Dallas Stars Roster Breakdown: Is This The Year?

Dallas Stars Roster Breakdown: Is This The Year?

moving now into a team that does have a very good 2C. Do a little bit of a roster breakdown. Yeah. And I mean, respectable 4C. Um going to do a roster breakdown of the Dallas Stars. Um so for all the viewers, uh you’re looking at a lot of lot of numbers on your screen right now. Um, maybe not the most visually compelling display of information. Uh, but I think this hockey nerds equivalent of uh the uh like the corkboard with like the string the red strings running through it and stuff like that. Look at my uh a little bit. Uh but it is kind of all the information on one page. Um whereas you know I went through multiple a lot of pages to get a lot of this information. By the way, all the stuff came from uh from Puck Pedia and Elite Prospects. Um, also shout out Money Puck who did, you know, my uh advanced stats segment is almost entirely Money Puck. Um, uh, but yeah, the Dow Star is interesting here. So, you have, you know, the the core team at the top and then, uh, the press box minor section, which these are guys who appeared in NHL games. Um, and then minors are just pure guys who were in the minor leagues. And then prospects are players who have not hit the AHL uh or ECHL. Mhm. Um, and then uh colors and you have the numbers on a white background regular season numbers on a silver background are uh playoffs because you know Stanley Cup and Cal Cup are both silver trophies. Uh, orange on their contracts means expiring this year. So, these are, you know, your your pending expirations. Red means they are expired, which Dallas only has the one in their minor system. Um, other teams have a lot more red that have not done their contracts. Uh, and then green are new additions. I think that’s uh that’s everything we need to get started with. Uh, so I will start off to the side. Uh, they have 1.9 million in cap space left. So, they’re kind of done, I think. Um, although there are still rumors swirling around with Jason Robertson. Yeah. Who starting top left, we’ll we’ll start with him. Uh, sure. And he is It’s interesting. I don’t know how they’re going to be able to afford to retain him, Harley, and Bourke moving forward. Even with the cap increase next year, I still think Harley and Bourke are going to command a lot more money and Robertson probably a little bit more than his 7.7 million. Uh especially after having almost a point per game season this year. Played the full 82, got hurt in game 82. Um 35 goals, 45 assists for 80 points, a plus 10 and a 60% expected goals four percentage. Wow. Uh really dominant regular season this year, but he didn’t necessarily feel super dominant. Um I mean he’s he’s not a very flashy player, I would say. Yeah. You don’t look at him and think like, oh, he’s like elite. He’s I mean, you know, a a 35 goal season is great. Like honestly, that’s that’s amazing, right? But um you don’t look at him and think of him as like an elite goal scorer. You don’t think of him as elite playmaker. He’s not ever the fastest guy out there on the ice, right? But he just is really good at everything he does, right? Yeah. So, um yeah, I they need to pay this guy. they need to pay him or they need to get a equivalent value equivalent top six winger um at a reasonable price point cuz like you’re not going to be able to get a guy that is going to cost a lot more than Jason Robertson. No. And they are going to need a guy that’s not expiring this off seasonason either because that creates the same problem. A guy expires in two off seasons, you know. it’s not as bad. Um because they have some big money coming off the books at that point. Look at that. And then I think part of their playoff struggles is was not having Robertson healthy. He played 11 of the 18. Um missed the first seven. So, you know, the the least important ones to miss, right, is the first round if your team makes it past the first round. But I don’t think he came back healthy. I think he came back good enough to get cleared uh medically. He had four goals, two assists for six points. He was a minus five. Still had good uh expected goals, four percentage uh at 56. He looks pretty decent against the uh Oilers compared to a lot of the other players. Uh yeah, uh on on this on this roster. So yeah, you know, um and then Roe Hints in the middle. Uh oh, also Robertson second round pick in 2017. Uh that’s gonna be a common theme stars is a lot of uh a lot of non first round picks. A lot of draft picks here. Another first non-firstrounder, Roe Hints. Uh second round pick in 2015. uh 76 games, 28 goals, 39 assists, 67 points, a plus 18 in a 57 or sorry, 55% expected goals for percentage. Uh he is fantastic. I don’t know if he is a Stanley Cup winning 1C. Yeah, we haven’t uh we haven’t yet done the the 1C are important uh segment yet, you know, if that ever happens. But he definitely he definitely um I I think he’s got a little bit of that 2C cut in in his jib. You know, he’d be a very a very elite 2C. Uh he’s surrounded by elite wingers here on on the stars, so like that’s that’s a really really good thing for him. Um I you know, he was okay in the playoffs. Yeah. 17 games, six assists, 12 points, and a minus two. I wouldn’t say he was like fantastic. Yeah. Um certainly not taking over any of their games