There have been countless pieces talking about the Dallas Stars’ upcoming season these past few months. But now is the time to do it with science!!!
Dom Luszczyszyn of the Athletic has the Stars projected to be the 11th best team in the NHL this season according to his analytics model. That’s all thanks to a star-studded core, though depth — as always — is a slight problem:
The team’s seven player core (Seguin, Radulov, Benn, Pavelski, Klingberg, Heiskanen, Bishop) is worth 17.6 wins combined which is behind only the league’s three best teams. What separates Dallas from that group and being a top five or top 10 team themselves is the supporting cast, a problem that’s been plaguing the Stars for the past few uneven seasons.
There are many positives to take away from the piece, but personally my favorite is Luszczyszyn’s glowing review of John Klingberg, because who doesn’t love it when Klingberg gets recognition?
To date, Klingberg really hasn’t received the love he should be getting with his highest Norris finish being sixth in 2017-18. He was arguably the league’s best defenseman that year, at least according to my model, finishing 0.8 wins higher than the eventual winner, Victor Hedman… The knock on him is his defensive ability, which doesn’t seem at all fair as his performance there has been above average in back-to-back seasons all while playing tough minutes. That’s to go with elite offense. My model considers him to be a top five defenseman.
You can read (much) more from Luszczyszyn’s piece here.
Stars Stories
The Stars beat the Minnesota Wild last night! Here’s what Justin Dowling had to say about the game and his OT goal:
“It’s weird having a breakaway from the blue line in. A lot of time to think about it.”@therealjdowls on his game-winner. 😂 #GoStars pic.twitter.com/bwIHRI5kfi
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 18, 2019
And here’s the other goal scorer, Roope Hintz:
“Everybody wants to win every game. Doesn’t matter if it’s an exhibition game or if it’s a real game, so I think it was a nice effort from everyone today. ” – Roope Hintz#GoStars pic.twitter.com/IMjgISvPHA
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 18, 2019
Miro Heiskanen should be better this season. That should excite Stars fans and terrify everyone else:
Miro Heiskanen added eight pounds over the summer, and he said … he is faster than last year. https://t.co/Xre2lNhkit
— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) September 18, 2019
Sean Shapiro has been interviewing each of the Stars’ goalies under contract. Next up is Colton Point:
That’s a hot topic in the goaltending world as a whole right now. I think that the best goalies can find confidence right away, and when they slump, it’s because they are struggling to find their confidence again. It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, just be confident.’ https://t.co/UsCTcxnHrH
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) September 17, 2019
Around the League
Ex-Star Jason Spezza opens up about his quest for the Stanley Cup:
Jason Spezza has some unfinished business this season with the #MapleLeafs.
There’s one thing he’s missing: a Stanley Cup. (@reporterchris) https://t.co/dWt5RYWvKh
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 17, 2019
The NHLPA declined to reopen the CBA, but was it the right decision for the players?
The good news for the NHL players: They can wait and see how much TV $$$ rolls in, and have removed the Olympics from CBA drama.
The bad news: They played into Gary Bettman’s hands. https://t.co/Hcc7uUtXjM
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) September 17, 2019
Down Goes Brown concludes his “bizzaro-meter” rankings for the offseason, and you honestly shouldn’t be surprised by the winner:
From earlier: Which Western Conference team had the strangest offseason? Let’s just say that a few contenders stood out… https://t.co/MFs2l6LS5d pic.twitter.com/MVlx2vHkvH
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) September 18, 2019
Finally, fantasy season is right around the corner. Here are some dark horse candidates to keep an eye on:
Top 10 fantasy hockey sleepers for 2019-20:
Here’s @THNMattLarkin on which players could drastically outperform their average draft positions.https://t.co/jnhcY8cwn5
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) September 18, 2019