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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Andrew Cogliano Looks Like A Bounceback Candidate

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

There’s more than one former Anaheim Ducks forward who’s looking for a bounceback season with the Dallas Stars in 2019-20. Andrew Cogliano is used to producing 30 or more points per season, and odds are that no one expects more from him than he does from himself.

Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika says that Cogliano’s basic specs – “small, but strong and a heck of a skater” – make him a good fit for the Stars’ blueprint. Where he will fit into it depends on whether he can return to his career form:

The former first-round pick for Edmonton has been a model of consistency in Anaheim, producing 30-plus points four times in a span of five seasons (he had 29 in the other). But he had a big dropoff last season, both in his 46 games with the Ducks (three goals, eight assists) and in his 32 with the Stars.

So then the question becomes whether he is a solid depth forward who offers strong defensive play and veteran leadership, or if he can give more than that and get back to 20-something points with double-digit goals.

Cogliano scored two goals during the Stars’ 2019 Stanley Cup run, so that positive regression may have begun already. But what can the Stars expect from a 33-year-old veteran?

Cogliano is an intense individual, and he wants to be his best every game, so you can expect he will push to have a bounce-back season statistically.

In 2017-18, he had 12 goals and 23 assists for 35 points. He also averaged 15:12 in time on ice and fired 175 shots on goal. He did not play much on the power play in 2017-18 and he probably won’t get much man-advantage time with the Stars, so the focus will likely have to be in a third-line role with 12 or 13 minutes a game.

That said, he’s not over the hill and he produced great numbers before last season, so there is a real chance he can make significant improvement.

There’s more at Mike’s place. [Dallas Stars]

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