Dallas Stars 2014-15 Season Primer

The Dallas Stars are a team on the rise and are looking to build on their 8th seed from last year. The additions of Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky should help them move up the standings.

Use the below Tabs to view Stars info for this upcoming season, as well as some numbers from last year.

2013-14 Record: 40-31-11, 91 points
Where they finished: 5th in the Central; 8th in the Western Conference; 16th in the NHL

Player Salaries: $57,808,333 
Cap Payroll: $63,633,333
Bonuses: $1,200,000
Cap Space: $5,366,667
Forwards: $ 42.53 milllion (13)
Defensemen: $ 14.28 million (5)
Goalies: $ 6.83 million (2)
Source: CapGeek.com

In: Ales Hemsky RW, Anders Lindback G, Brendan Ranford LW, Jason Spezza C, Jussi Rynnas G, Ludwig Karlsson LW, Patrick Eaves RW

Out: Alex Chiasson RW, Alexander Guptill LW, Chris Mueller C, Cristopher Nilstorp G, Dustin Jeffrey C/LW, Nicholas Paul C/LW, Toby Petersen C/W

2014-15 Team Outlook:

Since taking over as general manager in 2013, Jim Nill has turned a mediocre hockey team into a legitimate contender that should be a threat for the foreseeable future.

Top-6 centers are almost impossible to acquire any other way than through the draft and, after trading for Tyler Seguin last season, Nill managed to trade for another high-end center this summer in Jason Spezza.

While Nill gave up several assets in the deal, he didn’t have to move any of his top-tier prospects, and Alex Chiasson was the only roster player Dallas lost in the deal.

Adding Spezza alone while returning the rest of their core is enough to get excited about, but when you factor in the addition of Ales Hemsky, who tore it up with Spezza in Ottawa late last season, it’s not hard to see why many think the Stars can compete with anyone.

Seguin and Spezza combine to be about as good of a 1-2 punch down the middle as you’ll see. When you throw Jamie Benn, Valeri Nichushkin, who I think is going to be an elite player, Hemsky, Antoine Roussel and co. it’s easy to get excited.

Their defense is still a bit of a question mark, but it’s serviceable.

With one of the league’s best duos in Benn/Seguin, an elite group of forwards surrounding them, a very good goaltender in Kari Lehtonen mending the crease, and Lindy Ruff as head coach, the Stars should be a force.

I don’t know if they’ll beat out Chicago, St. Louis and, to a lesser extent (at least in my opinion) Colorado to win the Central, but I think they’ll be in the thick of things until the end of the season, and could make some noise come playoff time.

Written by Todd Cordell, who can be found on twitter @ToddCordell.

The depth chart listed below was taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30. 

FORWARDS
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Valeri Nichushkin
Erik Cole – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky
Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt
Shawn Horcoff – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour
Patrick Eaves – Rich Peverley

DEFENSEMEN
Alex Goligoski – Trevor Daley
Brenden Dillon – Jordie Benn
Sergei Gonchar – Jamie Oleksiak
Kevin Connauton

GOALTENDERS
Kari Lehtonen
Anders Lindback

Forwards POS HT WT DOB BIRTH PLACE
Jamie Benn L 6′ 2″ 210 18-Jul-89 VICTORIA, BC, CAN
Erik Cole L 6′ 2″ 210 6-Nov-78 OSWEGO, NY, USA
Cody Eakin C 6′ 0″ 190 24-May-91 WINNIPEG, MB, CAN
Patrick Eaves R 6′ 0″ 187 1-May-84 CALGARY, AB, CAN
Vernon Fiddler C 5′ 11″ 205 9-May-80 EDMONTON, AB, CAN
Ryan Garbutt L 6′ 0″ 190 12-Aug-85 WINNIPEG, MB, CAN
Ales Hemsky R 6′ 0″ 185 13-Aug-83 PARDUBICE, CZE
Shawn Horcoff C 6′ 1″ 210 17-Sep-78 TRAIL, BC, CAN
Valeri Nichushkin R 6′ 4″ 205 4-Mar-95 CHELYABINSK, RUS
Rich Peverley C 5′ 11″ 195 8-Jul-82 KINGSTON, ON, CAN
Antoine Roussel L 6′ 0″ 200 21-Nov-89 ROUBAIX, FRA
Colton Sceviour C 6′ 0″ 200 20-Apr-89 RED DEER, AB, CAN
Tyler Seguin C 6′ 1″ 195 31-Jan-92 BRAMPTON, ON, CAN
Jason Spezza C 6′ 3″ 220 13-Jun-83 TORONTO, ON, CAN
Defensemen HT WT AGE DOB BIRTH PLACE
Jordie Benn 6′ 2″ 200 27 26-Jul-87 VICTORIA, BC, CAN
Kevin Connauton 6′ 2″ 200 24 23-Feb-90 EDMONTON, AB, CAN
Trevor Daley 5′ 11″ 195 30 9-Oct-83 TORONTO, ON, CAN
Brenden Dillon 6′ 3″ 225 23 13-Nov-90 NEW WESTMINSTER, BC, CAN
Alex Goligoski 5′ 11″ 185 29 30-Jul-85 GRAND RAPIDS, MN, USA
Sergei Gonchar 6′ 2″ 210 40 13-Apr-74 CHELYABINSK, RUS
Goalies HT WT AGE DOB BIRTH PLACE
Kari Lehtonen 6′ 4″ 210 30 16-Nov-83 HELSINKI, FIN
Anders Lindback 6′ 6″ 210 26 3-May-88 GÄVLE, SWE