or or rounds really, right? So, not really. No. Um Yeah. I I think he could be a 1C that wins the Stanley Cup, but I don’t think he he’s like a guy that I’m confident is. Yeah. You know, maybe maybe like a Braden Shen, right? Mhm. With with St. Louis. Yes. Um, yeah, with when the if the stars align this, you know, stars uh align, um, then, you know, yeah, I think Wyatt Johnston has a crazy if if if he was able to have a Ryan O’Reilly, he’s the kind of player that could go on that kind of run, right? So, yeah. Or Andre has a that 2019 Bennington season and Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. There are there there’s the right kind of tools around him for him to be the complimentary piece for this team to go really far, but as a 1C that the Stars are not constructed like the Avalanche or the the Oilers or something like that, right? Where they have or even the Panthers, right, where they have a elite one C that is, you know, top of the league. Yeah. Mhm. Um, what they do have an elite player of is Miko Rantin who uh they acquired at the trade deadline this year. Very highly paid and they kind of painted themselves into a corner. We’re sitting here saying how are they going to afford Robertson, Harley, and Bourke moving forward. Decent part of that reason is because they they gave Ranton 12 mil. Uh which he’s worth 12 mil, right? 82 games, 32 goals, 56 assists, 88 points. That’s combined. I didn’t um bother to break those down between Dallas and Colorado because that’s just more numbers on the screen. Um and a 60% expected goals four percentage in the playoffs. 18 games, nine goals, which he scored all those in about four games. Um 13 assists and 22 points and a minus three. Yeah. Uh extremely good player. Mhm. It it’s just going to be interesting if they end up losing Robertson, Bourke, or Harley or two of them. Like, is that going to be worth it? Right. I I’m not sure. Mhm. Uh and then this second line here, very different from that first line. That first line, 25, 28, 28 years old. Yep. This these are the old guys here. Yeah. Uh this is where they put all the vets. Jaime Ben is I think they’re gonna want to not have Jaime Ben as a second line winger on this team. Um but they don’t have a ton of other options. Uh 35 years old, fifth round pick in 2007. Uh so again, another player built through the Star system. Uh only making 1 million this year on his new contract. Has a full no movement clause, but a significant uh reduction from his 9 and a half million he was making. They’re so happy about that. In the regular season, he was still pretty decent. Mostly third line, a little bit of second line. 80 games, 16 goals, 33 assists, 49 points, and a plus three. Good expected goals, four percentage. In the playoffs, he was rough. Uh 18 games, one goal, two assists, three points, and a minus 11. Uh but sort of good expected goals, four percentage, just was not working out for him. Um and then at TUC, you got Matthew Shane. who’s a summer 2023 free agent pickup 34 year old uh on a very nice contract. Uh this might be I mean it’s probably not going to age well towards the last like year or two of it but like right now last year and this year this is one of the best contracts in the NHL. I mean getting a point per game player on on a 4 and a.5 million contract. Yeah. I Matt Shane is is extremely good and uh I is the kind of two seed that could win a uh that could win for sure 100%. Um but yeah, say a point per game, 30 goal scorer in the regular season. Uh rough playoffs. I I did not remember him having this bad of a playoffs. Uh 18 games, one goal, five assists, six points, and a minus 16. Minus 16 is crazy. Um, which you know plus minus is you know a debatable stat but a minus 16 is Mhm. is wild. Um we had he had six points. So that means that they were uh gave up uh 22 22 goals while he was on the ice. Gave up 16, right? Yeah. Right. Cuz Yeah, cuz he he had six points. So then they give up 22 while he was on the ice. Yeah. That’s uh not goals. Not great, Chief. Uh Tyler Sean, he is and this is kind of unfair. Kind of the problem with this team right now. I mean, this is easily the worst contract that’s uh yeah, that’s here, right? And a lot of, you know, we talked about Rantin as being a big reason, but if they didn’t have this contract biting them in the ass, then, you know, they would be in they would they would not be in this situation at all. No, cuz then you could give Robertson like two mil of it. You could give Harley like three or four and then you can give Bor like two or three and then boom, you know. Yeah. Cuz right now that 9.8 million for the next two years um on a no with a full no movement clause. He’s 33 uh acquired in 2013 in a trade in the summer trade. When he’s healthy, he’s still good. uh 20 games, nine goals, 12 assists, 21 points, plus 15. Uh was pretty dominant. That was from the through the first 20 games of the season. Then got hurt, missed the entire rest of the season. Came back into the playoffs, four goals, four assists, eight points, and a minus three. Like, he’s a good player. Mhm. He still is a good player, but he’s just injured all the time. Uh and he’s making a ton of money. And if his contract expired this year, it wouldn’t even be that bad. Mhm. Because then you could just basically tell Harley, Bourke, and Robertson