Dallas Stars have to start adding talent via the NHL Draft

It’s become a theme over the last several years for the Dallas Stars to fail to add impact talent at the NHL Draft. That needs to change, or the franchise is going to suffer in very short order.

Since John Klingberg was selected with the Dallas Stars‘ last pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, the Stars have mostly drafted players who are equal or less to bottom-six forwards or bottom-pairing defense. The only exception so far is Miro Heiskanen.

That simply isn’t going to all the Stars to maintain any sort of consistency three to four years from now. The outlook for Dallas is very bleak beginning in 2022-23, if not sooner due to age, with no internal replacements on the way.

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General Manager Jim Nill‘s willingness to make trades and be active in free agency has allowed the Stars to have an on-again-off-again relationship with the post-season. When you draft as poorly as they have, you are forced to bring in talent other ways.

When July 1st, 2022, comes around, the Stars will have the following players under contract from their current roster.

Tyler Seguin (30), Jamie Benn (33), Esa Lindell (29), and Ben Bishop (35)

Even adding in Heiskanen, there is still quite a bit of work to do to be a playoff contender building around this as a core considering their ages. That’s without taking into account that the odds are against Bishop, at age 35, being anything other than a shell of his former self.

Thomas Harley is a nice addition from the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft, but he doesn’t project to be a top-pairing defender any time soon. Therefore, his impact on the team won’t be felt for a while. Something has to change in Dallas if they want to be successful beyond the next few seasons.

Unfortunately, due to his requirement to make trades to have a serviceable hockey team, Nill will have only one selection in the first three rounds of the 2020 NHL Draft. The true re-stocking of the prospect pool will be forced to wait at least another season – if they can start hitting on their picks.

The NHL under a salary cap is heavily reliant on entry-level contracts bringing good value to the team. Teams are also putting a lot of weight on homegrown talent that costs nothing more than a draft selection and some money to acquire and retain.

Draft picks have never been more valuable and if the Dallas Stars want to maintain a level of consistent success they are going to have to change their approach to the NHL Draft. With depleting assets to make deals with, Nill may not get the chance to right the ship’s future.