Dallas Stars: What To Take From THN’s 2018-19 Season Predictions
By Josh Clark
The Hockey News released their annual yearbook the other day, highlighting all of their predictions for the 2018-19 hockey season. Their predictions for the Dallas Stars are hopeful and should be taken with a dose of reality.
The Dallas Stars are stuck in one of the most intriguing situations in all of sports right now. It’s a situation that involves opposite ends of the spectrum and the need for a happy medium.
As the 2017-18 season came to a close, the Stars once again found themselves on the outside of the playoff picture. Their flurry of offseason changes had once again neglected to come to fruition and left the team hosting an early exit interview day for the second year in a row.
As a result, Dallas cut ties with head coach Ken Hitchcock after a short stint, took another step back to survey the makeup of the team, and once again focused on taking the necessary steps in the 2018 offseason to turn their misfortunes around.
That’s the first end of the spectrum. But on the other hand, the Stars arguably have one of the most talented rosters in the NHL, boast a solid balance throughout their lineup, and looked like a playoff lock until the last four weeks of the season in 2017-18. On top of that, they hired a new head coach in Jim Montgomery that should be a good fit for their current makeup and bring the team back into offensive prominence.
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Their offseason additions seemed to fill the remaining holes in the roster, leaving the team prepared and hungry a chance to charge into the 2018-19 season.
That’s the other end. Plainly put, the Dallas Stars failed to meet expectations again last season but did good things in the summer and have the tools to take a big step in the season ahead.
This is where the happy medium must make an appearance. But how do you go about finding one?
The Hockey News took a swing at doing so the other day with the release of their annual yearbook. And how did they do so?
By picking the Dallas Stars to finish in fourth place in the Central division and earn a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
As part of their complete 31-team breakdown in the yearbook, they surveyed various parts of each organization, including its top players and predictions on where the team might end up.
They selected the Stars to finish in fourth place, trailing the Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues. As a result, the Stars were picked for a wild card spot and a shot at the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the postseason. There are no predictions for how long each series will last, but Dallas was selected to fall short in round one as the Jets were picked to advance to the title of Stanley Cup champions.
The Jets are picked to beat the Stars, Nashville Predators, and Calgary Flames on their way to a seven-game showdown in the Final with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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On top of their playoff predictions, they also listed the Dallas Stars’ Stanley Cup odds at 30-1 for the year ahead. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn made their list of Top 50 Players and Miro Heiskanen was chosen as a finalist for the Calder Trophy.
So, what do these predictions and rankings teach us? They teach us about finding a happy medium.
The Stars are in a loaded Central division with little to no breathing room. Each of their six divisional foes have an argument to be considered a playoff team with only 4-5 spots available. Dallas missed the postseason last year and will now be under the supervision of a new head coach with no NHL coaching experience. That doesn’t seem like a promising scenario.
But then again, you cannot forget to acknowledge the level of talent and competitiveness that is already present in the lineup. Benn and Seguin are leading a skilled cast alongside John Klingberg, Alexander Radulov, Ben Bishop, and plenty of other young phenoms. Jim Montgomery seems ready and prepared to get this team back to their former state and have them competing after a quick turnaround. That sounds promising enough.
You can look for doom and gloom lingering in the Dallas Stars organization, or you can turn and look at the promise instead. Both sides possess some amount of reason.
But the best idea is to look for the happy medium. That’s what The Hockey News did in their yearbook. When uncertainty makes itself known, finding an average to rest your faith in can sometimes be the best choice.