like, “Let’s ride out the year. I know you want your extension early. Let’s ride it out. Sean comes off the books. We’ll give him a Ben deal and then, you know, we’ll we’ll figure out how to distribute, you know, the rest of the money to you guys.” But with him having another year after this, that’s tough. That’s a big bind that they’re in. Um, and then moving on to their bottom six. This is a bit of an issue I think. Yeah. Um there are some players I really like. They lost Marchment I think was such a huge a huge point of their wing depth. Yeah. Was Mason Marchment. So lost Marchman and Donov uh in this bottom six on their wings. Um, so they have Oscar Beck who in his rookie year last year’s a third round pick in 2018. Uh, 73 games, four goals, 12 assists, 16 points, and a plus one and a 41% expected goals percentage. Kind of got shelves. Not bad though for a bottom six rookie. Um, but I’m assuming that’s not 5v5 too, right? Cuz he’s on their uh on their penalty kill, right? So, uh I don’t know. There’s whatever uh Puckedia has uh for their expected goal four percentage. Interesting. Um cuz you would expect you’d expect third wine player and like bottom six players to be lower on this because they’re generally going to be getting harder shifts and uh be outskilled and stuff like that. But um I mean that’s that is pretty low. So, um, and then especially like on this Dallas team that had like a decent, they had a decent expected goal, four percentage, right? Mhm. U, not amazing. And then the playoffs, 11 games, two assists, minus two, 23% expected goals, four percentage, just absolutely shelled in the playoffs. Yeah, but didn’t I mean only only a minus two, right? Means that was not as shelled as he could have been for sure. Um yeah, a lot a lot of the shots hitting the goalie, not a lot going in the net. So, you know, not the worst, but I think if he’s ideally is someone you probably want in your fourth line, unless it’s a big jump, right? Unless a big jump for sure. Um, well, he is surrounded by an extremely good third wine center that could potentially help him make the jump. I think Wyatt Johnston, 22 years old, first round uh first round pick in 2021. I I mean, just got his his extension. I think I think this is one of the most exciting young players in the NHL. Um, for sure. 100%. I mean, he’s he’s 22. He had a 71 point season last year. Played all all 82. Um, I mean, this is a guy that when when Duchain, Ben, Zan are gone, he’s going to be the staple of their uh of their top six, right? He’s going to be a guy. And now having him as their 3C is ju just means that they are so stacked. Yeah. With with talent um in the forward position, at least down the down the middle, right? So, and he’s a 3C by label. Yeah. but not deployment uh a lot. Um he is like the go-to uh whenever there’s a winger injured in the top six. Uh he’s like the go-to promotion um to to go play in a top six role in the wing. We’ll see how much they’re able to do that this year with with a little bit less with a little bit less depth. But um yeah, he’s also like really good in the playoffs. Mhm. in in his short career. Uh this year he has a minus 16 which is rough. Um but last year he had 10 goals, six assists, 16 points, and a plus four in the playoffs. And the year before his rookie year, uh four goals, two assists, six points, and a minus four. Um so he’s already up to 32 points in three se uh playoff points. Uh which is, you know, really good, right? They’re they’re much better players that have fewer points in the past three years in the playoffs than than why Johnston. Yeah, I think I think a lot of Dallas’s long-term success besides figuring out the contract Tetris um that they’ve kind of put themselves into is going to be on Wyatt Johnson making a big a big leap. I think if he makes a leap and is a is a first line like a 1C caliber player with the kind of scoring touch that he showed um you know 33 goal season right with the kind of scoring touch that he showed and the the couple of um of like streaks that he had he had a point streak a goal streak I don’t remember what exactly it was that he had but he he just got crazy hot um you know at around the midpoint of the season like if he can if he can be that player all the time and they get to move hints down to like the second line and then and and he’s just like taking over games. He he’s the kind of player that could he’s 22 years old. He just had an amazing season. If he takes another leap this year or next year or whenever I like that’s the kind of thing that is going to make it so that the stars are like real and they are Stanley Cup contenders. We I don’t think we led with that. like this this is a team that deserved to be in the in the Western Conference Finals last year and and I think will probably if I had to make a bet would make would we’ll make it there again, right? But in order for them to really win a cup, right, I think it’s going to be on Wyatt Johnston to really really make a make a jump. So yeah. Mhm. And then another guy they’re hoping makes a jump is Maverick Bourc. Mhm. uh who at 23 just signed a very favorable $950,000 uh one-year extension. Um first round pick in 2020. I think Bourke is one of the more overrated young players in the league. Mhm. The idea that he was going to command like this huge RFA market uh