Season Preview: Dallas Stars
Major Additions: None
Major Subtractions: Darryl Sydor, Eric Lindros
Analysis
I expected the Stars to be significantly more active in the free agent market this summer. While the Stars boast among the strongest goaltending tandems in the league and a very impressive blueline (Philippe Boucher is third on their defensive depth chart), they also lack scoring up front and did nothing to fix that lack.
The good news is that Dallas has plenty of cap space to work with this year, but with nearly all of the big name UFA’s already signed there’s little they can do to improve themselves without parting with their own assets. Dallas should be expected to have trouble filling the opposition’s net once again, and that spells trouble. This is the team that couldn’t score enough goals to get past the Canucks in the playoffs last season.
Dallas looks like a pretty solid lock to make the playoffs but it’s difficult to see them making much noise once they get there. They would need to add more than one top six forward and have them integrate themselves into the team all but instantly. Not likely.