Dallas Stars Had Too Many Spark Plugs On Offense In 2017-18 Season

The Dallas Stars struggled down the stretch in the 2017-18 season. A lot of that struggle came from their lack of scoring outside the top line. That was due to their overstocking of spark plugs and obvious need for scorers on offense.

Let’s rewind for a minute. The day is March 20, 2018, and the Dallas Stars are preparing for a Tuesday night showdown. Oh, and they are in serious trouble.

The Stars visited the nation’s capital for a date with the Washington Capitals. It was the final matchup of a tumultuous six-game road trip that the Stars had managed to go winless through so far. With one final opportunity to pick up two points and attempt to get their season back on track, the Stars floundered yet again.

Dallas lost 4-3 to Washington even after taking the early lead and fighting back from two deficits. But they simply couldn’t close the game out and tacked on a sixth straight loss (0-4-2). The loss bumped the Stars out of the playoff picture entirely and gave them a gap that they would not close for the remainder of the season. It was another installment in a disastrous and embarrassing month of March.

So why are we talking about this game specifically? Well, because this game put one of the Stars’ biggest struggles down the home stretch as well as throughout parts of the season in the spotlight. And no, it’s not the fact that they used Kari Lehtonen as their starter. It’s the lack of production and scoring from depth players.

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The depth problem followed a similar path as the team’s success (could there possibly be a correlation???) throughout the year. In the first month or two, there was very little contribution coming from the bottom lines on offense and the Stars sat around the .500 mark.

Once the team took off through the middle stretch, however, the depth scoring was prevalent and visible. And finally, it took a nosedive along with the rest of the team and their playoff hopes in the final six weeks of the year.

In this game specifically, the Dallas Stars scored three goals. Who were the three scorers, you might ask? Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, and Jamie Benn. And besides John Klingberg with a pair of assists, no other Stars player tallied a point against the Capitals. That’s not a good problem to have when your season is on the line.

And it wasn’t just the Washington game. The Stars ran into these offensive bumps all throughout their 2017-18 campaign and could never find a long-term solution. Dallas relied on their top line and superstar players much too often and did not bring a deep, balanced attack to the ice. When it was all said and done, depth scoring may have been the Stars’ biggest weakness in their grand scheme and played a critical role in their downfall during the final month of the season.

You can point all the fingers you want at general manager Jim Nill for not adding any depth scoring talent at the trade deadline. There is also an argument to be made that former head coach Ken Hitchcock’s management of his depth players was poor and inconsistent.

But at the end of the day, the Dallas Stars just had too many spark plugs and not enough scorers. It may have been coaching style and it may have been a lack of action at the deadline, but the players didn’t do much to help the case.

The Stars simply couldn’t make it work with the imbalance of role players that they possessed.

If you aren’t sure of what I mean by a “spark plug”, let me explain myself quickly. By a spark plug player, I mean to say that their biggest advantage on the ice was providing speed and energy, among other things. Many of the Stars’ depth forwards provided the team with speed, physicality, aggressiveness, and many other qualities that are always beneficial to a team on the ice.

But when it came to putting the puck in the back of the net or even setting up a controlled offensive rush, they couldn’t do it. And as a result, Hitchcock never trusted putting them on the ice in big game situations.

Some of these spark plug players include Remi Elie, Jason Dickinson, Brett Ritchie, Antoine Roussel, and Devin Shore. Chances are you can probably come up with a few more players that fit this category.

Elie played in 72 games for the Stars this year and closed it out with just six goals and 14 points. Dickinson only skated in 27 games, but chipped in no goals and two assists. Roussel had his worst year statistically by only tallying 17 points in 73 games. And Shore posted a -30 rating in 82 games along with 32 points (11 of which came on the power play).

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Before we go any further, let’s clarify that every team needs their spark plugs. These kinds of players can have an influential role on their team, even if it doesn’t involve getting on the stat sheet. They play an important part in helping their team grind out wins and wearing down the opposition, and can even turn into playmakers at certain points.

But the Dallas Stars just had too many of them in the lineup at the same time this past season. These spark plugs clogged up the offensive attack and handcuffed Dallas from fronting a complete four-line attack. They lacked a proper amount of finishers in the lineup and the offensive attack stalled as a result.

This is something that the Stars’ front office will have to focus on improving in the offseason ahead. Dallas needs second line scorers to provide a one-two punch that complements the first line. Could some of their spark plugs turn into those needed scorers under Jim Montgomery and his new coaching style? It’s definitely a possibility. Most of them have shown potential in trying on new roles over the past few seasons, so there’s always a chance.

But one of the Stars’ biggest problems this past year was what they lacked in scorers they had overstocked in spark plugs. And until the Dallas Stars can find the proper talent to fill in behind Benn, Seguin, and Radulov, their offense might remain stuck in neutral.

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Spark plugs are fun and give a team a much-needed, well, spark. But when the game is on the line and the puck needs to be in the back of the net, you have to have someone to fulfill the duty. Maybe the Stars will solve that problem in the coming months.