Following what was a lackluster season by management the Stars look to return to the playoffs after making two straight playoff runs ending in a Game 7. Last year there was not much consistency within the organization as well as on the ice. But this year with the deadline acquisitions and some key position changes Dallas hopes to go back to scoring goals and return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
On the first line we see the now 25 year old Jesperi Kotkaniemi moving back to Left Wing where he had his only 30-30 season of his career. Playing alongside him is the biggest deadline acquisition Sean Monahan who is easily the best raw playmaker under GM Smedley's tenure in Dallas. Monahan in a small sample size last year played very well with Jesper Fast who will be on the Right Wing trying to use his lightning speed with his linemates size and physicality to generate some offense. Line two features Stars captain Jamie Benn going into his 14th year with the team and looking return back to that 72 point form. On his line during that season in 2027 was Clayton Keller who saw himself playing Right Wing in 2031 but will be moving back to Center where he seems more comfortable. The biggest X-Factor for the Stars this season is if 22 year-old Nikita Chibrikov can take his game to the next level after a disappointing rookie year. Others to note are depth guys who could very well find their way playing top 6 minutes, Marat Khusnutdinov played amazing after coming over in the Jakub Zboril deal with 15 points in 22 games and home grown guys like Jacob Olofsson and Rhett Pitlick look to make impacts in their first professional season.
The defensive pairings will be changed quite a few times especially with GM Smedley being on top of changing lines this season but Dallas hopes their main guy Olli Juolevi can hold it down after signing a $23.6 million dollar contract this past offseason. The Stars look to head back into the right direction and bounce back after an abysmal 2031 season and those like Keller, Mueller and Beaudin who are in the last year of their contracts could be moved to find that change.
Dallas takes on the reigning Stanley Cup Champions tomorrow night hoping for them to have a little hangover in front of their home crowd.
7/15/2025 - 399 words
