Dallas Stars Comparison: 2024 vs 2025 Roster Breakdown

Dallas Stars Comparison: 2024 vs 2025 Roster Breakdown

The Dallas Stars were legit contenders last season, but are they better now than they were a year ago? We’ll break it all down next. You’re Locked On Stars, your daily podcast on the Dallas Stars, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Howdy Stars fans. Welcome back to another episode of Locked On Stars, part of the Lockdown On podcast network, your team every single day. I’m Joey Ericson, former producer of 105 through the Fan. Please be sure to subscribe. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. And as always, thank you so much for making us a part of your day and making us your first listen. Are the Dallas Stars better today than they were heading into opening night last season? That is the question of the day on this Tuesday edition of Locked On Stars. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. We’re going to take a look at the depth chart for this upcoming 202526 campaign as it stands and then compare it to last year’s opening night roster and see if we can find any weaknesses, maybe some upgrades as well after all the decisions the Stars have made so far in the off season. Also, the Stars have a pre-season schedule. Yes, Stars fans, hockey is right around the corner, just a little more than two months away. We’ll get into that. And Joe Pavvelski is a champion, not a Stanley Cup, unfortunately. But you want a golf tournament? I’ll tell you uh about that a bit later on on today’s show as well. But let’s get into the meat and potatoes of today’s episode. Are the Stars better now than they were a year ago? Because I think it’s a really intriguing question. Of course, the Stars have traded Mason Marchment. They’ve traded Matt Dumba so far. They went out and acquired Radic Foxo. So, let’s take a look at the position groups and see if there’s an argument to make that the Stars are better right now heading into this upcoming season than they even were a year ago. And we felt pretty strongly about the Stars roster last season. We weren’t thrilled with the moves they made on July 1st, but as the summer went along, we started to feel better. Maybe we’re going to feel better about this roster as the days and months pass as well. We’ll start with the the left wing group because this is probably where you have the biggest drop off from last year heading into this season. So on opening night, you had Jason Robertson, you had Finny Donov, who’s now gone, Mason Marchment, who of course is now gone, and Sam Steel. As of today, you have Jason Robertson, pretty good. You got Jamie Ben pretty good and you have Sam Steel and Oscar Beck with Radic Foxa being acquired. He’s pretty much going to be your fourthline center the entire year or so move back over to the left wing. Now Jason Robertson you’re hoping is going to come into this season fully healthy and hopefully find his rhythm right off the hop and not get off to that very very slow start he had. Jaime Ben. Now, what is his role going to be under Glenn Gulletson? That’s going to be a rather intriguing intriguing dilemma we’re going to see take place this season because as we saw in the postseason, Jaime Ben was pretty much limited to a fourthline checking role. Sam Steel, I think, is probably going to get elevated in the lineup. I’m going to tell you my ideal trios going into next season a bit later on in this segment as well. And then you have Oscar Beck just really solid. He he’s cheap. We know what we’re going to get from him. But you know Donov and Mason Marchment last season they were 20 plus goal scorers and they uh they played some pretty heavy minutes and of course Marchmitt played with Duchain and Sean a very very good line. He missed some time. So the the stars are certainly uh a bit thin on the left wing position group in terms of scoring too. I am a bit concerned about where the stars are going to find some scoring on that left side because really your only pure goal scorer I is Jason Robertson and you hope Jamie Ben is going to pitch in offensively but how many minutes is he going to play? Is he going to get a lot of opportunities on the power play as well? only had one power play goal last season. So, that is a big question and I would say uh there is a a decrease in talent level certainly from opening night of 24 to right now. Now, let’s go over to the right-wing position because this is where you can make up for some of that lack of sexiness on the left side because yes, you have Mo Rantin, ladies and gentlemen. You’re going to get a full season of Mo Rantin. That right there is going to cover up what you’re missing from Mason Marchment and of Giddy Donov. Mo Rantin, your number one right-winger. He was voted on by fans the other day on Twitter as the 10th best forward in the NHL. Mo