Dallas Stars’ 2017-18 Underwhelming Forward Prediction
Fans and players alike enter each NHL season with the goal of being the best. Unfortunately, though, that isn’t always what happens. Sometimes things go awry and it is simply a byproduct of a performance-based industry. The Dallas Stars might learn that lesson the hard way in the season ahead.
The Dallas Stars are hopeful that this season will serve as an improvement from last year. Making the playoffs has become an expectation for this team and last season fell almost unbelievably short of that.
Unfortunately, disappointment happens every year in professional sports and the Stars are anything but immune. Being the offensive-focused team that Dallas is puts a lot of pressure on their forwards, so someone is bound to be underwhelming or not up to par with the rest of the forwards. This season, the prediction is that Adam Cracknell will fall short of his lofty expectations.
New contract slump
This offseason Cracknell signed a one-year contract with the Stars for $675,000. That’s a $75,000 raise from his previous deal, which was entirely warranted given his impressive performance during a year that was anything but for Dallas.
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However, the season following a year of greatness sometimes yields a year of disappointment. There’s added pressure when earning more money. He should be producing at least on par with his 16 point performance from last year and in the event that he has an offensive slump, he could deal with confidence issues.
While No. 27 has eight NHL seasons and over 200 games of experience, the wear and tear on his mental game could be impactful on the ice.
Role changes
Anytime a new head coach takes over a team with a relatively established identity, there’s the chance for chaos. The Stars will be a different team under Ken Hitchcock and that will be great for some players and awful for others.
Cracknell fills the role of being a staple depth forward, spending most of his time on the third or fourth line for the Stars. That won’t change for 2017-18, but another year under his belt coupled with the inevitability of the pace of the NHL increasing could inhibit his success.
While his defensive capabilities will be useful under Hitchcock – he boasted a plus-minus of plus-12 last season – it’s important to note that his d-zone success was under a very offensive-minded system. Having the entire team focus on their play in the Stars’ zone could alter his responsibilities and lead to underwhelming results.
Another role change that Cracknell will have to adjust to is the loss of veterans from the Stars’ roster. Every team in the NHL seems to be going younger and that leaves the players with more experience to provide guidance. Dallas lost Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya and Ales Hemsky to free agency or trade in the last few years, meaning the pressure is on for Cracknell to teach younger players the ropes.
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Next steps
While the hope is that Cracknell can harness his new, bigger paycheck and channel it into on-ice success, there is a chance that he won’t be able to live up to the hype for the Stars. Of course, anything can happen in the NHL, so we’ll have to wait and see how he handles the new season.