Dallas Stars Have Age, Experience Where They Need It

While the Dallas Stars may have lost some veteran players and may have a young team moving forward, they can play age and experience to their advantage.

It’s a shame that “younger and wiser” just doesn’t have the ring to it that “older and wiser” does. Everyone wants experience and a clear vision of the path ahead without having to pay for it in years. Unfortunately, life often doesn’t work that way.

Thankfully, hockey doesn’t always have to work in the exact same ways that life does. An attribute that the Dallas Stars have been casually looking to add to their ranks over the last few seasons has been that same “older and wiser” factor. Veterans who have lifted cups before know what it takes to get there and theoretically know how to get there again.

And while many of those players, such as Patrick Sharp, did add to the quality of the team, many that were brought in went right back out. Some have bemoaned this, added to the fact that the Dallas Stars have and are continuing to grow a somewhat young team.

Out of the current 25-man roster, 13 of those Stars were born in the 1990s (with Jamie Benn just barely missing the cut-off). There are still more coming through the Stars’ AHL affiliate that will likely see action in a few years, adding even further to the youth of the team.

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If we examine the roster and positions, it becomes evident, though, that the Dallas Stars have age and experience in the best of places. Players that have been in Dallas for a while and have leadership qualities pop up all over the list.

Players like Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, and Antoine Roussel, who are anchors on their own lines. Any way that Hitch is likely to spin those line combos, you’re going to end up with at least one experienced player per line who knows the ropes in Dallas to a tee.

Hitch’s system seems like it’s going to make the most of this. Early on in the summer, he expressed his desire to work with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin both, to help them become solid leaders on the team, both on and off the ice.

This is a great situation for new players, also with age and experience, to be coming into. Players like Alexander Radulov, Martin Hanzal, and Marc Methot have all been around the block where the game is concerned and will probably have a lot to contribute in terms of leadership and a grounding energy.

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Where the Dallas Stars sit, it seems they have the perfect mix of young, skilled enthusiasm and older, experienced leaders. That’s a great thing, because while it’s not true technically, the Dallas Stars really aren’t getting any older. And this season, we’ll get to see firsthand what this mix is capable of.