Coach: Jim Montgomery (since 2018). 8/10
2018-19 record: 43-32-7, 93 points (4th in the Central Division, 6th in the Western Conference).
Playoffs: Lost in seven games to the St. Louis Blues in Round 2.
Departures: Jason Spezza (C), Mats Zuccarello (RW), Valeri Nichushkin (LW), Tyler Pitlick (C), Ben Lovejoy (D), Brett Ritchie (RW).
Arrivals: Joe Pavelski (C), Corey Perry (LW), Andrej Sekera (D).
Top forwards: Tyler Seguin (75-85 points), Alexander Radulov (75-85 points), Jamie Benn (55-70 points), Pavelski (50-65 points), Roope Hintz (50-60 points), Perry (40-45 points), Radek Faksa (25-35 points), Andrew Cogliano (30-40 points), Martin Hanzal (20-30 points), Mattias Janmark (20-35 points), Blake Comeau (20-25 points).
Must-improve forwards: Corey Perry has been on a downward spiral for years now, except now he's also injury-prone. The Stars are hoping a one-year "show-me" deal will be enough motivation for his scoring touch to come back, but this one seems as doomed to fail as when folks still believed in Jonathan Cheechoo a few years ago.
Top defensemen: John Klingberg (50-60 points), Miro Heiskanen (50-60 points), Esa Lindell (20 points), Sekera (20-35 points), Stephen Johns (20-25 points), Julius Honka (15-25 points), Jamie Oleksiak (10-15 points), Roman Polak (10-15 points).
Goalies: Ben Bishop (93/100), Anton Khudobin (81/100).
Top rookies: Ty Dellandria (19, C), Ondrej Vala (21, D), Benjamin Gleason (21, D), Tye Felhaber (21, C), Riley Damiani (19, C).
Analysis:
Expect the Stars to have a slightly better season than last year, as they look to build on what they had, and Benn can't possibly be that ineffective again. However, do not expect any miracles from the grizzled veterans acquired via free agency: Pavelski may have scored 38 goals last year, but he'd scored in the 20s for the two years prior, and he's 35 years old now. The drop-off will be huge when he does start declining - not to mention the fact that he suffered a serious concussion in last year's playoffs.
As stated above, Perry might just be done. Which leaves Sekera as a depth free agent signing who might have an impact in the bottom-three on defense.
Still, the Stars had a comparable roster to the Stanley Cup champion Blues team that eliminated them, with less depth on defense. They hope Sekera solves some of that, and that one of the former prospects like Johns, Honka and Lindell breaks through. They will be Cup contenders this year as well - all they need is to take advantage of one crack, one favourable seed, just a bit of luck to make their way through the West. And as we saw last year, it might not even be the Bolts waiting in the Final.
Prediction: 3rd in the Central Division, 12th overall.
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