Central Division Offseason: Dallas Stars Outlook

Monday night was a disappointment bomb on Big D. They got their captain back from his two-game suspension and promptly ended their two-game win streak. Dallas lost all four games of the Western Conference Final in which Jamie Benn dressed; they won both games while he was suspended. Hmm…

This shapes up as a fascinating summer for the Stars. They made it all the way to the conference final, but didn’t have the horses to beat Vegas. They don’t have much cap space to play with this summer and have a few names they’ll likely hope to keep around. And they have some older players who certainly looked to be on the back nine of their careers in the final games of their postseason.

Stars 2022-23 By the Numbers

2022-23 Record: 47-21-14 –108 points (2nd in the Central Division)
2023 Playoffs: Lost in Western Conference Final
2023-24 Projected Cap Space:
$7.4 million
Head Coach:
Pete DeBoer
General Manager:
Jim Nill

2022-23 Stats
Goals For/Game: 3.43 (7)
Goals Against/Game: 2.62 (3)
Power Play Pct: 25.0 (5)
Penalty Kill Pct: 83.5 (3)

Stars Offseason Outlook

Notable 2023 UFAs: Max Domi, Evgeni Dadonov, Luke Glendening, Joel Hanley, Dylan Wells

Notable 2023 RFAs: Ty Dellandrea

2023 Draft Capital:
First Round: none
Second Round: DAL
Third Round: none
Fourth Round: DAL
Fifth Round: DAL
Sixth Round: DAL
Seventh Round: DAL

Stars Offseason Headlines

The Stars are getting older, and they have only one pick over the first three rounds of this summer’s draft. Not ideal for a team that needs to stockpile assets to help bolster their future — especially with a strong class this summer.

Dallas can be happy about the fact that Wyatt Johnston appears to be the next star in Big D. With Johnston, Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger as their next wave of stars, they’re in pretty good hands. But they don’t have a lot of cap space to replenish their potential losses this summer.

Dallas had a prospect pool that Scott Wheeler at The Athletic ranked 16th in the NHL in his mid-season update. That group is headlined by Logan Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque and Thomas Harley.

written by

Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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