Are the Dallas Stars being underrated going into 2020-21?

Are the Dallas Stars being underappreciated?

It’s never fun coming in second place.

Sure, in the Olympics, second-place finishers are still given medals, and there’s a reason we came up with the term ‘consolation prize,’ but when you finish second for a job, second in a senate race, or most importantly of all, second for the Stanley Cup, you’ll have to spend an entire offseason a bridesmaid, as opposed to the bride.

Even in this abbreviated, yet seemingly endless offseason, that’s been the plight of the Dallas Stars.

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But why? I mean, sure, the Stars’ path to the finals was an unusual one, as they were third seeds after going 1-2-0 in the play-in round-robin tournament, but they still had to beat the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, and Vegas Golden Knights on the way to a six-game series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Could it be the absence of Ben Bishop and Tyler Seguin; both of whom could miss the start of the season after undergoing offseason surgery? Are external observers that underwhelmed with the team’s lack of free agency additions?

Well, if ESPN’s recent NHL power rankings are to be believed, where writer Greg Wyshynski graciously placed teams into tiers as opposed to a traditional 1-31 ranking, the Stars are firmly in tier-two, ‘The waiting room’, alongside the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, and Philadelphia Flyers.

What gives?

Well, per Wyshynski’s own admission, the answer is simple: They can still be successful “(If) “(Rick) Bowness the head coach” can be as impactful as “Bowness the interim coach thrust into duty.”

Hm… interesting.

In theory, Wyshynski’s suggestion isn’t a bad one. Plenty of teams have performed better after the swift kick in the pants of a midseason coaching change, only to watch things crumble with an extended look. Opposing teams get tape on what said coach likes to do, prepare for his quirks, and volley’s the ball back over the net for yet another set of adjustments. For some, dare I say, gimmicky coaches, this can be the kiss of death, but honestly, does anyone really expect that to be Bowness’ fate? Bowness has coached 235 regular season hockey games since first becoming a head coach back in 1988. Sure, he hasn’t had a steady gig like this since 2004, when he wasn’t retained by the Coyotes after a similar interim situation, but at 65, is he really going to let this opportunity fall through his fingers?

You don’t spend 16 years sitting on other people’s benches without craving an opportunity to hold onto that next head coaching opportunity.

Charlie Coyle one of Don Sweeney’s best pieces of work. dark. Next

Call me naive/optimistic, but I genuinely believe the Dallas Stars we saw in the NHL Bubble is the same team we’ll see this season, whenever that opens up. The team’s core group of players remain intact, they re-signed all but two of their free agents – have fun with your new teams, Mattias Janmark and Gavin Bayreuther – and with an offseason to stew in the discomfort of being second place, I imagine they’ll come out swinging when the puck eventually drops.

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