maybe like offer sheets. Mhm. 73 games, 11 goals, 14 assists, 25 points, plus six. Played a lot of third and fourth line minutes, right? Yeah. Um, it was a crowded there’s a crowded group ahead of him. This year is really going to be the big one for him, right? If he can if he can produce on this line cuz I think he was playing a lot of a lot of fourth line last season, right? Yeah, a lot lot lot of I think it was mostly third. Um, but yeah, he played some fourth line. Mhm. For sure. And I mean, odds are Ben Sean not going to be fully healthy for the full 82, right? Mhm. He’s going to have his chances. So he he should have an opportunity to play in a top six role at some point this year. Be interesting to see if he takes it. Um and then the playoffs this year, he was barely played at all. Uh not for health reasons. Three goals, no points, and a minus one. Uh he was healthy scratch for most of the playoffs. So um see, I think they’re going to definitely want him to take a big step uh or use him as, you know, potential trade bait. Yeah. Um, then the fourth line, this is one of my favorite players in the Stars, Sam Steel. I love him as a fourth liner. Uh, 27y old, 2.1 million, which is a little rich for a fourth line. Uh, but with the cap going up, not such a big deal. 79 games, six goals, 19 assists, 25 points, and a minus six. I mean, not numbers that jump off the page at you, but good little numbers for a fourth winer. Yeah. and like just there’s some games and it felt like a lot of his his goals were like big goals um in games from what I remember watching it wasn’t just like oh Sam Steel scored the fifth goal in a seven to1 win right uh it felt like it felt like they were bigger ones um there there’s more that stand out in my mind that makes me surprised there was only six goals so I think he scored like some big goals and big moments Um the playoffs, I mean, decent for a fourth liner, right? Uh 18 games, one goal, six assists, seven points, and a minus one. Um got shelled a little bit, but a minus one, seven points from your fourth line winger, you know? I I feel like you take that. Mhm. Yeah. I mean, perfectly perfectly serviceable fourth liner. Yeah. Mhm. And then their only core team ad is Radic Foxa, uh, who they’re bringing back, uh, was a Dallas star for a long time. Uh, brought him in the summer in free agency. 2 million, three years, uh, which I think is a perfectly fine contract. 70 games with St. Louis last year, five goals, 10 assists, 15 points, and a minus two. And then the playoffs, uh, is expected goals for was pretty low. But in seven games, a goal, four assists, five points, and a plus seven. Mhm. I mean, if you can get I mean, a kind of a playoff gamer as your 4C. I mean, this is this is that depth, right, that we were when we were talking about with the the two C’s are important and looking at, you know, no, I mean, the four this is a four deep uh center pool for sure. Fox is a good a good bottom six center for sure. Yeah. So, uh, and then my namesake Colin Blackwell, uh, is rounds out this this top six. Played 63 games last year. Uh, was a healthy scratch for some. Um, but Sean also missed most of the season. So, he he he did get a good amount of games and projects to get a good amount of games this year unless somebody’s going to come up from the minors and take a spot from him. Six goals, 11 assists, 16 points, and a plus four. And then the playoffs, 11 games, had just the one goal and a minus five. Yeah. Uh he’s not a top 12 player, to be honest. Um but he is he’s the cheap option that they have. Yeah. The um and interesting, we talked a bit earlier about the Stars um like hits. They were one of the most hit and one of the least hitting teams. Uh, and this this fourth line is u not the most physical I would say. Um, no, Black throw hits, but Steel and Fox are not. Uh, yeah. Um, so I actually saw Foxa actually had 115 hits last season, which would make him second on the Stars. Wow. Okay. So, you know, not the biggest, not again, those aren’t the hugest hitting numbers, but, you know, maybe a little bit more physicality that they’ve added to their back end. Um, I think I think this forward group is the is the strength though of of the of the Stars team, despite a couple of a couple of misgivings and and some questions. Um, maybe a little bit about the bottom six, but the the defense group is extremely topheavy and we’ll see. There’s a lot of questions on the back end of this defense for sure. Yeah, there’s a ton. Mhm. Um so, uh Asa Lindell, um who is on a very very good contract, 5.2 million for uh for the next five years. Um who was also product of the stars third round pick y in uh in 2012. God, they are really good at getting value out of these out of these late picks. So, I mean, this is this is a great um he’s he’s just a shut down he’s just a shut down first pairing defenseman. I think he he performs that job adequately. He’s one of the best of it in the league. Um was plus 34. Obscene uh 45% um expected goal is 4%. I think that’s probably a product of being such a heavy defensive zone star like just played so you know if you’re in the defensive zone this is the guy that you want in you know in playing the game and he’s going to be a p a big reason why the stars penalty kill was so good right this is this is just an elite defensive