Dallas Stars: Their Road Map to the 2018-19 Playoffs

The Dallas Stars have a pretty bad track record of making the playoffs over the past decade. What needs to happen this year for them to play in the post-season again?

In eight of the last ten seasons, the Dallas Stars missed the playoffs. They’ve made moves in the right direction, but it might not be enough.

Last year, the Stars were only three points out of a wild card spot. It’s a spot they would’ve easily had, if they’d simply not dropped eight consecutive games and gone 4-8-4 in March. They didn’t have to be an amazing team over that stretch, they just needed to hold it together a little bit and they couldn’t do that.

If they want to make it next year, they’re going to have to jump over a few Central teams. The Predators and Jets probably won’t be going anywhere next year, but there are other teams looking more vulnerable.

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The Avalanche have been a mess for the past few seasons and for most of the past decade, including 2016-17’s 48-point finish, good for last place in the league by 21 points. They pulled it together last year enough to make the playoffs, but quickly exited in the first round. The Stars traditionally struggle against goaltender Semyon Varlamov, but they don’t have to beat the Avs head-to-head to jump over them next year and they’re probably the easiest team for the Stars to hop over.

Both the Wild and the Blues have had success in recent years when it comes to making the post-season. The Blues missed last year, but were previously on a six-year playoff streak. As for the Wild, they’re also on a six-year playoff streak. Despite their recent success, they’ve looked shaky at times, and the Stars could reasonably look to knock one or both of them down the standings.

After three Stanley Cup wins in six years, the Blackhawks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08. The salary cap finally took enough of a toll on the team to do some real damage and Corey Crawford went down for a lot of the season after the Hawks had to get rid of multiple serviceable back-up goalies in recent years. They were the only team to finish lower than the Stars last year, but they were much further from the playoffs than the Stars and Blues were. It’s hard to count the Blackhawks out while they still have so much talent on their roster, and a healthy season from Crawford coupled with a bounceback season from Toews could easily leapfrog them back into a playoff spot.

There’s also the Pacific Division to contend with. Since the realignment and playoff system changes, the Central has dominated the wild card, grabbing both spots most years. For the last two years, the Pacific has pushed back and the wild cards have been split one and one. It’s hard to predict what will happen with the Golden Knights next year, since they defied all expectations this past season, but it’s very possible that they can’t replicate this year’s success and fall out of the playoffs. It’s also possible that they do this all over again next year.

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Either way, it’s in the Stars’ best interest to try to end up in at least the number four spot in the Central. The Stars probably have the easiest route to that if they can leap over the Blues and Avs while holding off the Blackhawks, but it’s the Wild that they’ll want to set their sights on to ensure a spot just to be safe.

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