Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings #14: Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars narrowly missed the playoffs last season despite having one of the highest scoring offenses in the NHL. That was mainly because of their blueline and goaltending. This off-season, they managed to fix both. They added to their blue line by signing Johnny Oduya to a two-year deal.
Oduya is aging, but he should still be an at worst above average defenseman for the next two seasons. To shore up their goaltending, they traded for (and signed) Antii Niemi, formerly of the Sharks. Kari Lehtonen and Niemi gives Dallas two pricey goaltenders, but chances are, at least one of the duo will have the “hot hand” at any given moment. Not an ideal way to have a goaltending duo, but certainly not the worst.
Just for kicks, they decided to trade for
handsome
three-time Stanley Cup champion forward Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks. In doing so, they moved arguably their worst defenseman. A first line of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Sharp should be extremely fun to watch. Their forward depth is absolutely insane at this point.
They also locked up blueliner John Klingberg, who actually out-performed Aaron Ekblad last season, to an outrageously cheap seven year, $29,000,000 deal. For a guy like Klingberg, that’s robbery.
I’m still very skeptical of Dallas’s goaltending situation, but this team is too talented to miss the playoffs again.
Next: #13