Rantin. Boom. Then you have Tyler Sean. You have Maverick Bourke and you have Colin Blackwell. Now compare that to last season. You had Tyler Sean, you had Logan Stanco, you had Maverick Bourke. He was on the injured reserve list going into um opening night. Uh but we’re going to throw him in here. And then you had a Blackwell as well. I would say that’s an upgrade from from last season. And of course we miss Logan Stanovven, but it’s safe to say Miko Rantin is an upgrade from Logan Stanovven. Tyler Sean, I know he’s one year older, but he showed early on last season. He was a point per game player. Hopefully they can keep that up. And I may have a solution for an aging Tyler Sean. We’ll get to that as well. Maverick Bourke, a possibility for him to elevate his play. A young Ford with upside, of course. We talked about this a lot last season and when we did some breakdowns of Maverick Bourke, really everywhere he’s gone in his career. Takes him a year to get his bearings, to understand the game at another level, the pace, and to get comfortable. And usually the next season he improves and we saw from game to game he got a little better and a little better is this year he takes a big jump because Maverick Bour can be a real X factor for the Stars team because right now it looks like the Stars have a really really strong top six. They can almost just kind of beef up that top six. Maverick Bour can be a contributor. Oh, you’re going to feel really good as a Stars fan because that’s just one more guy in that bottom six that can maybe elevate in the lineup, may play in the top six, bump somebody down, and you’re going to feel better about this roster. Blackwell phenomenal what he gives you at five on five, what he gives you on the fortech, what he gives you in the physicality department, what he gives you on the PK. I think it’s a strong right-wing group. And Bourke again, you have some upside there. We know what Sean is. I know he’s another year older, but Miko Rantin, like you have a superstar that gets to slot in that you didn’t have all of last season and you didn’t have heading in to next season or heading into opening night. Center down the middle, you got hence you got Duchain Johnston Fox and 2526. Last year it was Hence, Duchaine Johnston back and of course you had some steel in there. That that’s a pretty solid solid group down the middle. Hence, Duchain Johnston Foxa. We’re going to need more from Hint. I want to see more from Hint. Possibly he gets moved over to the wing as well. Wink wink. Duchain. We understand he led the Stars in points last season. Johnson, can he take another jump? Can he make another leap? Because if he does, my goodness, stars are going to be in good shape. Radic Foxa is Radic Foxa. Uh again, I’m not trying to be rude to Ratic. I just think it’s funny. I I almost died when Jim Nelson the press conference. We missed Radatic Foxa this this past season because I I just I sat there and thought to myself, I don’t remember a single point during last season, especially especially in the Western Conference Final. You know what I want on this roster? Ratic Foxa. That’s going to make the difference. Again, that’s my soap box. Has nothing to do with the segment today, but I just thought that was a bit silly. Okay, then on the left side you got Lindell, you got Harley, you got Bishell heading in the Knicks season, you got Hasten and you got Labouchkin, you got Lanquist/Provvic as well. Of course, you had Dumbo last season. That’s really addition by subtraction getting him off the books. You had Brennan Smith. Of course, he wasn’t bringing you very much, but other than that, that’s a decent decor. Um Lindell Hastkin could become a pair. Harley Labouchkin, the Stars don’t seem to want to move off Leouchkin. They thought he was a really good depth piece and and to be fair after they did salary dump Dumba. They need another body and Labouchkin for for what he was last season for a majority uh of the year. I think he’s going to to fit in just fine. Hopefully Lungquist stays fully healthy under a new head coach. What does his role look like? Can he really improve? And then you go you got Bishell. He’s sort of in the same category sport like a young player has a lot a lot of upside and will be a lot of fun to watch next season. So I just encourage stars go go through the roster look at the depth chart. I think you can feel really really good about this team and I think there’s a really strong case course was a Smith and Anger that the Stars are better maybe not by a large fraction um but maybe a scoch a little bit heading in to opening night this year as the roster stands and who knows maybe they’ll be able to make some moves but I think you can make a strong arm they’re better than they were opening night last season and not in all position groups But where you make up for some of that of course with Rantin Fear Bishell Lquist coming back with a new coach I I just think there’s some upside but you also have to factor there could be some declines right Jamie Ben what does his role look like but maybe Steel gets elevated and I want to talk about some of that too um and maybe talk about where I see the trios looking like and why it could be a win for Dallas heading into next season after what we saw from most of this last campaign and we’ll do that in just a moment. 