Dallas Stars Predictions: Stats Leaders For 2015-2016 Season

It’s a new year, and we are just a little more than a month away from the start of the 2015-2016 NHL season.

With a very eventful and active offseason, the Dallas Stars look to make a huge run in this upcoming campaign, after a very disappointing 2014-2015 season.

There are plenty of new faces in the organization. Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya and Stephen Johns all have come over from the Chicago Blackhawks. On top of that, GM Jim Nill acquired goalie Antti Niemi from the San Jose Sharks, to use as a man who will compete with Kari Lehtonen in the crease.

Inevitably, there were departures as well. Longtime Dallas Stars defenseman Trevor Daley and forward Ryan Garbutt were dealt to Chicago in the Sharp-Johns acquisition. 36-year-old center Shawn Horcoff is off to the Anaheim Ducks, and Jhonas Enroth is off to the Los Angeles Kings after a short stint with the Victory Green.

But to say the entire Dallas Stars organization is optimistic heading into this new campaign is an understatement. The Stars have countless stud hockey players on their team, and have no excuse anymore to underachieve.

Today, I predict which Dallas Star will lead in a handful of statistical categories heading into this new season.

Goals:

This one might be the hardest to predict, and that’s of course because of how many goalscorers this hockey team has.

For me, it comes down to Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin (big surprise, huh?).

But for goals, I’m going with Tyler Seguin. Last season, Seguin scored 37 goals in just 71 games, and I think he scores over 40 this season.

There are many reasons. First and foremost, he is a freak on the ice. There isn’t much that he can’t do, and is by far one of the most skilled players in the entire NHL. Second, he is on a stacked first line, made up of Benn-Seguin-Nichushkin. Even more exciting is the Dallas Stars power play. And with a possible power play make up of Benn-Spezza-Seguin as well as Klingberg-Sharp, that’s by far one of the deadliest in the NHL.

Other players to watch for are Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza (who will hopefully score many more goals than last season), and even Cody Eakin. Eakin was third on the team last season, and it wouldn’t be surprising if his numbers continue to snowball.

But all in all, Seguin is who I’m going with here.

Assists:

Last season, captain Jamie Benn led this category with 52, and I’m going with the left-winger again.

Somehow, Jamie Benn played in all 82 games, despite dealing with numerous injuries. Benn truly showed how much of a grinder and team player he is. Not only that, but after surgeries on BOTH hips during the off-season, Benn expects to be on the ice for Opening Night at the AAC.

Where the Stars might be without Jamie Benn these past few seasons is a scary thing to think about.

He has consistently shown his leadership, passion, and of course, his skill on the ice. He has wonderful vision, and is just as sharp of a passer as he is a goalscorer.

I mean, he won the Art Ross trophy for a reason.

While this team has a lot of great passers and finders from the first line to the fourth, there will be a handful of players who are capable of tallying over 40 assists by the end of the season. But, I’m still sticking with my decision.

The captain takes this one.

Wins:

Earlier I said that goals might be the hardest category to predict.

I lied.

Despite Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill stating that Niemi and Lehtonen will switch off each game in the crease, the whole goalie situation still is unpredictable.

If both goalies play phenomenal, everything could work out as planned. Or, obviously, one of the two could always play bad, and the other could become the every-night starter between the pipes.

And sadly, there is always the possibility of both Niemi and Lehtonen playing poorly.

It’s hard to guess what will happen, considering both net-minders are coming off of one of the worst seasons in their NHL careers.

But either way, I’m going with Antti Niemi here.

Last season, Kari had 34 wins in 65 games, compared to 31 wins in 61 games for Niemi. Despite winning more games, Kari had much more offensive support. While the Stars scored 257 goals, the Sharks scored just 224.

It’s not just the stats, however. Kari is just a very unpredictable goalie. There are times where Kari looks among the best in the league.

On the flip side, sometimes Lehtonen looks like he can’t save a single puck that comes his way. Kari has an incredible amount of talent, and he has shown that over and over throughout his career. The problem is that you don’t know which Kari Lehtonen you are going to get every night.

Because of consistency issues, I’m going with Niemi on this one, but I will say that I think it will be very close, and that both of these goalies are going to surprise a lot of people this season.

In the end, whoever leads these categories at the end of the season, it doesn’t really matter. The Dallas Stars are anxious to get back to the NHL playoffs and make a run. They have more than enough talent to do so, and this team has a lot of chemistry.

Nill has proven that he wants to win now by the numerous moves he has made in the three off-seasons that he has been in the 214, and he has done more than carry his load in order for this hockey team to succeed.

For until then, we will have to wait and see! Opening Night against the Penguins is just 36 days away!

Next: Three Dallas Stars Players That Need Breakout Seasons

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