The Edmonton Oilers are going to the Stanley Cup Final. They got there by taking down the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Conference Finals. A lot of people assumed that the Stars would win this series with ease but the Oilers got it done in six games.
The Dallas Stars are one of the best teams in the NHL and deserve their praise. They dominated a lot of their matchups so far in the playoffs after having a wonderful regular season.
Now, the Stars will head into the off-season wondering what it will take for them to get over the hump. They’ll try and make the right changes that allow them to finally win after coming so close so many times.
These are the three biggest reasons that they won’t be winning the Stanley Cup this year:
Joe Pavelski was not himself during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Joe Pavelski has been a wonderful player for the Dallas Stars. Since coming over from the San Jose Sharks, he made a major impact on this organization as well.
During the regular season, he had 27 goals and 40 assists for 67 points in 82 games played. That is right around where you'd expect Pavelski to be based on his career. At 39 years old, it was a great season for him.
He is a month away from turning 40 and he still put out a great season. However, the playoffs didn't go the way that he would have hoped. In 19 playoff games this season, he had just one goal and three assists for four points.
All four of his points came in the second round against the Colorado Avalanche. He didn't have a single point in the first round against the Vegas Golden Knights or this most recent series against the Edmonton Oilers.
Game six was probably Pavelski's last NHL game ever which would be the end of a wonderful career. However, if the Dallas Stars had a more productive version of him (or someone else) in these playoffs, they might be going to the final instead of Edmonton.