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New customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Open the FanDuel app today or visit fanduel.com to get started. So, this first segment is going to leak into the second segment uh a bit before we get into the uh preseason schedule, but I want to make sure we sort of drive this point down, drive the the nail into the board, uh so to speak. And I I did want to share where I could see the Lions being opening night next season because the Stars, as I mentioned, they have the ability, it feels like right now, to really beef up that top six. And I I am rather intrigued looking at Roe Hence being a left wing, which would bump Robo down a bit, but you move Wyatt Johnston to center between Roe Hints and Miko Ransin. If it’s one thing from last season where Dallas struggled a bit was finding a right wing for Robo and Hint, they just really could never find the perfect piece. And that really includes Rantinon as well. I know they didn’t get a ton of time together, but it’s not like they were going scorch earth last season and since Pavvelski left, it’s been a bit interesting. So, I would rock and roll Johnston your center because I think he’s so valuable down the middle. Hence moves over to the left wing and you have Mo Rantin uh on that line as well. Then it moves Robo down to the line with Duchain and Sean. I know that’s not a lot of speed on that trio, but you have Dutchy driving the play, Sean, Playmaker, and Robo sort of your shooter. Um, again, you’re not going to have a ton of speed on on that trio, but I think that could be a rather intriguing line. We saw Marchment uh be a force with uh the pairing of Duchain and Sean. Now, when you look at it, who’s going to be that for checker? Well, it’s going to have to really be Tyler Sean and and Robo, of course, to go in after pucks, play physical, win some battles, and then I think that that line could actually create a lot of offense for Dallas. So, that would be sort of my my 2C. Then you elevate Sam Steel, steel between Bourke and Ben, and then you have Foxa between Beck and Blackwell. And I I know that isn’t sexy when you look at that bottom six right away. It’s like uh you’re you’re you’re going to be asking a lot out of some others, but hopefully Bourke improves. Still in an elevated role, I think he could provide a bit more offense. the fourth line’s just it’s a typical fourth line checker like um but also with the the departures of Donov and Mason Marchman and even Stanovven to some degree it it gives the opportunity for maybe a Justin Ritskcoian to fit into the lineup next year and that’s a guy that could provide some more offensive pop. Uh maybe it’s R2 Huru, right? Maybe it’s uh you know a coal end of some type, right? Will that allow a younger player not to be boxed out and get some minutes in the NHL next season? I think that’s a conversation we can have um as well. But I think the stars could rock along with those trios. Kind of beef up that top six. You got Johnston, Ranton, and hence Robertson, Duchain, Sean, and your bottom six would be Steel, Ben, Bourke, Beck, Foxa, Blackwell. Now, you’re gonna be you’re going to be looking for scoring. Um, I think that’s safe to say, but you’ll also have to remember like you got Miko Ranton and that that should cover a lot. Um, he’s a very talented goal scorer. Uh, he can make up for I know it’s, you know, 40ome goals you’re trying to replace. I think Ranson will uh be able to do just fine. And with Robertson hopefully being healthy going into this year right away, not having to get off to a slow start, find his rhythm, uh they can make up some ground for maybe what they’re going to lose with um some of the departures. So, wanted to to touch on that. I just think there’s a really solid argument to say the Stars are are are better. Let let me know your thoughts. Maybe you don’t. Uh but I would love to hear your feedback. Now, let’s uh hop into uh our second item on the agenda, the preseason schedule for the Dallas Stars. That was uh announced uh just this past week. Uh the Stars will hold a training camp September 17th through the 20th at Kame Center in Frisco, Texas. Um Allst Star home games, by the way, for the 202526 regular season will go on sale to the general public at a later date, but the full preseason schedule has been listed below. We’re