second season in Big D should be an exciting one as the club tries to prove it belongs with the elite teams in the Western Conference. Nill seems to have Dallas on the right track and the fact that the Stars are still on the young side gives plenty of reasons to be hopeful for the future.

Categorized in: NHL