Dallas Stars: Reasons Martin Hanzal Believes They Can Win

In the midst of Jim Nill’s chaotic offseason, he signed veteran forward Martin Hanzal. As an unrestricted free agent, Hanzal had his fair share of options as far as where to call home next, but he chose to come to the Dallas Stars because he thinks they can win.

The Dallas Stars have taken risks this offseason, signing a number of new faces to the team in a rather short time frame. One of those was forward Martin Hanzal who joined the team because he believes they can win.

A few aspects of the Stars make it seem like he just might be right.

Goaltending

Dallas has struggled with goaltending for a while. They’ve had talented, highly-skilled net minders, but seemed unable to have all of their defensive zone pieces come together at once.

Then, Nill signed Ben Bishop. The hope is that Bishop will blend seamlessly into the new system – under head coach Ken Hitchcock – and will be able to use his talents while staying healthy to contribute to the Stars.

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Dallas also bought out former part-time back-up, part-time starter Antti Niemi who has since signed a one-year deal with the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. That move solidified Kari Lehtonen as the back-up, which hopefully serves as encouragement for his continued improvement throughout the year.

Defensive alterations

Speaking of the defensive zone, the Stars’ blue line will have a new identity too. It is expected that a Hitchcock-coached team will be defensive-minded and Dallas has been anything but in recent years.

While this serves to be a point of concern for a lot of people, they’ve signed and re-signed quality defenders to help ensure that isn’t the case.

John Klingberg inked a new deal and is expected to really come into his own in 2017-18. Last season was challenging for everyone on the Stars, so it doesn’t do players justice to really judge them based on it. However, Klingberg seems to be taking strides in the right direction.

Offensive powerhouse

The Western Conference is full of big, strong, offensive teams. The Dallas Stars are now officially one of them. With the addition of players – like Hanzal – who stand 6’6, the Stars are a more physically intimidating club.

They can be more aggressive without the fear or threat of retaliation being too harsh, which means they can take more offensive chances. That mindset alone will mold the team’s ability to be difficult to play against because in most cases they’ll feel nearly indestructible.

Next: Five Things to Watch for in Stars' Remaining Offseason

In addition to the existing talent already on the team, it’s no wonder that Hanzal wanted to be a part of the success that is growing in Dallas.