A look at the Dallas Stars top prospects heading into this season. Each source may use different classifications as to if a player is deemed a prospect or has graduated on from a prospect.

RK NHL.com ESPN
Corey Pronman
Dobber Prospects Hockeys Future The Hockey News
1 Brett Ritchie Brett Ritchie Brett Ritchie Jack Campbell Jamie Oleksiak
2 John Klingberg Jamie Oleksiak Julius Honka Julius Honka Brett Ritchie
3 Devin Shore Julius Honka Jack Campbell Brett Ritchie Julius Honka
4 Jason Dickinson Jason Dickinson Devin Shore Jason Dickinson Jack Campbell
5 Jack Campbell Patrik Nemeth John Klingberg Jamie Oleksiak Brett Pollock
6 Radek Faksa Brett Pollock Colton Sceviour Devin Shore Radek Faksa
7 Julius Honka John Klingberg Kevin Connauton Philippe Desrosiers Devin Shore
8 Patrik Nemeth Devin Shore Matej Stransky Brett Pollock John Klingberg
9 Jyrki Jokipakka Jack Campbell Jason Dickinson Patrick Nemeth Jason Dickinson
10 Philippe Desrosiers Radek Faksa Radek Faksa John Klingberg Patrik Nemeth

* Dobber Prospects – Prospects based on relevance in a fantasy-hockey keeper league, not actual talent on the ice.