defenseman and so um which is fantastic to pair with um with one of the best one of the best a very good offensive defense manual heisen right playing on on his side their first round pick in 2017 um 8.4 4 million for the next four years. So, he’s he’s locked up for the time being. They’re they’re probably happy with that. And um you know, yeah, only played 50 games, missed some time, missed some playoffs, right? That was a big part of why probably a big part of why they got a little bit shelled in some of the games that they did. But, um you know, Miro Miro is is one of the best defenseman in the NHL. He’s top 10 defenseman in the NHL for sure. Yep. Um, you know, you can make arguments for how whatever higher that you want, but he’s definitely top 10. And, um, I think he’s a big reason why this, um, why why this blue line is able to do anything, right? Oh, yeah. He’s logging heavy minutes. He’s logging heavy minutes. He’s, you know, power play quarterback. He’s doing do he’s penalty killing. Like, he’s doing all this stuff. So, yeah. You take these two guys away and this blue line is like tragic. Mhm. Right. Yeah, it is. It is rough. Uh is very very topheavy, but I guess plus the next guy you’re probably gonna talk about. Uh yeah, we can talk about Thomas Harley who at 23 years old. Uh was a first round pick in 2019. Um and had really just a breakout year. Yep. Uh played 78 of the 82 games, 50 points plus 32, 56, expected goals, 4%. I mean, when Meerro was gone, he had to do it all. Yeah. As as the offense, like as the offensive defenseman on this thing, this this was not a deep defense core. I mean, they had Cody Cece playing significant amounts of time in top four pairings like Matt Dumba, right? So, so Harley really had to do a lot last year and he really stepped into that role. Uh, and I mean that’s part of the reason that that it’s going to be tough to keep hold on to him because there’s definitely other teams in the league that are looking at him thinking that he could be a number one option. Yeah. And I mean, you surround him with the right kind of talent and he proved that he could be last year. Yeah. You know, so played on team Canada for uh for nations whenever they had multiple defense injuries. Mhm. And I think he had a goal in his one of his in his two fornation games. I do not remember. If I remember correctly, I’m I’m pretty sure he did for Canada. Um it’s so like we’re talking about that level player, right? That’s Yeah, at towards the top of of Canada’s list. Um yeah, I mean that top top 20 to 30 defenseman in the the NHL maybe in terms of like offensive overall potential and stuff like that. I think I I I think he’s going to demand quite a bit of money uh this year and they’re going to they’re going to want to pay him. Yeah. He’s going to be worth it. Whatever whatever the number is that he says he’s going to be worth that amount of money. Um you want to talk about about Bouch? Yeah. So this this blue line really falls apart from here. I’ll take the good half, you take the bad half, you know. Yeah. That that that top that top three is like amazing, right? Um, absolutely like a core that you want to build around for a cup team. Yeah. Uh, Lushkin at 31 years old, uh, 3.2 million. I mean, he’s he’s a good he’s a good foot soldier, right? 80 games, 14 points, plus five. Uh, I’ve seen a lot of Lushkin. He was a Toronto Maple Leaf as well. He played first pairing minutes next to Morgan Riley and like he he looked okay. He looked okay, but he looked he looks okay everywhere he goes, right? Yeah. Um which he’sacular player. There’s value to that. Whenever you have a guy like Hen get hurt. Um that you know he can be flexible and and play well. You know if if he’s on a third pair, I’m super happy. I’d love to have Lushkin on my third pair. Maybe not making 3 million. Um, like he make you give Looskin a million and a half to play on my third pair, I’m super happy. Uh, looking at him on a second pair, making double that is dicey. Um, uh, then on your third pair, they have Liam Bashelle, first round pick in 2022. Uh, he made his NHL official debut. I think he played a couple games uh the year before um like his cup of coffee. Last year in the regular season, 38 games, nine points and a plus two. Uh and then the playoffs, he played quite well. Only had the one assist in the 18 games, but was a net zero and a 57% expected goals for percentage. Um he showed that he belongs in the NHL. I don’t think there’s any way you could send him back down uh to the miners where he did play 28 games for the Texas Stars, had nine points and a plus nine. Uh I think this guy is officially an NHL top six defenseman at this stage. Um he is massive and plays big. Um which, you know, I love uh when when a big boy plays big. Yeah. Um but he doesn’t play out of control from what I’ve seen. like he would get challenged to fights a lot and he picked his spots. Um but he wasn’t like like Matt Rempe with Rempe with New York where it’s like anybody wants to drop the gloves and he just like immediately throws them off. Mhm. Um he doesn’t seem to play too out of control. Oh the playoffs for a rookie, right? Yeah. Yeah. Definitely a good a good playoffs from him. We’ll see if he can increase the physicality a little bit of uh of of this team. Um, yeah, you know, he definitely looks, yeah, like