3. Can Roope Hintz step up and fill the void left by Seguin?
Tyler Seguin underwent hip surgery during the offseason and will be out until at least early April, which is a crushing blow to the Dallas Stars, especially in what will be a shortened, 56-game season.
It only gets worse too when you consider that the Stars struggled to light the lamp in 2019-20, ranking 26th in the entire NHL (2.58) while Seguin was the only player on the roster to crack 40 or more points.
So, to be without your top points scorer for a large chunk of the season is enough to hurt any team, but especially one in Dallas that really relied on their star center for offense because of the struggles of the rest of the roster.
Therefore, Head Coach Rick Bowness will need someone to step out of the shadows and really put this team on their shoulders, and Roope Hintz seems to be a pretty likely breakout candidate.
Hintz really came into his own in 2019-20 and impressed with 33 points (19 G, 14 A) in 60 regular season games, while he was also a consistent offensive threat in the postseason with 2 goals and 11 assists for 13 points 25 Stanley Cup Playoffs games.
Likely to start the 2020-21 season on a top line with Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov, Hintz will be the go-to guy for the Dallas Stars and he certainly has the ability to both score and create on a regular basis.
He will be playing alongside two elite playmakers and, with his shooting percentage spiking up to 15.8% last year, expect that to jump up again in 2020-21 and Hintz to provide the scoring punch this team desperately needs in Tyler Seguin’s absence.
And, if Roope Hintz can indeed carry the load until Seguin is back, then don’t be surprised if they emerge as a real threat in the postseason yet again.