The Dallas Stars top line has quietly become one of the NHL’s best
By Greg Higgins
What a week its been for Jason Robertson and the Dallas Stars. Robertson became only the second player in franchise history to record back-to-back hat tricks this week. He also scored seven goals in a three game span.
Couple what he is doing with the rest of that line, and the Dallas Stars top line is becoming one of the best in the NHL. Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski all have over 20 goals for the Stars and over 20 assists.
Where does the Dallas Stars top line compare with others in the league?
Robertson leads the line in goals with 29. Hintz has 23 and Pavelski 22. The senior linesman leads in assists though. Pavelski has 37 while Robertson has 25 and Hintz 23. What’s even crazier is the fact that all three players have played in just about all of the Stars games this season.
So, with 74 total goals and 85 total assists, where does the 159 points rank in the NHL as far as top lines go? Now before we go on I should let you know that I didn’t take the top three players from each team. I looked at line combinations. I only found two other teams that had a line combination where all three players scored at least 20 goals.
The Calgary Flames have Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk. They have 23, 27 and 27 respectively. Their assists are 50, 31 and 38.
The other team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Michael Bunting, Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner have 20, 40 and 22 respectively. Their assists are 25, 32 and 38.
The Dallas Stars top line has asserted themselves as such this season. Robertson is only 22 years old. Hintz is 25. Pavelski is the older statesman at 37 years old. But that doesn’t mean he’s less valuable. Many people might argue that Hintz and Robertson are in the position they are in thanks to the leadership role Pavelski has provided.
The Dallas Stars and their management are going to have to make some decisions. Pavelski is an unrestricted free agent after this season. Robertson is a restricted free agent. You would think Dallas is going to want to sign both players to some kind of deal. The question is how much and how long. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen pretty much have the max deal right now. Benn’s contract is through 2025. Seguin’s is 2027 and Heiskanen is 2029.
The Dallas Stars have lots of young talent that they are going to want to try and hold on to. I don’t envy the position of the general manger as they try to determine who stays and who goes. I do know this, though. The top line is just that: a top line. And they’re not just the top line for Dallas.
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How good is the Stars top line?. light. Must Read
They’re one of the best lines in all of hockey. And that should be reason to hang on to them.