you say, definitely looks like he belongs. We’ll see what his his actual ceiling is as a as an NHL player. I mean, he does he’s not the most skilled guy, but uh definitely, you know, belongs, right? So, um they’re they’re certainly happy to have him in his uh ELC. Yeah. Two years left on a DLC before you got to go into They’re very They’re very happy about that. Yeah, expires at the same time as Sean, you know, so, you know, could be good. And then, uh, their last spot here really could go to anybody. Um, Niels Lungquist is the guy that played the most at the NHL level last year. So, he’s the guy that I put in here at 24 year old. He was a trade dead or summer trade in 2022 from the Rangers on the last year of his 1.2 2 million and he’s had such an up and down run with Dallas where like there’s stretches where he looks really good and stretches where he looks really bad then he gets benched or he gets sent down to the miners. Mhm. Um, and it’s been kind of this with especially with Dbor. DBO would like call him out and, you know, bench him a lot whenever he would, you know, have bad games, which sometimes he’d have really bad games, right? Um, but last year looked like he was kind of getting consistent finally. Uh, but got hurt and missed the entirety of the rest of the season in the playoffs. He played 39 games, just the five assists, but a plus four and a 52% expected goals for percentage, which doesn’t sound all that great, but he is a undersized defenseman um at I don’t have it off hand right now, but he is five something. Those are great numbers for a uh for a defense like for a like a low like a third pairing defenseman, right? He is a 6′ 192 is what I’ve got. See, he is a pretty much offense only defenseman though. Uh well what he came out as that kind of had no defensive game and had to develop it. And this year he kind of looks like he’s put together a defensive game. You know, the offensive numbers aren’t really there, but he’s a guy that they’d love to take a bit of a leap, right? with a little bit more of a ceiling on him with him having a more consistent year if he if he could be like a second pairing right-handed defenseman and they can sign him for a reasonable contract cuz he is an RFA after this season, right? So, they are going to have to figure him out along with Borick Robertson Harley, right? That’s going to be a a tough free agent class to do, but they they’d really love to be able to to play him. And maybe they can maybe they can ship off Bouch to free a little bit of uh free a little bit of money. Yeah. Unless he has an explosive year this year, I don’t think he’ll be too hard to resign much. Mhm. Cuz he hasn’t really proven himself to be Yeah. consistent yet. Um and then uh in the press box, they they do have three guys. Two of them I think could see decent NHL time this year. Uh Koya Chonic is who they acquired from the Penguins in exchange for Matt Dumba and a second round pick. He’s way better than Matt Dumba, but uh I wouldn’t say he’s offering um too much to this already left uh leftyheavy um group. Um you know, he’s he’s probably an NHLER. still up in the air a little bit about that, but um yeah, you know, he’s depth for if somebody goes down, I think he can he’ll they’ll be happy that he’s there. So, yep. And then, uh the other option they have down here is Alex Petravic, who has been pretty much a career aher, has had a few cups of coffee here and there around the league. He’s 33. Uh he has been uh at the Texas Stars for since 2021. So he’s been there for a while. Um played just the five regular season games last year. So otherwise not much of a guy of note. However, he did play 17 uh playoff games, played playoff games over guys like Matt Dumba. Um and yeah, played all but one playoff game. Had a goal and assist. He was a minus one. Was very had really good possession metrics. Um, and yeah, he kept his spot. When Hasting came back into the lineup, they decided to run 11 forward 7D instead of sending Pedro Vic back down um into the press or back up to the press box and kind of proved himself as like a playable guy in the playoffs. And I kind of wonder a little bit if they should look at trading him um if they’re not done cuz I don’t know that he necessarily clears waiverss right at the end of the summer. Yeah. Uh there could be a chance someone would take him. Yeah. A team that’s like sitting there like, man, we don’t have a sixth defenseman on this roster. Mhm. Um or a team that’s like really trying to scrape the the bottom of the of the of the barrel and the budget. A team like Vegas, right, who doesn’t have much money but would like to add another defenseman, could totally scoop up a guy like Petravvic, right? Um, a team that doesn’t necessarily need a regular season performer, but just like a decent six playoff defenseman. Mhm. Um, so it’ll be interesting to see if he gets scooped up. And then uh Kyle Kappa Biano, he’s a career AHL. Played a game uh was a minus two and a 12% expected goals for percentage. That’s that’s wow. Which like single game expected goals for is no obviously, but you know that really not a relevant stat, but I mean that’s no points while he’s on the ice and uh yikes. That that that is a that’s a rough rough one game he played for Dallas. Yeah, I would not expect to see him unless uh there’s a lot of