going to go through it in its entirety. Saturday, September 20th, St. Louis at Dallas at the AAC. 6 PM start. Tuesday, September 23rd, Minnesota at Dallas. AAC once again, 700 p.m. Thursday, September 25th, Dallas at Minnesota. That will be at the XL Energy Center, which is not the XL Energy Center anymore. Shame on the Dallas Stars PR. Uh I think it’s the Grand Casino or something like that. It’s a tragedy. It’ll always be known as the uh the X to me. Um, for those of you that don’t know, I went to school um in Minnesota. Went to many of games at the X when the Stars were there. And yes, I got to rub it in a lot of Wilds uh faces fans. Anyways, um Saturday, September 27, Dallas at Colorado. That’ll be at Ball Arena 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 30th, Dallas at St. Louis. that will be at the Enterprise Center 700 p.m. And then to wrap it up, Saturday, October 4th, Avalanche, Colorado at Dallas at the A 5:00 p.m. So, you have a total of six pre-season games from September and then the loan game in October about to come up, which will be very, very exciting stuff. Uh, also, uh, the Stars, uh, did mention they were going to have their development camp, um, with the Detroit Red Wings. Let me get you the uh full details of that as well. The NHL prospect camp uh prospect games, excuse me. Not uh not the development camp, but the 2025 Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings prospect games. Um they will be held actually at the Comica Center in Fris um September 13th and 14th. So uh just before the preseason schedule slate gets um underway. So 13th and 14th in Fris. Tickets for all NHL prospect games will require fans to reserve free general admission tickets. Uh, Victory Club members, by the way, pre-sale will take place during the week of August 25th with the Star Center programming pre-sale window taking place during the week of September 1st. Tickets will be available to the general public on September 5th on dallas. So, it’s a lot of uh a lot of fun and great news, too, that um some Stars fans um if you got nothing going on in September. Uh you got uh the ability to to go out, see some some young guns in that game. That that should always be a lot of fun and maybe see some future stars, not just for the Stars, but um even the Detroit Red Wings. So, that will be awesome that the Stars are hosting that um in North Texas as well. So, there’s some good homework I I wanted to get through as well with the prospect games and of course the pre-season schedule has uh been um announced as well. Pretty much the the same old foes, right? You usually play Minnesota twice in Colorado. Um in St. Louis, I think it’s sort of the same thing every year with the uh with the the division. Um, and uh, I have to say last year they were able to stream every preeason game. Maybe not everyone, but they they did the majority of them. And um, I thought it went rather well on Victory Plus. It’s good, too. It’s just it’s it’s good to see some guys that you don’t get to watch on a regular basis. and um and when certain teams load up the roster one night if they’re at home, get to see some younger guys uh you against the Nathan McKinnons of the world, the Capri Savvs, and that can be really really interesting. So, I’m looking forward to to to seeing how um how that goes. Um, and maybe uh if the Stars or Victory Plus is planning on showing um any of the the preseason game, which I think uh they would um if uh if I had to to put some money on it. So, um there you go. The preseason schedule. Now, um here’s sort of my feel-good take-home segment. Joe Pavvelski, he’s a winner. He’s a champion. Tell you more about that in just a moment. Today’s episode of Locked On Stars is brought to you by Indeed. Did you just realize your business needed to hire someone yesterday? How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other sites. Indeed sponsored jobs put your post at the top of the page and help you reach the right candidates faster. You’ve been in the spot before. Maybe if you’re a business owner, you need to hire somebody like yesterday. The pressure can be on. Every day without that right person can be a setback. That’s exactly where Indeed sponsored jobs come in handy. They make sure your post is seen by the right candidates right now. They make sure their resume matches the job requirements so you don’t have to waste your time. That’s the worst thing. Spending a ton of time or time is valuable looking through a bunch of candidates. Get the great candidates, the right candidates right away with Indeed sponsored jobs right now. You can speed up the hiring process with a $75 sponsored job credit. Just go to indeed.com right now. Support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Locked on stars. