2016-17 Central Division Preview: Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars had a terrific regular season last year, but injuries derailed their playoff aspirations. Tyler Seguin’s regular season was cut short (pun intended) by a sliced Achilles in mid-March, and subsequent calf injury suffered upon return.
Seguin then missed the World Cup of Hockey because of a heel fracture suffered in an exhibition game, meaning Seguin has barely played hockey in 6-7 months. Him returning – and staying healthy – is huge for the Stars.
Dallas will begin the 2016-17 season without a few key players because of, you guessed it, injuries.
Cody Eakin and Mattias Janmark are both dealing with knee injuries. Eakin is expected to miss all of October while Janmark will miss 5-6 months. Neither of them have bee placed on IR yet, but Ales Hemsky has been designated there with a groin issue.
In an effort to sustain the momentum from last year, Dallas had to be creative in the offseason. The Stars traded away defenseman Alex Goligoski, replacing him with veteran Dan Hamhuis. And to pick up some of the weight from those injuries, the Stars signed veteran Lauri Korpikoski over the weekend.
Dallas lost Jason Demers, Kris Russell and Vern Fiddler to free agency this summer and Valeri Nichushkin opted to return to Russia. They also dealt away young netminder Jack Campbell, sending him to LA for defenseman Nick Ebert.
Like other teams in the Central, Dallas has made changes to their leadership group. Patrick Sharp and Jason Spezza will serve as alternate captains for the Stars this season, replacing Goligoski and Fiddler.
Here’s the official roster for the Stars to begin the 2016-17 regular season:
Forward
Jamie Benn (C)
ADam Cracknell
Cody Eakin*
Patrick Eaves
Radek Faksa
Jiri Hudler
Mattias Janmark*
Lori Korpikoski
Curtis McKenzie
Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel
Tyler Seguin
Patrick Sharp (A)
Jason Spezza (A)
Ales Hemsky (IR)
* – injured
Defense
Jordie Benn
Dan Hamhuis
Stephen Johns
John Klingberg
Patrik Nemeth
Johnny Oduya
Jamie Oleksiak
Goaltenders
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
Extremely deep team, … I pick them over Nashville to win the Division.
Stephen Johns…sounds familiar. Oh yes, the throw-in with Sharp for two nobodies and little cap relief. Johns scored a goal and an assist last night. Has good size, good in his own end, and shoots right. TVR is very lucky he is gone.
Dallas winning the division depends mainly on two things: 1. Seguin’s health and 2. Finding a backstopper. Got to give Stan credit for not re-signing Niemi in 2010.