Dallas Stars 2010 Preview & Predictions

Dallas Stars 2010 Season Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds

With the NHL Hockey season just around the corner, we are providing season previews for all 30 teams to give you the betting edge. Follow the best NHL Hockey Handicappers as they analyze their teams in this 2010 season preview. Use our comprehensive and insider info to bet successfully on the NHL in our recommend sportsbooks. View the rest of our 2010 NHL Season Previews here.

DALLAS STARS

2009-10 record: 37-31-14
Shootout Record: 7-10
Division Finish: 5th, Pacific
Conference Finish: 12th, Western
Goals For: 237
Goals Against: 254

Dallas Stars 2010 Preview

Big D’s hockey team is going to have a big-time different look.

The famous names that were part of the team for the past decade, notably Mike Modano and Marty Turco, are giving way to newcomers as general manager Joe Nieuwendyk continues to put his fingerprints on the club and tries to get the Stars out of a two-year spring drought.

Turco in goal has come to an end and since Finnish goalies are becoming the rage in the League, Dallas dipped into the pool by acquiring Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta in February. The 6’4″ stopper from Helsinki had been getting lots of attention in the League since arriving in Atlanta late in the 2003-04 season when he won all four starts, but health problems (back, groin and ankle) and the Thrashers’ inability to surround him with the right cast saw him play more than 50 games just once and make it in just two playoff games.

Lehtonen was acquired in a trade with Atlanta in February and, after a few rough outings, went 6-3odown the stretch with a 2.44 GAA and .926 save percentage. He was coming off two summer back surgeries and had lost the NO.1 job in Atlanta, but provided the budget conscious Stars the opportunity to acquire a player with NO.1 talent.

As a Star, his six wins in 12 games and .911 save percentage were enough to guarantee him a regular gig the next few years, with the club thanking Turco for nine years of valuable service, including six straight seasons of 30 or more victories, twice posting the League’s lowest goal-against average.

But the overall presence of Modano will be missed the most, after he carried the flag from the old Minnesota North Stars home to the Lone Star State. Picked first overall in 1988, he exits with nearly 1,500 games to his credit, going out in style as the first star of Dallas’s last two games with the game-tying goal and shootout winner at home against Anaheim, then a strong game against the expansion Minnesota Wild.

He has 1,430 points, just nudging over 800 assists and 145 playoff points. But Brad Richards has stepped into his skates with a marvelous 91-point campaign that made him the highest scorer of any Western Conference team that didn’t make the playoffs, and second highest in the West overall. That was just two points shy of Modano’s franchise record and more than made up for a disastrous ’08-09 when Richards broke both wrists. The Stars had six 20-goal men, led by Loui Eriksson’s 29, as well as 27 from left winger James Neal, 22 from Jamie Benn, the latter completely under the radar before the season began. Benn played all 82 games and went to the farm after the big team’s season ended and was a huge contributor in the AHL playoffs.

The Dallas defense is also in the midst of significant transition after it played the first season since 1996-97 without an appearance by Selgei Zubov, who played in the KHL. Though Stephane Robidas, Trevor Daley, Matt Niskanen and Karlis Skrastins are proving themselves, it’s anticipated that Nieuwendyk will seek blueline help approaching opening night.

2010 Dallas Stars Offense:

In addition to finishing seventh overall in League scoring, the well-behaved Richards had the second-fewest penalty minutes of the top 30 scorers and put almost 300 shots on goal. Neal was not a one-hit wonder, following up a strong rookie year with 27goals. The new freshman sensation was Benn, who emerged from an unknown 2007 Stars’ draft crop and excelled in a variety of roles. His 22 goals were just two behind League rookie leaders Matt Duchene and John Tavares and he was fourth in shooting percentage to the duo and Colorado’s T.J. Galiardi. Though Ericksson’s 29 goals represented a slight dip from his career-high of 36 in ’08-09, his 71 points marked the fourth consecutive increase for the Swede, who has.not missed a game the past two seasons. There was some decline with a few Stars, however, as ’08-09′s top scorer Mike Ribeiro dropped to 53 points after missing almost 20 games and Jere Lehtinen sank to his lowest numbers in a full season, also due to injury. Much heralded Swede Fabian Brunnstrom is also not meeting projections yet.

2010 Dallas Stars Defense:

On a team with no one else higher than plus-10, Mark Fistric was a healthy plus-27 playing 15 minutes a night. That put the 2004 first-round pick 10th in the League in his first full season. With Zubov’s offense gone, Robidas stepped up with 41 points, his best numbers since he was a minor leaguer with the Canadiens. Daley has now experienced more than 400 games in the League, played. well in his own zone and kicked in 20 or more points the past three years. As much as Fistric improved, Niskanen seemed to take a step back, his minus-15 the lowest on the squad. The durable Skrastins, a Dallas newcomer, has only missed about 40 games since the start of 2000-01 with Nashville, but his teams have not made the playoffs very often.

2010 Dallas Stars Goaltending:

Lehtonen took a’ few games to get acclimatized to the Dallas system last season before finishing with a flourish. He was 6-3 in his final nine decisions with a very stingy .926 save percentage. He’s a good cap fit for Dallas and he hopes to finally attain some of the greatness that was forecast for him. He was 58-39-9 at one stage in Atlanta before he began getting too banged up. With no Turco, Andrew Raycraft was picked up from Vancouver as a free agent, while the inside solution could eventually be either Brent Krahn or Matt Chmie, the former a first rounder of Calgary who has played one game ‘for the Stars, the latter four games including a five-goal loss in his only appearance in the League last year. It’s doubtful the team would use first-round pick Jack Campbell as a mere backup.

Dallas Stars 2010 Special Teams

The Stars kept their power play respectable, as Richards pounded in 13 goals and 40 points, the latter the most in his conference, and second-best in the League. Benn had seven points as well, as the Stars ended up with the 12th-best record with the extra body at 18.6%. Eight of winger Steve Ott’s 22 goals were on the power play and almost half of Brenden Morrow’s 20. But the team’s penalty killing did little to impress fans at the American Airlines Center, weighted down with the worst home numbers in the League at 76.1 %. Eriksson and Ribeiro had two shorthanded goals apiece.

Dallas Stars 2010 Season Predictions

The Stars wants more plumbers and grit and jumped at the chance to add Adam Burish from the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. But total change won’t happen overnight and Nieuwendyk’s team might need a season or two to get the house in order.

We predict that the Dallas Stars will finish 5th in the NHL Pacific.

Dallas Stars Betting

Dallas Stars Stanley Cup Odds: +6000
Dallas Stars Western Conference Odds: +3000

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