Dallas Stars Draft History from the past five years

2014 Draft
Rd. Draft # Player Pos. Team Ht. Wt.
1 14 Julius Honka D Swift Current (WHL) 5’10” 178
2 45 Brent Pollock LW Edmonton (WHL) 6′ 2″ 182
3 75 Alexander Peters D Plymouth (OHL) 6′ 3″ 207
4 105 Michael Prapavessis D Toronto Lakeshore (OJHL) 6′ 0″ 173
4 115 Brent Moran G Niagara (OHL) 6′ 3″ 186
5 135 Miro Karjalainen D Jokerit U18 6′ 5″ 205
6 154 Aaron Haydon D Niagara (OHL) 6′ 2″ 197
6 165 John Nyberg LW Frolunda Jr. (SWE) 6′ 2″ 180
7 195 Patrick Sanvido D Windsor (OHL) 6′ 5″ 218
2013 Draft
1 10 Valeri Nichushkin LW/RW Chelyabinsk (RUS) 6′ 4″ 202
1 29 Jason Dickinson LW Guelph (OHL) 6′ 1″ 180
2 40 Remi Elie LW London (OHL ) 6′ 0.5″ 203
2 54 Philippe Desrosiers G Rimouski (QMJHL) 6′ 1″ 184
3 68 Niklas Hansson D Rogle (SWE) 6′ 0″ 175
4 101 Nicholas Paul LW Brampton (OHL ) 6′ 2″ 202
5 131 Cole Ully LW Kamloops (WHL ) 5′ 11″ 164
5 149 Matej Paulovic LW Farjestad Jr (SVK) 6′ 3″ 190
7 182 Aleksi Makela D Ilves Jr. (FIN-JR. ) 6′ 1″ 195
2012 Draft
1 13 Radek Faksa C Kitchener (OHL) 6′ 2″ 183
2 43 Ludvig Bystrom D Modo (Swe)  6′ 0″ 185
2 54 Mike Winther C Prince Albert (WHL) 6′ 0″ 170
2 61 Devin Shore C Whitby (OJHL) 6′ 0″ 184
3 74 Esa Lindell D Jokerit Jr (Fin) 6′ 3″ 194
4 104 Gemel Smith LW Owen Sound (OHL) 5’11” 165
5 134 Brendan Troock RW Seattle (WHL) 6′ 2″ 190
5 144 Henri Kiviaho G Kalpa Jr (Fin) 6′ 1″ 167
7 183 Dmitry Sinitsyn D U Mass-Lowell 6′ 2″ 200
2011 Draft
1 14 Jamieson Oleksiak D Northeastern ( H-EAST ) 6′ 7″ 244
2 44 Brett Ritchie RW Sarnia (OHL) 6′ 3″ 210
4 105 Emil Molin C Brynas Jr (Swe) 6′ 0″ 170
5 135 Troy Vance D Victoriaville (QMJHL) 6′ 5″ 203
6 165 Matej Stransky RW Saskatoon (WHL) 6′ 2″ 195
7 195 Jyrki Jokipakka D Ilves (Fin) 6′ 3″ 190
2010 Draft
1 11 Jack Campbell G USA U-18 NTDP 6′ 2″ 175
2 41 Patrik Nemeth D Aik Jr. 5′ 9″ 162
3 77 Alexander Guptill F Orangeville 6′ 3″ 175
4 109 Alex Theriau D Everett 6′ 2″ 189
5 131 John Klingberg D Frolunda Jr. 6′ 0″ 158
Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S%
Tyler Seguin 80 37 47 84 16 18 11 0 8 294 12.6
Jamie Benn 81 34 45 79 21 64 5 1 3 279 12.2
Alex Goligoski 81 6 36 42 9 28 3 0 0 141 4.3
Alex Chiasson 79 13 22 35 -21 38 6 0 4 144 9
Cody Eakin 81 16 19 35 -9 36 3 1 2 161 9.9
Valeri Nichushkin 79 14 20 34 20 8 2 0 2 128 10.9
Ray Whitney 69 9 23 32 -6 14 3 0 0 124 7.3
Ryan Garbutt 75 17 15 32 10 106 0 2 1 165 10.3
Rich Peverley 62 7 23 30 -3 15 0 1 2 122 5.7
Erik Cole 75 16 13 29 -17 20 3 0 4 139 11.5
Antoine Roussel 81 14 15 29 -1 209 0 0 2 113 12.4
Trevor Daley 67 9 16 25 10 38 1 0 3 107 8.4
Vernon Fiddler 76 6 17 23 3 37 0 0 1 109 5.5
Sergei Gonchar 76 2 20 22 -12 20 1 0 1 89 2.2
Shawn Horcoff 77 7 13 20 1 52 4 1 0 68 10.3
Jordie Benn 78 3 17 20 16 30 1 0 0 91 3.3
Brenden Dillon 80 6 11 17 9 86 0 2 1 97 6.2
Colton Sceviour 26 8 4 12 -3 4 2 0 2 69 11.6
Kevin Connauton 36 1 7 8 -6 16 0 0 0 56 1.8
Stephane Robidas 24 4 1 5 7 12 1 0 0 35 11.4
Dustin Jeffrey 24 2 1 3 -2 0 0 0 0 21 9.5
Lane Macdermid 6 0 2 2 2 5 0 0 0 1 0
Maxime Fortunus 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Aaron Rome 25 0 1 1 -6 11 0 0 0 15 0
Travis Morin 4 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 4 0
Chris Mueller 9 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 8 0
Cameron Gaunce 9 0 0 0 1 7 0 0 0 9 0
Patrik Nemeth 8 0 0 0 -3 6 0 0 0 3 0
Jamie Oleksiak 7 0 0 0 -3 2 0 0 0 5 0
Goalie GPI GS MIN GAA W L OT SO SA GA SV%
Kari Lehtonen 65 64 3804 2.41 33 20 10 5 1888 153 0.919
Dan Ellis 14 11 690 3.04 5 6 0 1 349 35 0.900
Tim Thomas 8 6 364 2.97 2 4 1 0 184 18 0.902
Jack Campbell 1 1 60 6.00 0 1 0 0 47 6 0.872
Cristopher Nilstorp 1 0 39 4.62 0 0 0 0 17 3 0.824

Performance and Usage Charts for the Dallas Stars from last season, from Extra Skater.

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