Taking a Look at Every Defenseman on the Dallas Stars after 14 Games

It's still early, but it gets less early every day

As we did on Monday with the Forwards, so we are doing on Friday with the defensemen. Let’s take a look at how all the Stars blueliners are doing 14 games into the season.

To start, we’ll make some brief notes on the different D pairings and how they’ve been used. Then we’ll dive into how each defender has done individually thus far.

The Six Most Common Stars Defense Pairings at 5v5

(Per Natural Stat Trick. Click to zoom in)

That’s an eye chart, but I think it’s important to show your work with these sorts of things. Anyway, here are some broad truths about how the defense pairings have been deployed at 5-on-5 so far this season.

• Lindell-Heiskanen is the mover and shaker of the Stars’ defense corps at 5v5. The Stars have scored 6 goals and allowed 4 during their ice time this year, which has averaged 11:38 per game at evens. They are the only Stars defense pairing to have a positive goal-differential at 5v5 this year (other than Lian Bichsel and Ilya Lyubushkin, who played the first two games of the season together).

  • This is the engine of the Stars’ offense, and they’ve also been the best defensive pairing, too: They allow the fewest shot attempts, shots on goal, and goals per hour of any Stars’ pairing, and they control 60% of the scoring chances, too. Opponents consistently get shots blocked, or are forced into alternate approaches against these two.

  • They’re also pushing things the other way, too. In expected goals, Lindell-Heiskanen are the 6th-best defense pairing in the NHL at 58%. Dominance, indeed.

• After that, however, it gets bleak.