117 days after they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, the Dallas Stars will finally play an NHL game. 117 days — or about 2,808 hours, or around 168,480 minutes. You get the point: It’s been a while.
And when the Western Conference Championship banner is raised and the puck drops Friday evening at the American Airlines Center between the Stars and Nashville Predators, the Stars will officially join the other 30 NHL teams competing in arguably the most unusual season in league history.
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As recent history has taught us, the Stars are never short on storylines, and this year promises to be no different. Let’s look at five of the biggest storylines surrounding their 2021 season.
Goaltender mysteries
That’s mysteries, plural, and yes, this is the Stars’ top storyline this season. Dallas doesn’t shy from the fact that it is a defense-first, suffocate-the-opposition, keep-the-score-low kind of team. The play in the crease is obviously critical to making that happen.
Let’s start with Anton Khudobin. In two seasons with the Stars, Khudobin has started 63 games and posted a .926 save percentage as the primary backup — or, as the Stars, like to call it, 1B — to Ben Bishop. With Bishop out for most of the 2020 playoffs, Khudobin went 14-10, posting a .917 save percentage while helping the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final. Khudobin has been great in spot duty, and he was great in the bubble, but it was easy for him to overachieve in both scenarios, because he was still technically the No. 2 goalie and Bishop’s shadow loomed over him. With Bishop out until at least mid-March — about half the season — Khudobin enters the season as a true No. 1 goaltender on a team reliant on keeping the score down. Khudobin doesn’t have to be just as brilliant as he’s been in his first two seasons in Dallas, but he has to be very good because the Stars don’t have a proven commodity to turn to in case he falters.
That takes us to Jake Oettinger. The young goaltender is expected to be the future in net for the Stars. General manager Jim Nill said after the season last fall that Oettinger was on the cusp of being ready for NHL action. By bringing Khudobin back, Oettinger was expected to have a full season commanding the net in Cedar Park this season before possibly making the jump in 2021-22. With Bishop missing time as he recovers from his knee injury, Oettinger is going to be counted on immediately. The Stars will lean on Khudobin, but the schedule is simply too crammed for one goaltender to go wire-to-wire. Oettinger will be called upon and must keep the Stars in games.
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Where does the offense come from?
The top line of Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov will be critical. Dallas’ top three goal-scorers from a season ago will all be on the ice together, and they need to make every shift count — especially Hintz and Gurianov. The second line of Joel Kiviranta, Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov must be frequent contributors as well. Any offense the Stars get from the checking line of Andrew Cogliano, Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau (when he returns) is gravy. It will be interesting to see what Ty Dellandrea could bring to that line in Comeau’s absence. Jason Robertson has potential to score from the fourth line, but adapting to the NHL full time could take some time.
Still, outside of the top line, there’s a lot of hoping and not a lot of knowing. That’s why the burden of helping the top line score goals will fall on the defensemen, and they should be up to the task. You’ve heard all about how Bowness activated the defensemen in the rush once the season resumed in the bubble last season. That will be a staple for the Stars from the beginning this season, and they certainly have the offensive skill to make some noise with John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen.
Speaking of Klingberg and Heiskanen, the Stars could also use some more production with a man advantage. Last season, Stars were middle of the pack, ranking 19th in the NHL in power-play opportunities per game and 14th in power-play goals per game. It’s easy to get caught up with who runs the top unit as opposed to the secondary one, but the Stars believe they have two equally dynamic units that bring different things to the ice. With Klingberg running point on one and Heiskanen on the other, drawing more of those opportunities and then capitalizing on them should bring a big boost to the offense.
Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz ice time
With Tyler Seguin out until April, the Stars will be without their top forward in ice time. Somebody has to pick up the slack, so why not Hintz and Gurianov? Having last year’s two leading scorers on the ice more often provides them more opportunities to score goals on a team that could use more firepower.
I know this category will be the first thing Stars fans check on the box score after games, and I’m fairly certain there will be complaints. This will likely be a season-long conversation, though, as fans point to the low ice time while head coach Rick Bowness points to the total shifts taken. It’s almost comical how much this topic has become a talking point: Last Saturday, for instance, Bowness was asked an unrelated question about Hintz taking the next step forward and, unprompted, broke into an explanation of ice time regarding Gurianov and Hintz. Still, the bottom line remains that no player has ever scored a goal sitting on the bench.
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Deploying young talent
Part of this strange, unique season will be a taxi squad serving as a sort of purgatory between playing in the NHL and playing in the AHL. The taxi squad members will be practicing with the NHL team but won’t be eligible to play in games until they’re activated. This isn’t a big deal for the first couple of weeks because the AHL season doesn’t begin until Feb. 5, but from that point on, tough decisions will need to be made. The most important thing for young players, such as Thomas Harley and Dellandrea, is playing competitive hockey games. That’s a guarantee for them if they’re in the AHL, whereas circumstances would have to warrant them getting into NHL action if they were on the taxi squad.
It will only get more interesting as veteran players go in and out of the lineup. For instance, Blake Comeau has already been ruled out of Friday’s opener. What happens when he’s ready to come back? Which player comes out of the lineup, and where does he go? As a reliable veteran who doesn’t need to play every night, Justin Dowling is penciled in as the 13th forward and a healthy scratch on game days. The candidates to come out of the lineup are likely Nicholas Caamano, Dellandrea and Jason Robertson. If that happens now, they’ll just go to the taxi squad, but what happens after Feb. 5? Does the team send them down to the AHL to get some playing time? Do they create a rotation spot where one plays every third game? Barring a run of injuries, these are the decisions Nill will have to make.
Will Ben Bishop and Tyler Seguin be ready for the playoffs?
The Stars just need to stay afloat until mid-March before they start getting some major reinforcements. Bishop is expected to return from his knee injury in mid-to-late March. Seguin is expected to return from his hip injury by late March or early April. In both cases, they’ll have a month or two to work their way into game shape while still trying to help the Stars win valuable games down the stretch as they battle for playoff positioning.
The Stars will miss Bishop and Seguin throughout the season, on and off of the ice. They are two of the team’s best players for a reason and bring a lot to the table, on and off the ice. If they’re able to work their way back into shape for the playoffs, they should be fresher than most players and give the Stars a big boost for what they hope is another deep playoff run.
Dallas Stars Opening Night roster
Forwards (13)
Jamie Benn, Nicholas Caamano, Andrew Cogliano, Ty Dellandrea, Jason Dickinson, Justin Dowling, Radek Faksa, Denis Gurianov, Roope Hintz, Joel Kiviranta, Joe Pavelski, Alexander Radulov, Jason Robertson
Defensemen (8)
Taylor Fedun, Joel Hanley, Miro Heiskanen, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Jamie Oleksiak, Mark Pysyk, Andrej Sekera
Goaltenders (2)
Anton Khudobin, Jake Oettinger
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Taxi Squad (6)
Landon Bow, Rhett Gardner, Thomas Harley, Julius Honka, Tanner Kero, Joel L’Esperance
Injured Non-Roster (2)
Ben Bishop, Stephen Johns, Tyler Seguin
Non-Roster List (1)
Blake Comeau
John Klingberg was absent from practice on Thursday for “medical reasons” according to Bowness, and the defenseman’s availability for Friday’s game is in question. Although Thomas Harley took his place in practice on the top pairing with Esa Lindell, the 19-year-old begins the season on the taxi squad. Bowness said he likes what he’s seen from Harley but believes the young defenseman needs some more seasoning, in the video room and on the ice. Julius Honka cleared waivers and is on the taxi squad. Blake Comeau is out with no timetable for his return.
(Photo of Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)