The Stars kicked off the 2030 season with a different
feeling around the organization. The team clinched the playoffs last year for
the first time in 8 long seasons, then went on to Lose in a game 7 to go to the
western conference finals. This blew the season’s expectations out of the water
and brought confidence to this team. The top 6 forward group remains the same
giving them another full year to gel together, while the top 4 defensemen also
remain the same as last year. The focus this offseason was to improve the 3rd
line slightly while mainly getting these young guys more developed. Among those
is Jesperi Kotkaniemi who has great potential to be one of the best 2-way
players in the league but hasn’t quite broken out yet. Debuting in his age 19
season he has had a lot of playing time in the pros, so management wanted to make
a change. They liked the idea of him learning from Jamie Benn on the left wing
so for the first time he will not be suited to play center. After the first 5
games the Stars sit at 2-1-2 with a +3 goal differential. There have been
bright spots in these games but GM Smedley is hoping to see all the lines click
as a team instead of sporadically, hopefully that is the case today as Dallas
will be able to watch their Stars take on the Panthers at home.
9/5/2023 - 229 words
