Dallas Stars Can Use Winnipeg Jets As Reference Going Forward
By Josh Clark
The Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars have taken similar paths in terms of success over the past few seasons. But at the moment, the Jets look to own the better position. It’s time that the Stars learn from their divisional foe.
When the Central Division comes up in a typical hockey conversation, the Dallas Stars are rarely the first team that comes to mind (outside of Stars fans). That is due to a few things.
Lack of recent impressive success, playing in a non-traditional market, and the relevance of their competitors are all factors. If you were to ask a typical NHL fan up north to name the first Central Division team that comes to mind, the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, or maybe even Nashville Predators would be their answer more often than not. It’s just how it goes.
That doesn’t mean that the Stars are the irrelevant Central club, though. It simply means that their combination of mediocre results in the recent past and location play a part in their ranking. But they aren’t the only team that isn’t tied into that “most known” spot. The Winnipeg Jets are another one of those teams, too.
Why is that? Well, it’s primarily because of a move from a non-traditional market, but also because of their recent stretch of mediocrity. The Winnipeg Jets franchise started out in Atlanta as the Thrashers in 1999. They made the move to Winnipeg to reignite the Jets in 2011, and Winnipeg was placed in the Central Division during the 2013 realignment.
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But if you look at their last 11 seasons, there are a lot of blank spaces and a lack of perennial success. That sounds a lot like the Stars, doesn’t it?
In fact, both the Jets and Stars have two playoff appearances and nine playoff game victories since the 2011-12 season. The Jets have finished in fifth place or lower in four of the five seasons since realignment. Dallas has done the exact same.
In the big picture, the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets seem to be on the same page. But that theory quickly disappears when you realize that the Jets easily handled the Vegas Golden Knights in game one of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday night. Let’s backtrack for a second.
Winnipeg hasn’t been to the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2014-15 season. And even then, it wasn’t for an extended period as they were swept in the first round by the Anaheim Ducks.
They finished the 2016-17 season with 87 points, which was good enough for fifth in the Central Division. While that was eight points ahead of the Stars in the division standings, it still left them a sizable seven points outside of the playoff picture.
And after a quiet 2017 offseason, the expectations for Winnipeg weren’t entirely high. The Stars, on the other hand, cleaned house in the summer and were expected to soar through the 2017-18 year.
But here we are with the Jets just three wins away from their first ever Stanley Cup Final appearance. This comes on the heels of Winnipeg finishing second in the Central Division and Western Conference overall this past season with 114 points.
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If you’re a Dallas Stars fan, you’ve already had a firsthand glimpse at why the Jets are succeeding at such a high rate this year. After all, they swept the Stars with a perfect 4-0-0 record this year and dominated each matchup. There’s no question about that. Winnipeg outscored Dallas 18-8 on the year and never let the Stars finish a game within one goal.
The Stars have defeated Winnipeg once in their past eight meetings. The Jets have proven to be the Stars’ largest divisional weakness over the past two seasons. And that’s exactly why Dallas needs to buy in to what they are doing.
The Jets began a “new era” in the 2013-14 season when they hired Paul Maurice as the franchise’s fourth head coach in five years. And while they still finished in dead last in the Central that season, the turnaround was underway.
After a few seasons of careful drafting and young trade acquisitions, the Jets now own a predominantly young lineup with an average age of 26.6, which is below the league average of 27.8. They possess an impressive amount of depth on offense and defense, with a balance of scorers, enforcers, and grinders. The team also took a chance on 2012 fifth-round pick Connor Hellebuyck as their starting goaltender and the now-Vezina Trophy finalist paid off in a big way.
Winnipeg has been building for the past few seasons while staying quietly competitive. But this season, they broke out. The Jets have topped every challenge that has come their way in the postseason, including the President’s Trophy winning Nashville Predators. Now they are off to an early lead over Vegas in the WCF.
And Winnipeg doesn’t look to be a flash in the pan, either. After years of precise building, this Jets team looks as though they will be competitive for years to come.
That’s where the Stars need to learn from their Central Division foe. One of the Stars’ biggest weaknesses in the past few years is mediocre drafting and mistimed decisions that end up costing them their season. But if they can focus on youth while still staying competitive with the talent they have and growing from within along with trusting the process, there’s no doubt that they can be in a similar position to Winnipeg in the next few seasons. The primary pieces are there for Dallas. They just have to capitalize on them.
The Winnipeg Jets endured the process and are now seeing unparalleled success. All it took was a few years of good decisions and concentration. The Dallas Stars have the tools to do the same and could turn things around soon.
Next: May 11, 2016: A Day That Should Motivate The Stars
But will they do it? We’ll have to wait and see.