Dallas Stars Power Play: What It Might Look Like In 2015-2016

The game of hockey is a quick and intense one. It is one filled with battling, physicality, skill set, and a showdown between two separate powers.

But, as in every game, there are always chances to take advantage of certain opportunities. These opportunities are most prominent on the power play, and the Dallas Stars are looking to take complete control of those chances in the upcoming year.

The past few years have not been fruitful for the Stars when on the man advantage. The power play has been an elusive gesture in Dallas, leaving the players and fans frustrated after multiple two-minute charades the past two seasons. It’s been a rather sharp thorn in their side, and GM Jim Nill taking steps each offseason to try and fix it.

In July 2014, Nill completed a trade with the Ottawa Senators that brought veteran center Jason Spezza to the Dallas Stars for Alex Chiasson. Nill had expressed his desire to add a quality second-line center that could complete the one-two punch with Tyler Seguin. At the time, Cody Eakin had played the role and done a decent job, but Nill wanted the veteran presence. With Spezza in the mix, the Stars also had a chance to redo their power play.

The Dallas Stars power play had been an overall mess in the seasons leading up to Spezza’s arrival. Since the 2007-2008 season, the highest the Stars power play had been ranked in the NHL was 12th. Another season saw them squeak in at 14th. But every other season besides those two, the Stars were in the bottom half of the league, including one year at dead last.

Spezza was definitely a strong-arm on the power play in Ottawa, and Nill hoped he could bring that strength with him in order to turn Dallas’ chances around. Throughout the 2014-2015 season it was clear that Spezza was a helpful link, tallying 4 goals and 22 assists. He took on the role in the Stars “four forward” power play scheme, settling in at the position where the right defender would usually play.

There was a drastic improvement in the Dallas Stars power play between the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 season. In 13-14, the Stars cashed in on the power play 15.9% of the time, which set them in 23rd. Come the end of 14-15, the Stars had increased that number to 19.0%, putting them in 12th among the NHL. This was oddly enough with the same amount of attempts.

This offseason, they only increased their chances of becoming one of the league’s most threatening on the man advantage. At least that’s what it looks like. By adding Patrick Sharp, the Stars brought in a lethal dose of power play knowledge. Sharp is known for his ability to blast the puck from the blue line during the attack, scoring the majority of the time. He’s done this a few times against the Stars as well, so if you’ve ever seen a game where the Blackhawks score from a slap shot on the power play, it was more than likely him.

So now the Stars have a good stock of players that can help work the power play. The only thing is, which ones will make the best players and how will they sort out?

If we have learned anything from the line combinations and defensive pairings over the past two years, it’s that Lindy Ruff is up for change. If something is out of the ordinary, Ruff is on the case mixing the lines up until he finds something that works in every area.

So first off they must look at which system they want to run. With the primarily young defensive corps that mainly focuses on staying back and holding down the fort as they should, the “four forward” scenario will probably work best. Last season, the Dallas Stars power play looked something like this. Remember, Ruff made multiple changes throughout the year in order to increase output.

Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Eaves

Trevor Daley – Jason Spezza

The second line was almost always a gamble, but usually included the likes of Shawn Horcoff, Ales Hemsky, and Alex Goligoski.

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So with the Stars newest addition in Patrick Sharp, it looks like there will be some changes in the first line. Taking a risk and creating a five forward scheme is downright preposterous. So in all likelihood, it looks as though Sharp will replace Spezza on the top line. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Spezza will be demoted. What Ruff could end up doing is moving Eaves to the second line while Spezza fills in at right wing. Or they could result to the “Super Line” formation and put him at center while Seguin takes the right wing.

Either way, the Stars have options. Last season, the top five goal scorers on the power play for Dallas were Seguin, Benn, Eaves, Daley, and Spezza, in that order. These five earned their spots on the man advantage and should see some ice time on the power play come this season.

In a perfect world, the guess would be that the Stars power play would mold into something like this for next season:

Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Tyler Seguin

John Klingberg – Patrick Sharp

Patrick Eaves – Cody Eakin – Ales Hemsky

Alex Goligoski – Jason Demers

There are other names that have a right to be considered as well, such as Valeri Nichushkin and Vernon Fiddler. But that remains to be seen. This is simply looking at the players in regards to their known strength on the power play.

The top line would be a one-two-three-four punch, if that’s plausible. With threatening scorers in Benn, Seguin, Spezza, and Sharp, the short handed team might have some difficulty figuring out who to cover. In regards to the second line they may have the same scenario, but possibly at a lesser magnitude. While Eaves and Hemsky can be sneaky, Eakin and Klingberg are outright shooters that know where to send the puck.

But who knows where Ruff will place them. Training camp will solve a lot of these questions and give us a clearer picture. One thing is for sure: the Stars have the options they have been looking for. Not only that, but they have the potential to be a dominating force in special teams this year.

Next: Dallas Stars Final Round: Top Game Of Year: Edmonton vs. Nashville VOTE

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