Last season: 50-26-6, lost to Edmonton in Western Conference Final.
COACH: Glen Gulutzan, hired July 1 .
SEASON OPENER: Oct. 9 at Winnipeg.
DEPARTURES: Coach Pete DeBoer, RW Evgenii Dadonov, C Mikael Granlund, LW Mason Marchment, D Cody Ceci, D Matt Dumba.
ADDITIONS: Gulutzan, C Radek Faksa, D Vladislav Kolyachonok, F Nathan Bastain.
BETMGM STANLEY CUP ODDS: 10-1.
The Stars, who have ended each of their last three seasons in the Western Conference Final, have the talent to make another deep postseason run and maybe even get over that hump. They have a returning coach and it's not Peter DeBoer, who was fired after last season, but rather Glen Gulutzan, re-hired by Dallas GM Jim NIll 12 years after Nill fired him. Gulutzan was with Edmonton, which went to the Stanley Cup Final the past two years after beating Dallas in the West. Big-scoring forward Mikko Rantanen is getting started on the $96 million, eight-year contract extension that was part of the deadline trade that brought him to Dallas last March, and he had 22 points in the playoffs. The Stars also return 30-goal scorers Jason Robertson, Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston.
The good: Jake Oettinger. Forget how last season ended, when the 26-year-old goalie was quickly pulled after allowing goals on the only two shots he faced in Game 5 of the West final. That much-discussed decision by DeBoer played a part in the coach's departure. The $66 million, eight-year contract extension Oettinger signed last October kicks in this season. He has a 149-66-27 record, .912 save percentage and 2.52 goals against average in 251 regular-season games over five NHL seasons, the past four in the playoffs.
{{/usCountry}}The good: Jake Oettinger. Forget how last season ended, when the 26-year-old goalie was quickly pulled after allowing goals on the only two shots he faced in Game 5 of the West final. That much-discussed decision by DeBoer played a part in the coach's departure. The $66 million, eight-year contract extension Oettinger signed last October kicks in this season. He has a 149-66-27 record, .912 save percentage and 2.52 goals against average in 251 regular-season games over five NHL seasons, the past four in the playoffs.
{{/usCountry}}The not-so-good: Captain Jamie Benn, the team's longest-tenured player going into his 17th NHL season, will miss the start of the season after surgery for a collapsed lung. The 36-year-old Benn returned on a one-year contract. He had 16 goals and 33 assists last season, his 13th with at least 40 points.
Top defenseman Miro Heiskanen is healthy after missing the last 32 regular-season games and the first 10 games of the playoffs because of a knee injury. His 50 games and 25 points last season were career lows. Heiskanen was the third overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft, the same year the Stars got Oettinger 26th overall.
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