Outlook:
Plagued by injuries and the presence of Mr. Sloppy Seconds—I mean Sean Avery—the Dallas Stars finished in 12th place in the Western Conference in 2008-09. Good news for Stars fans is Avery is no longer in the Lonestar state, and if the injuries don’t pile up again, Marty Turco and company will be playoff bound in 2009-10.
There was a bit of good news for Stars fans in Big D last year, and that was the presence of Loui Eriksson. In his third season, Eriksson had a career year as he lit the lamp 36 times while adding 27 assists. Eriksson looks like a keeper for years to come.
While Stars fans saw a big year from Eriksson, James Neal also contributed in the goal-scoring department. The second-year forward scored 24 goals in his rookie campaign. One other notable was Mike Ribero, who played all 82 games for the first time in his career. The ex-Hab scored 78 points in his third season in Dallas.
While Eriksson, Neal and Ribero all had solid seasons, the Stars were plagued by injury.
Forward Brad Richards, who was acquired by the Stars in the 2008 Trade Deadline, was sidelined for 26 games, while defenseman Sergei Zubov only played in 10 games and team captain Brendan Morrow was also sidelined for most of the year. Richards and Morrow return for 2009-10, while Zubov instead opted to sign with the KHL in Russia.
Steve Ott returns on the front line and Mike Modano, who was also with the old Minnesota North Stars, returns for his 20th season with the organization. The former No. 1 draft pick has seen a decline in his game, but his presence in the locker room should be a plus once again.
On defense, the Stars added veteran Karlias Skrastins during the offseason, to fill the void left by Zubov. Puck moving defenseman Matt Niskanen is a young star on the rise and one can expect the same with Nicklas Grossman.
Trevor Daley, who had a career high in points last year, enters his fifth season in Dallas and the signing of Jeff Woywitka during the summer should help the blueline. Stephane Robidas returns as the quarterback of the unit.
Marty Turco had his worst year statistically during the 2008-09 seasons as his goals against average was 2.81, his save percentage was below .900 and he let up more than 200 goals for the first time in his career.
However, with the injuries piling up on D, opposing offenses were firing at will on the veteran goalie. Even a goaltender of his caliber couldn’t do much in that situation, and let’s not forget Turco played in 74 games.
With that being said, the Stars did go out and sign veteran Alex Auld during the offseason. That should help the bleeding if the same situation were to occur in 2009-10. Former Colorado College goaltender Richard Bachman could be the goaltender of the future in Dallas and should benefit from a year or two in the AHL.
Mark Crawford enters his first season as the head coach in Dallas. While it might seem like he has his hands full, the situation could always be worse.
While one shouldn’t expect to see a similar result to 2007-08 when the Stars made the Western Conference Finals, there is still hope for a playoff appearance. The Stars are one of those teams who can make things interesting, and this year should be no exception.
The Western Conference is tough however with several potential playoff teams, including an improved L.A. Kings squad, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators. The fight for the last playoff spot could be really interesting during the last week of the year, but Dallas has the talent and the experience.
Therefore, the Stars will sneak into the playoffs and as a bold prediction; they’ll do it on the last day of the 2009-10 season.
Prediction: Third in Pacific Division, Eighth in West
Projected Lines:
Loui Eriksson – Brad Richards – Jere Lehtinen
Brendan Morrow – Mike Modano – Fabian Brunstrom
James Neal – Mike Ribero – Steve Ott
Tom Wandell – Brian Sutherby – Toby Petersen
Stephaine Robidas – Trevor Daley
Karlias Skrastins – Matt Niskanen
Nicklas Grossman – Jeff Woywitka
Marty Turco
Alex Auld
Posted by Tim Rosenthal 
