We have reviewed all the Central Division teams and their offseason activities. It's been a journey learning about what some of the other teams have done in the Central Division. Utah is looking like they could be a surprise within the division this season with the amount of money they spent to improve their team. The Colorado Avalanche will be the biggest threat to the Stars with the return of captain Gabriel Landeskog. This might be the deepest division in the entire league.
The Dallas Stars are looking to get over the hump of making it to the Stanley Cup Finals under Glen Gulutzan. With his approach of having a creative offense, it might be what the Stars were lacking last season to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. It's going to be a long season for the Stars with all the tough teams in their division. Can the Stars win the Central Division? Here's why the Stars should be able to reach the top of the Central Division this season.
Dallas Stars Preview: Gains and Losses
Gains:
Nathan Bastian
Radek Faksa
Losses:
Mason Marchment
Evgenii Dadonov
Mikael Granlund
Cody Ceci
Matt Dumba
Dallas Stars Preview: Summary
The Dallas Stars did a lot of cutting costs after signing Mikko Rantanen to that 96 million dollar deal for the next decade. Mason Marchment was traded to the Seattle Kraken, and the Stars weren't able to re-sign Mikael Granlund to a new contract. It was probably the best way to free up some cap space so the Stars could bring in some grit with Nathan Bastian. Nill did the best he could to keep the majority of the core for Gulutzan's first season in Dallas.
Dallas Stars Preview: 1st place
I think the Stars will have the best three top lines in the league this upcoming season. No matter which way you pair them, you have nine great scoring forwards per line. Mikko Rantanen is going to thrive in his first full season in Dallas. Gulutzan plans to utilize him to jumpstart the offense this season. I even think Mavrik Bourque will have a breakout season with the Stars this season. He's completely healthy and has shown progress during the preseason, demonstrating improvement over the offseason. The Stars are going to thrive under Gulutzan's coaching style, and it's why they will take the Central Division crown from the Winnipeg Jets.