injuries. So, yeah. You want to move on to uh Net? Yeah, we got a got the Otter Jake. Um 26-year-old first round pick 2017. Same draft as Miro and Robo. Uh a good draft. Yeah. Signed to his uh 8.25 uh million dollar by 8year contract. Mhm. uh which is the standard rate of non-dost dostall starters in the NHL this year these days. Yeah. Um and he is really good. Uh a 3618 and4 record, 909 save percentage, which is a little lower than you’d want. Um but 2.59 goals against average and a goal saved above expected of 10.65. Uh I mean he was fantastic. Um and then the postseason he was uh he was solidly good. Yeah. Uh nine and eight record, 905 save percentage, 2.82 goals against average, 4.67 goals saved above expected. Definitely was not the reason that they did not beat Edmonton. Hey, don’t tell that to Pete Dbor. So yeah, according to Petore, yeah, he was he is the big reason I think. And that’s why Pete D’vor is no longer the coach of the Dallas Stars. True. just mindboggling. Uh I would say it is the lack of goal scoring uh was the biggest issue. Uh the fact that we saw their uh we we saw some of their advanced statistics, right? They they just didn’t have those right their goalending was not was not the issue. It was it was the skaters in front of of Andre. So yeah, and I think until the end of the series, Otter was statistically the second best goalie in the playoffs. I’d believe it. He’s definitely a He’s definitely a goalie that is good enough to be your franchise starter, that is good enough to be to win a cup. He’s not in the I would say like the super duper elite like tier of goalies, but he’s like right outside of that. Yeah. And so I think that that is perfectly capable of of winning a cup. Like you’re you’re h you’re happy to have him in that. I do want to do a future segment on like you don’t don’t necessarily need a superstar goalie to win the cup. like you need superar to get hot superstar 1C or superstar you kind of don’t even need a 1D technically um but yeah you just need a go can get hot and otter definitely can get hot for sure yeah and um Casey the Smith was also a super super duper serviceable backup um um you know you love love to see it from your backup having a 915 save percentage you know in played 27 7 games. So, you know, was able to take some of the load off of of Andre and was was good, like really good in those games. So, 156 goal save expected. Mhm. Yeah. Probably shouldn’t have played in the playoffs if I’m being completely honest. Um, you know, but I think I think he appeared cuz in a couple games where Jake had a rough start and then did he just get pulled when he last one where like Yeah, that was that was the one I was referring to was that he should not have been in that in that game. But um but I mean, you know, you you cannot you literally could not ask for more from your backup goalie making $1 million a year to be a very very good backup. So, one of the best back best backups in the in the NHL last year, especially for his contract. So, um did you have any guys you wanted to talk about in the prospect or miners pool guys that you think might make a contribution to the team next year? Uh not really. And I think that’s almost a little bit of a story in that there’s not a lot more coming. Mhm. Uh right now. Um, you know, they had Huru who came up. He played five games. He was uh Mhm. I think he was I remember him. I think I was at his game where he got an assist. It was one of the two Stars games I went to last year. Uh I can’t remember though. Uh it might not have been him. Uh but in the AHL, he’s a good AHL player. Um in the NHL, five games, one assist. AHL 67 games, 49 points in a plus 15 the regular season. And in the Calder Cup uh playoffs, 14 games and a plus eight. Um and I don’t know how to say this last name. Her heroian also 24 uh also played five games in the NHL, also had one assist, but he was a plus one instead of a plus zero. So, you know, way better than way better. Um, and he was almost a point per game in the AHL in a plus 15 and was a point over a point per game in the playoffs as a plus four. He is one that I think could be a guy. Mhm. Um, you undrafted free agent. They pulled out of Europe last year. Uh, both him and Huru last summer. Uh, UDFAS. I think he’s a guy that they could look to call up if there’s an injury into the top six. um or could battle a guy like Blackwell for a uh bottom six role. Yeah. Uh and you know has some has some pedigree in the in the AHL playoffs at least. Uh nine goals, nine assists, 18 points in 14 games. I mean that’s great. That is great. If you can bring any of that to the We’ll see to the NHL maybe. Uh but then there are other forwards. There’s not a lot here. Yeah, they’re definitely um a little short on depth, which is something to be expected from a team in this stage, right, where basically their depth has all made it to the NHL, right? They’ve got they’ve got Johnston and Bour, you know, Robertson, um Michelle, right, came up this uh this last year, right? So, they’re they’re fully in the all the guys are here. So, if they’re if they’ve got significant injuries or players are underperforming or something like that, they’re in the stage of I mean, we’re going to have to we’re going have to trade. We’re going to have to find find something. But, in terms of like the overall