Dallas Stars: Mats Zuccarello Serves As A Safe Bet In 2019 Offseason

The Dallas Stars have made some big and bold moves over the past few summers. But as the 2019 offseason gets underway, the primary focus seems to center around re-signing Mats Zuccarello. And while he seems like a good bet, he’s also a safe one.

Every NHL team takes gambles, and the Dallas Stars are no exception. Whether it’s hiring a new head coach after an early slump in the season or trading future assets away at the Trade Deadline in an attempt to win it all in a given year, it doesn’t take much digging to find an NHL team taking a gamble.

And just as it goes in everyday life, sometimes the gamble pays off and sometimes it falls through.

Take the Stars for example. After missing the playoffs by 15 points in 2016-17, the Stars gambled. They cut ties with head coach Lindy Ruff, who was just one year removed from leading the team to a Central division title, and replaced him with Ken Hitchcock, who had been fired by the St. Louis Blues a few months prior.

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Bringing in Hitchcock brought some risk with it. His coaching style was known for being hard-pressing and rigorous, and he was known for burning out his teams. That’s what initially led to him being fired in his first stint with the Stars in the early 2000’s. But change was needed (especially on the defensive side), and Hitchcock looked like a viable answer.

But it didn’t pan out. The Stars started out strong, but crumbled down the stretch and missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season. As a result, Hitchcock retired and left the Stars in need of a new bench boss.

And so, GM Jim Nill gambled again by hiring Jim Montgomery as the next head coach. Though he had found success at the college level, Montgomery had never coached in an NHL capacity before and was set to be just the fifth coach to make the direct jump from college to the NHL.

This time around, the gamble paid off. The Dallas Stars bought into Montgomery’s plan, rebounded from a slow and injury-ridden start, and fell one goal short of a trip to the Western Conference Finals after defeating the Central division champion Nashville Predators in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now, the Stars look to be in a good spot not only in the present, but also for the future with Montgomery behind the bench.

It just goes to show that gambles are a necessary evil. Sometimes, they come with a big upside and sometimes, they crash and burn.

And in the 2019 offseason, the Dallas Stars will once again have a chance to gamble.

With every summer in the NHL comes an opportunity for every team to take a risk and throw some big money on the table in hopes that it pays off in a sizable way. Whether that’s trading a young and budding superstar for an established veteran or sending a six-year, $8 million contract to a superstar in hopes that he will turn the franchise around, the offseason is a prime time to gamble.

But while the Stars have a chance to place a heavy bet and have done so in each of the past few summers, there’s another option on the table that would negate the need to take a risk. That option is Mats Zuccarello.

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It’s no secret that the Dallas Stars need to find help on offense this summer. After scoring an average of 2.55 goals per game (fourth-worst in the NHL) during the 2018-19 season and never being able to consistently produce outside offense outside of the top line, the Dallas depth scoring once again showed its flaws.

That is until Mats Zuccarello arrived via trade on Feb. 23, 2019. The Stars acquired the forward near the Trade Deadline in an attempt to boost their depth scoring and round out their top-six on offense.

And for the first two periods of his Dallas debut, it looked as though he was the perfect solution. But after breaking his arm while blocking a shot towards the end of the second period, Zuccarello was sidelined until the final week of the season when he logged one more regular season contest and made his American Airlines Center debut against the Philadelphia Flyers before being benched for the remainder of the season to rest up for the postseason.

As the Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway, Zuccarello continued making a quick and lasting impact on the Dallas offense. By the time the Stars’ postseason run came to an end, he was tied with Tyler Seguin for the team lead in points with 11 and had become a prime catalyst in getting the Stars to Game 7 of the second round.

But as exit interview day came and went and the offseason took effect, the need for a contract extension for Zuccarello began lingering. And while debates have come up about how much he will cost and how long the term should be on his contract, the point is this: Zuccarello is a safe bet for the Dallas Stars.

He’s a safe bet because he made the Stars better in his limited time with the organization. Zuccarello proved through 15 total games, 5 total goals, and 14 total points while wearing a Dallas jersey that he can provide the Stars with what they need.

Upon his arrival, Dallas almost immediately became a two-line team. For the first time in three seasons, they had a second line that could produce consistent energy in the offensive zone. That all sparked from Zuccarello.

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He drove play forward, used his energy and peskiness in all three zones, utilized his playmaking abilities to make his line-mates better, and boasted great puck possession skills. With Zuccarello in the fold, Roope Hintz and Jason Dickinson became legitimate scoring threats. He turned the power play into a multidimensional attack, possessed an ability to slot anywhere in the lineup, and always made the forwards around him better using his own skills.

With Zuccarello, the Stars have a safe bet. They know that he not only works in the system, but also that he makes the team better as a whole. And if he’s able to play an entire season with the team without having to multiple injections in his arm before each game, who knows what kind of new spark he could create.

The Dallas Stars have an opportunity to gamble this summer. If the Zuccarello negotiations hit a wall, Nill could go out and take a swing for a long-term player in hopes of fixing the still-relevant depth scoring problem. And while it might pay off, it might not. That’s the risk that comes with every NHL Free Agency period. If the Stars go gambling on the open market, they have to do so with the possibility of things going wrong in mind.

But with Zuccarello, the Stars have an in-house solution that is proven, assured, and effective. He proved that he can help in fixing their scoring woes, can generate chemistry with anyone in the dressing room, and can make their offense and power play more dynamic, powerful, and dangerous. And for the next 10 days, the Stars have sole negotiating rights with the 31-year-old.

“I think he was a good fit,” Nill said on exit interview day. “A great fit in the dressing room. I think he loved it here. Now, we need to sit down with his representatives.”

“This is my team now,” Zuccarello added. “I’m the kind of guy that when someone believes you and wants you, I usually like that. We’ll see.”

Nill may go and gamble in the upcoming offseason, and that may end up being his best solution. But if you’ve got an answer to your problem and it’s already under your roof and within the cost parameters, wouldn’t you do whatever you could to keep that answer around?