Midseason Analysis: Dallas Stars

Record: 19-17-11, 49 pts
Conference Rank: 11th
Division Rank: 4th
Top Scorer: Brad Richards (13 goals, 40 assists, 53 points)
Top Goalie: Marty Turco (14 wins,. 2.84 GAA)
Midseason Grade: C-

Another mediocre season for the Dallas Stars, which was to be expected as everyone else in the division made improvements while the Stars kept most of their roster in place from 2008-09. While San Jose, Los Angeles and even Phoenix have made notable progress this season, the Stars are kept in the playoff picture only because they have managedto scrape together 11 overtime losses.

Brad Richards is enjoying a comeback year, and the Stars youngsters give the franchise plenty of hope for the future. Loui Eriksson, Jamie Benn and James Neal will all be solid players down the road, but the Stars need to get younger across the board if the wish to be competitive long term. The age is starting to show on Hall of Famer Mike Modano, and defensive specialist Jere Lehtinen, and an injury to Mike Ribeiro won’t help the Stars any.

Marty Turco is having a solid season, but one wonders how long he’ll be able to compete at an elite level. Dallas needs help on D, as well, since only Mark Fistric and Nick Grossman have positive +/- ratings out of the whole defensive corps. I don’t see the Stars making the playoffs this year, and even if they do it won’t be a very long postseason for them.