Dallas Stars’ 2017-18 Breakout Offensive Player Prediction

Every Dallas Stars season has its ups and downs, but there’s almost always a player from each position that shines regardless.

The Dallas Stars are on the cusp of a new season with preseason a little more than a month away. While the hope is for every player to have a great season, it’s realistic to expect that one will be stellar enough to earn the title as the breakout offensive player.

Predicting is anything but an exact science, but looking at the Stars’ current roster, it makes sense that Brett Ritchie would fill that role.

Confidence boost

For the Expansion Draft earlier this summer, the Stars elected to keep Ritchie around by protecting him. That ultimately led to the departure of Cody Eakin – a player Dallas used in every scenario – to the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

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Being protected as a young forward on a team that is stacked offensively speaks volumes to the Stars’ confidence in Ritchie as a player and a member of the team moving forward. He’s part of the future of the organization and Dallas wasn’t willing to risk losing him.

The hope would be that being protected solidifies Ritchie’s position as a full-time NHL player for the Dallas Stars, which translates to better on-ice play.

Size, speed and skill

From a style of play standpoint, Ritchie is a great depth player on almost all accounts. He stands 6’3, weighing in at 215 pounds, making him a sizable skater. However, unlike a lot of forwards with more size, Ritchie’s speed and quickness to the puck makes him a great bet to be a breakout player this year.

While he has one full season under his belt, there’s still a lot about him that the Stars haven’t seen. He’ll be able to show exactly what he’s capable of this season with an expected increase in opportunities.

Plus, there’s the added bonus that with Dallas’ plethora of offensive skill, Ritchie has fallen somewhat under the radar. That makes him a threat in and of itself because teams will likely be so concerned with stopping the big names – like Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza and so on – that they’ll look over No. 25.

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Realistic expectations

It’d be unfair to assume that Ritchie is going to come into the 2017-18 season and be on par with the elite forwards in the league, but it’s fair to expect him to be a surprise. The combination of his physicality, skill and skating ability will make him a force to be reckoned with on the ice.