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. Well, this was some phenomenal news a few days ago that Joe Pavevelski, of course, former Dallas Stars Ford, won the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe. For those of you that are not familiar with this championship, it um is a celebrity golf tournament that takes place. Um and it’s it’s very competitive. Uh maybe it’s competitive to some uh not so much to some others, but uh something Joe Pavvelski has always been trying to win. He has u finished runner up a couple of times, I believe. And um if you recall uh over the last couple years uh the NHL always put out some interesting polls uh that um they ask the players and one of the questions is like who’s the best golfer and and I think Joe Pavilki won that um a couple years in a row, but he finally got it done. He won the American Century uh championship a total of 73 points. um he took home in his three rounds um to defeat John Smoltz of course former uh pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. Jake Owen, a country singer, Steph Curry’s up there as well. Anukica Soren, uh Soren Stam, yeah, former LPGA golfer, won a lot of M. Tony Romo’s in there as well. So, you got some some DFW um DFW connections there. But, uh yeah, Joe Pavvelski won. So, congrats to him. That’s something I know he’s been trying to to knock out the last couple years and good to see him thriving again. Man, he needed to to lift a trophy um in in the NHL. The stars unable to to give it to him in his his final few days or final few seasons um as a as a pro, but uh I thought that was awesome. So, a first time winner. I’m sure we’re going to see him in that leaderboard a couple more times. He had a walk-off eagle, by the way, which was uh pretty sick. So, Pavvelski can uh get it around the golf course. Uh make no mistake uh about that. Um but yeah, just uh wanted to give you an update on that little feel-good segment um to end your uh Tuesday of Locked on Stars. As always, thank you so much for the love and support on each and uh I mean every episode. I don’t know if I’m going to have an episode out tomorrow, by the way, just because I have to go move, as I mentioned yesterday to get down to Corpus, move some things, and then I’m coming back to to DFW for another few weeks before I go back down permanently for the uh the new season. So, I’m going to be sort of traveling around. It’s going to be really confusing, but I’ll I’ll keep you up to date. By the way, we did switch as a network. We’re going to three days a week. I’m going to have to make up some some shows for you guys. As I said, like today’s one of those makeup shows. So, uh I’m going to post as much as I can, of course, as we continue to grind through this off seasonason. There’s been a lot to talk about actually, which is nice. Feel like last year it just went really scarce. Although, we’re starting to get to that point of the season where things are just getting really, really scarce and all we can rely on is some rumors. But, you know, we’re hearing Robertson and potential trades again. Uh that would be an intriguing conversation. Need to get some guests on. I know I’ve just been flying around lately and been hard to to nail down sometimes with some others. But uh we’ll get some other voices in here, hear some other opinions and um continue to bring you um some good content here on Locked on Stars. But that’s going to do it for this uh Tuesday uh edition. Uh please subscribe, hit the notification bell. We’ve grown so so much over the last six months or so. And that’s a big big thank you to you. I know there’s a lot of options out there. Appreciate those of you that continue to come back to listen um to Locked On Stars and uh listen to me ramble and give my opinions each and every day. And I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to listen to me. I really do. Grateful I get to do this. I’ve had a lot of fun over the last two years and um I think it’s going to be a fun fun third season um upcoming. So very very much looking forward to that. But anyways, uh that’s going to do it for today’s episode. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday, Stars fans. And uh yeah, see you soon. So long, Stars fans.

On today’s episode of Locked On Stars, Joey Erickson answers the question of if the Dallas Stars are better right now than they were at this time last season. In the first segment and a half, we look at the depth chart of the Stars for this upcoming season and compare it too last year and find the strengths and weaknesses of it. Joey also gives his idea line combinations for the Stars next season as well. Following that Joey shares the Stars preseason schedule for this upcoming season and sight of the Prospects Tournament with the Detroit Red Wings. To finish the show we discuss Joe Pavelski’s victory on the golf course.

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