outlook of this team, mentioned it briefly. I think I think these are contenders. I wouldn’t put them as favorites to win the Stanley Cup, but I would not be surprised if they made it to the cup finals um or even that surprised if they won the Stanley Cup if they were getting some good performances. I think we’ve outlined a couple of of key players that we think are going to need to make makes make some some jumps in order for this team to really really hit that next level of being um being cup contenders. But um I mean, you know, hard to be hard to be upset with the level of continued success that they’ve had for the last few years besides that it you know it hasn’t really it hasn’t resulted in a cup, right? Yeah. So, yeah, no cup, but lots lots of conference finals. The one um you know, Stanley Cup final appearance in 2021, right, when they lost to Tampa. Um and I think they’ve been a conference finalist almost every year since 2020. Mhm. Um yeah, I I’d expect them to repeat that at the least. So, let’s hope they can let’s hope they can take the next step. looking at your hat, you know. I think we uh Yeah, I’m not wearing the conference finalist hat this time. Uh but but yeah, uh I I think they are they’re definitely a top team in the West. Um exactly where they rank is debatable. Um but yeah, I think this team is really good. Uh I do want to highlight there is a couple uh defenseman that could potentially be on the way. Um they were skipped over. Beruchi and Kyu are both second round picks. Uh one from 2022 and one from 2023. Kyu has struggled so far in his development. Uh and Bertuchi has only played in the OHL. Um so this is going to be his first year in the AHL is joining the roster. Um, oh, unless he gets sent to the ECL for whatever reason, but I think that’d be a a mistake. Um, but yeah, these are two guys who potentially could be on the way. Mhm. Um, in the defense, but, you know, is to be determined. Yeah. For them. And then I don’t think there’s any of the unsigned guys that are overly exciting looking. Oh. Uh, Manetti Manian, uh, has been pretty decent over in the NCAA. He was a fourth round pick. Um, Mhm. could be a guy. And then in the forwards, it’s a bunch of minor league guys or juniors players. So, it’s kind of hard to say, you know, how good any of them will be. Yep. But, yeah, I think the Stars are they’re they’re an interesting team. I think they’re going to be quite good. I think they’re unfortunately in the West or I know they’re unfortunately in the West. Uh and the West is really good. Um I think they’d easily be a conference finalist in the East. Mhm. Um and especially if they put him in the Metro. I mean any any playoff team could win the Metro. It’s kind of true. And then uh lastly, I do have their uh their draft pick stockpile. They do not have a first this year. They have a second and a third. So, you know, if they want to ammo up at the deadline, uh they have they can get a decentish bottom to middle player, but not a top level player. They have their first next year if they want or their first in 2027 if they want to uh to load up. And in 2028, they’ve already emptied the war chest in the first and second round. Um, so they have some picks. Okay. By next year, they’ll have uh their 2029 picks available to uh to trade from. So, and they’re this is a team that I would not expect to pick very much in the first round for the next few years as they’re in their in their window. I think their window is pretty extended here with with Otter, um, you know, uh, Icekin, Robo, all these guys in their and they’re just entering their prime here, right? They’ve got they’re going to have to reload at some point that that second line with Ben Ducha and Sean, right? They’re going to have to bring in some more guys, but I that’s not out of the question. I think this is a team that that is probably going to be they’re they’re they’re very good at drafting as we discussed a little bit. So, we’ll, you know, they’ll probably find a guy in the second or the third that can contribute at the NHL level, but they’re they’re probably not going to be picking too often if I had to guess. I think they’re going to have to spend to compete with uh with these other western teams that are just nuts. So, yeah, I count 11 of the 20 guys who are projected to be uh in the the starters um or in the on on getting dressed game one uh are draft picks. That’s that’s really impressive. So yeah, definitely a good good job done from

Colin and Jackson break down the Dallas Stars roster and organization during Episode 2 of the Fourth Line Plugs podcast. Is this the year Dallas gets through the Western Conference Finals? Will losing Dadonov and Marchment affect the teams winger depth? Will Lyubushkin, Bischel, Lundkvist, and Kolyachonok provide quality depth behind the top 3 of Heiskanen, Lindell, and Harley? Was Oettinger to blame? We discuss all that and more.

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Fourth Line Plugs is a podcast between two friends and major hockey nerds, Colin and Jackson. We discuss topics around the league from nerdy analytics, roster construction, trivia, and fun rankings. You can listen to our full podcast episodes on YouTube or Spotify, or enjoy shortened clips on YouTube, TikTok, and X.

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