Dallas Stars: 3 Keys To Success in 2017-18
By Ian Reid
The Dallas Stars are primed to return to the Western Conference playoff picture. Here are the three keys to their success in the 2017-18 season.
The Dallas Stars made a lot of offseason moves to move back into a playoff position. The acquisitions of Ben Bishop and Alexander Radulov have been covered to death at this point. So have their many other free agent and trade acquisitions. However, the Stars will need improvement from other sources to have success.
With that in mind here are three keys to Dallas having success this season.
The Penalty Kill
As mentioned in our three burning questions post, the addition of Radulov to the power play will be important. However, the power play was not the only special teams that struggled last season. The penalty kill was a league worst 73.9 percent. Granted, this was not helped by their less than stellar goaltending. But regardless, Dallas will need to vastly improve especially if they continue to be in the top half of the league for penalties taken. The acquisition of Martin Hanzal should help in this regard.
Hanzal is still one of the best is still one of the best faceoff men in the league and plays a responsible game. Under head coach Ken Hitchcock, his game should flourish in the system that will be put in place.
Jason Spezza
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Jason Spezza isn’t the player he once was at the age of 34 his best years in the game are likely behind him. However, Spezza continues to be an important part of the Stars offensive machine.
Last season Spezza was third on the team in scoring 15 goals and adding 35 assists. Spezza will see his role change a little with the addition of Hanzal.
He will need to adjust to playing the wing in more situations while Hanzel fills the role. Spezza will still be expected to play a key role on the power play. His ability to play center could give the Stars a depth advantage allowing he or Hanzal to move to the third line to expose a weaker team.
The Defense
The Dallas Stars have had a fair bit of problems in net. This is well documented at this point but it would be unwise to let the defense off the hook. This is a problem that does not lay with the players alone, management has blame to carry as well. Veterans like Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski were allowed to walk in hopes that the system would replace them.
While some player certainly stepped up like Esa Lindell, John Klingberg has had his struggles along the way but has turned out quite well. It will be interesting to see how the system that will be deployed by Ken Hitchcock will alter the effectiveness of the defense. Hitchcock teams have always played a defensively responsible game so it will be interesting to see who can thrive within the system.
The Stars will have a lot of issues to correct entering this season to be successful. With a new coach and some exciting new talent, they should have no problem being a contender in the Western Conference. This may be one of the most exciting teams to watch in this coming season.