Dallas Stars Will Benefit From Failures This Season

While tanking, depending on your viewpoint, is kind of a greasy and honor-less thing to do, the Dallas Stars’ unintentional end-of-season meltdown could have some payoffs.

So let me start off by comparing the Stars to the Oilers and the Leafs. And let me follow that up by assuring you that it is the backhanded compliment that you think it is.

Just mere seasons ago, the Oilers and Leafs were experiencing some of the realest struggles you can come by in hockey. They couldn’t put win streaks together to save their lives, and when it came down to the end of the season, losing had just become the name of the game.

I remember personally hassling fans of these teams because, let’s be honest, they were really bad. Both teams were scraping the very bottom of their own Conference barrels. The consolation for these fans, then, is the excitement of having one of the top, if not the top draft pick in the summer.

For these teams, though, it’s never seemed that that fair of a trade off. In the perpetual midst of nebulous and never-ending “rebuilding,” the brightest young prospects didn’t seem to be doing the Oilers or the Leafs much good. However, fast forward to this season and the Oilers have clinched their playoff berth, and the Leafs seem like they could do the same.

Dallas Stars

And a mere year ago, these were the lowly underdogs of the NHL. First of all, oh how the tables turn, right? And second of all, while we allow this fact to humble us, let’s also let it encourage us, too.

If the Leafs and Oilers can pull themselves up by their bootstraps after multiple bomb seasons, why can’t we, too? Now, I know there are multiple factors that go into massive team turnarounds, just like there are a lot of variables that contribute to putting them in a position they need a turnaround from in the first place.

But the Dallas Stars seem poised with some resources that could inspire a similar jump-start to help them keep from repeating this season.

The major thing to look for is going to be personnel changes. Obviously, the coaching staff didn’t put themselves in an advantageous spot this season, which could very possibly result in some new regimes being established in Dallas.

While there have been ups to go along with the downs with the current coaching staff at the helm, it’s become apparent this season that some of the approaches and perspectives about which types of players best fit the style of hockey aspired to simply did not work for the Stars.

Also, expect changes in the way of players. I would look for new players being brought in, and many called-up players becoming more permanent fixtures. With that change will also come a bit of a culture shift. The Stars were a young team before, but this would make them even that much younger. The leadership and experience is going to have to come from somewhere and be up to the task of not only mentorship, but motivation.

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And last but not least, one of the most deciding factors in my opinion will be what the Dallas Stars gained from some trade decisions that were regrettable, but inevitable. During these trades, the Stars were thinking not only of their present success, but of trying to set up their future. I’m talking about prospects, sure, but mostly I mean draft picks.

The Stars have notoriously ended with the short end of the stick when it comes to draft picks. Even though they’ve done pretty well with the late rounds picks they’ve been saddled with in the past, they seem not too keen to rely on that luck in the future.

When Dallas traded Johnny Oduya back to the Blackhawks, they got in return, in addition to Mark McNeill, a conditional 4th round draft pick for 2018 that has the potential to turn into an even more appealing 3rd round pick, should Chicago and Oduya make a multiple-round-winning play off round.

And that’s right- I did say 2018. Even though that’s still a ways out, it’s a great asset and it will come in handy for the Stars, almost like spending money set aside for a rainy day.

But they secured a draft pick for 2017 also, because hey, we all like a little instant gratification, too. They acquired a 4th round pick from the Canadiens in the same move that exchanged Jordie Benn for Greg Pateryn.

And, if that didn’t evoke any sort of a strong feeling, don’t forget about the second round 2017 draft pick the Stars got in return for shipping beloved and golden child Patrick Eaves off to Anaheim. Nobody said it would be easy clawing your way to the top.

Next: Young Guns Proving That Stars Have A Bright Future

But at the end of the day, the Dallas Stars will have access to some of the same resources that helped the Oilers and Leafs write their rags to riches stories. It could take several seasons, but I have no doubts that the Stars will use the consequences of their mistakes to become a better team.