Dallas Stars: Previewing the First 5 Games of the Stars’ Season

Game 3 – Tuesday, October 9 – vs. Toronto

The Dallas Stars third matchup of the year is against the Maple Leafs, who, like Winnipeg, made a playoff appearance last season. The Maple Leafs arguably have been one of the most talked about teams over the duration of the offseason, along with the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks.

Toronto was able to nab the best free agent available during the offseason by signing center John Tavares to a seven-year, $11 million dollar contract. They also signed former Stars forward Adam Cracknell, D Justin Holl, D Rasmus Sandin, LW Tyler Ennis, C Frederik Gauthier, and others.

Though Toronto is a powerful offensive team, they will run into some problems down the road. Number one, their blue line is not nearly playoff caliber, which was a contributing factor to their exit in the first round at the hands of the Boston Bruins. Toronto would go on to lose in game seven in the TD Garden 4-7.

Their second issue is cap space. All-star center Auston Matthews and RW Mitchell Marner will become free agents after the end of next season. They’re also trying to sign forward William Nylander to a contract, who is currently an RFA.

Toronto is yet another Canadian team that’ll end up near the top of the standings when the season comes to a close.

Game 4 – Saturday, October 13 – vs. Anaheim

Dallas’ fourth game of the season is their last of a four-game opening homestand, and will then go on the road until Friday, October 19, when they’ll host the Minnesota Wild. And, for their third game in a row, Dallas will be facing a team that played in the playoffs last season.

The Ducks finished second in the Pacific Division with 101 points last season, only behind the Las Vegas Golden Knights, who would go on to lose in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Washington Capitals in five games.

Anaheim tied Dallas in scoring last year, as both teams had 235 goals. The Ducks gave up less, however, beating the Stars by 9 (225 to 216). They were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the San Jose Sharks, getting swept in the first four games of the series. San Jose finished one point behind Anaheim by the end of the regular season with 100.

In terms of transactions, Anaheim was only signed a few players, namely D Andrej Sustr and C Isac Lundestrom. They were able to resign Chase De Leo, Kevin Roy, and Kalle Kossila to one-year contracts, and extended C Adam Henrique on a five-year deal. They also resigned Ondrej Kase, Brandon Montour, and Andy Welinski.

Anaheim will be without one of their best players, forward Corey Perry, who underwent meniscus and MCL surgery.

The Ducks are a similar team to the Dallas Stars in terms of offensive and defensive output, and it should look to be a close matchup on October 13.

Game 5 – Monday, October 15 – @ Ottawa

The Dallas Stars first away game is located in our friendly neighbors to the north, Canada, where they’ll play the Ottawa Senators. Fortunately for Dallas, Ottawa had an awful 2017-18 season and an even worse offseason, as they traded away both Mike Hoffman and Erik Karlsson.

Ottawa finished with the second-worst record in the NHL last season, only to be outdone by the aforementioned Buffalo Sabres. To add assault to injury, they ended with a -70 goal differential, compared to Dallas’ +10.

There honestly isn’t much good to say about the Senators. They were able to keep forward Mark Stone through arbitration on a one-year, $7.35 million dollar deal, but still have to deal with the contract of Bobby Ryan. Forwards Clarke MacArthur and Jean-Gabriel Pageau are on the injured reserve as well.

To make matters worse, Ottawa traded away their 2019 1st round pick to Colorado in exchange for Matt Duchene in a three-team deal (Avalanche, Predators, and Senators) in November 2017. Assuming Ottawa continues on the same path they did last season, it’s safe to say that Colorado has a good shot at the number one overall pick in 2019.