Dallas Stars Players the Team Needs More From to be Successful

The NHL season is nothing short of challenging for all involved. It’s a taxing process that requires literal blood, sweat, and tears to make it through to the other side, and that’s not lost on anyone. However, some Dallas Stars players need to do more to carry their weight.

While it’s early on in the Dallas Stars‘ regular season campaign, a lot has already happened. They’re sitting with a less-than-flattering record and going through some growing pains that are expected from a new coaching staff and system.

However, there are a few players who simply need to do more for this team to be successful.

Valeri Nichushkin

The young gun who departed the Stars for not getting enough ice time years ago, only to return to the line-up this season has been disappointing to say the least. The expectation that No. 43 would return as a better player has surely not been met.

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In fact, Valeri Nichushkin appears to be more confused on the ice than anything. He misses passes, fails to skate back to the defensive zone with any type of urgency and is sitting with one lone assist on the season thus far.

While he wasn’t necessarily lighting it up during his first stint with the team, this season has proven difficult for the Russian-born player. Whatever his obstacles are, he needs to get it together and show why he believed he deserved more time on the ice years ago, because by the looks of it, that’s certainly not the case.

Ben Bishop

Of course, when a team is hovering in and around .500, it’s easy to blame the goalie. They play the vast majority of the game and are literally in control of major aspects of it night in and night out. However, Ben Bishop really has been to blame a few times this season already.

Considering the struggle for depth scoring, it’s difficult to not notice the massive mistakes No. 30 makes in (or rather out) of the net. While this message might not come through clearly for him just yet, Bishop is not Marty Turco. He does not possess the puck-handling skills that the great puck-handling goaltenders of the past have. He just doesn’t.

Plus, the game is faster now, which makes each decision that much more magnified. It truly has to be an all-in mentality when it comes to playing the puck, and Bishop has already been caught a few times not fully committing. That leaves the rest of the team to question his abilities and, thus, their confidence is shattered in some regards.

That’s the worst complaint a goaltender can receive, and it seems to be the case right now in Dallas.

Bottom Line

It’s still early in the season, meaning there’s time and room for improvement from every player on the Stars.

The key to moving forward in a more successful way, though, is to make the effort to get better sooner rather than later.