If you're going to get a rash of injuries, I suppose you might as well get them early in the season and not at the end, when you need your players most. But yeesh, it's as if a dark cloud has hovered over the Dallas Stars before the puck even dropped for the 2016-17 season.
To wit:
Captain and superstar forward Jamie Benn had offseason surgery to repair an injured core muscle. He played his first preseason game Tuesday night and is hoping to be up to speed in time for the regular season.
Scoring sensation Tyler Seguin suffered a heel injury in Team Canada's first World Cup pre-tournament game Sept. 8. He started skating this week, and the Stars remain hopeful that he will return in time for the start of the season.
Winger Ales Hemsky remains out with a groin injury he suffered while playing for the Czechs at the World Cup. The Stars are hoping he's back for the start of the season.
Center Cody Eakin is out until early November because of a knee injury.
Forward Mattias Janmark is out five or six months because of joint disorder in his knee.
Forward Devin Shore (lower body) could be back around opening night.
Forward Jason Dickinson had hip surgery in April and is out until December.
For good measure, winger Valeri Nichushkin bolted to the KHL on a two-year deal last month.
Uncle! However, if Benn and Seguin get in a full season or close to it, there is no reason the Stars can't contend for the Central Division title they won the past season. Still, it has been an inauspicious start, to be sure.
Best new faces
The late August signing of Jiri Hudler to a one-year, $2 million deal might be one of best bargains of the summer, especially with Nichushkin gone to Russia. Pay attention, fantasy players, Hudler might very well start the season on a line with Benn and Seguin. The Czech veteran is just two years removed from a 76-point season in which he scored 31 goals. Playing with Benn and Seguin, he should certainly top the combined 46 points (16-30) he put up in 69 games with the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers last season.
Veteran defenseman Dan Hamhuis was a quality unrestricted free-agent addition. What's funny is the Stars nearly acquired him at the trade deadline last season, but the deal with the Vancouver Canucks fell through. Now the Stars have Hamhuis. He will be an important top-four presence and a character leader in the dressing room.
Biggest unknowns
How will the blue line adjust to losing Alex Goligoski, Kris Russell and Jason Demers in the offseason? Hamhuis was added, but the Stars are banking on younger defensemen Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak and Stephen Johns to be ready to take on bigger roles this season. That might mean the first half of the season is spent with these guys figuring things out. But long-term, the Stars have been preparing for this. Young star defenseman John Klingberg continues his growth as well.
The biggest unknown of all, of course, remains in goal, where the veteran Finnish duo of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi produced mixed results the past season. On one hand, the two combined for 50 wins en route to a Central Division title. On the other, they combined for a .906 save percentage, which isn't good enough. The lasting image of Lehtonen getting pounded by the St. Louis Blues early in Game 7 won't soon be forgotten. Can they rebound? Is this goaltending good enough for the Stars to get to the Stanley Cup finals? I will say this: By the March trade deadline, there will be teams worried about losing a goalie they like in the June expansion draft to Las Vegas. That could present the Stars opportunities to upgrade in goal, if indeed GM Jim Nill feels that is warranted. Right now, I believe Nill thinks Lehtonen and Niemi can do the job.
Sure things
Jamie Benn won the NHL scoring title in 2014-15, with 87 points (35-52) in 82 games, and followed that by finishing second to Patrick Kane last season, with 89 points (41-48) in 82 games. Benn does it all on both sides of the puck. He is a throwback in some ways, with his intimidating style, yet he is blessed with soft hands. OK, I've got a man crush on Benn, I will admit it.
Klingberg finished fifth among all NHL defensemen with 58 points (10-48) in 76 games last season, up from the 40 points (11-29) he put up in 65 games in his rookie season. He's only 24, and he's still getting better. He's fun to watch and keys the transition game for the Stars.
Prediction
The Stars have had a tough training camp with injuries, but they will get through it and once again entertain us with some of the most up-tempo hockey in the NHL. Fans get their money's worth watching this club play. But is the goaltending good enough to win come playoff time? I think the Stars will battle the Nashville Predators for the division title but fall short. Second in the Central.