Are the Stars an Elite Team without an Elite Player?
Just a quick note to mention my piece for D Magazine today about the Stars’ efforts to build a championship team without a true superstar (as of yet) on the roster.
I am always skeptical of the idea that a team needs “just that one player” to win in the NHL. It’s too much of a team game for one player (except perhaps a goalie) to drag a team through multiple playoffs series.
But when you think about it from a sports psychology point of view, the question gets more interesting, particularly when you think back to how confident we all were that the Stars would beat Edmonton last spring:
The narrative going in was that the Stars’ depth would be too overwhelming for a top-heavy team such as Edmonton . Jake Oettinger was the better goalie, and the Dallas defense of Heiskanen, Chris Tanev, Thomas Harley, and Esa Lindell was tougher than anything the Oilers had faced. That’s before considering a forward group stocked with the likes of Wyatt Johnston, Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, Matt Duchene, Jamie Benn, and Tyler Seguin.
That line of thinking was warranted, too. After all, those players have all contributed to the Stars’ being one of the best regular-season teams in the NHL since Pete DeBoer took charge in 2022; Dallas has boasted the third-best points percentage in the league during his tenure.
There were no obvious weak points. Dallas has been top five in the NHL in both goals for (third) and goals against (second). The special teams have both been top 10, with the power play (ninth) and penalty kill (fourth) both acquitting themselves quite well. This is what Stanley Cup champions are made of.
But last spring, the Oilers’ top-heavy roster won the day, as McDavid piled up 10 points in six games. The Stars’ pointless power play was the story, but, of course, a team’s power play is typically filled with its highest-scoring, most dangerous players. And when push came to shove, the Stars couldn’t get the one performance they needed from the top of their lineup at any strength. The Oilers did multiple times.
Anyway, give the piece a read.