Dallas Stars 2025-26 NHL Season Preview | The Steve Dangle Podcast

Dallas Stars 2025-26 NHL Season Preview | The Steve Dangle Podcast

Dallas Stars last year, second in the division, 106 points. But Bet MGM thinks they’re going to get worse. Really? The overunder is 104.5. [Laughter] Breakfast in Barbados. By the way, you get better odds for the under. It’s a flat two versus over at 1.77. Jeez, you guys are doing all their promotion for them. Do you know you know what they have going on this week? Do do you know we should we should we should get that in here. It’s very important to this preview. I’m sure my mom is making most of it about football honestly. That’s that’s that’s what most of the show is now. Uh Dallas Stars 104 and a half overrun. I’m taking over. You’re taking over? Yeah. 104 and Wait, what? That would mean Dallas is taking over, too. Uh what did they have last year? And I just pulled it one 106. Oh, that’s so mean. I know. That’s a t that’s a tough one because it’s because you know when you look at 104 and a half that’s a really amazing year for most teams over final answer over only six teams last year were above 105 points FYI now it’s worth mentioning that there are a lot of there were a couple teams that you you could really feast on last year within the division and the conference right you know San Jose in the conference Chicago and PRS in the division so you can really ramp your points up on that but this year I think the Central’s going to be far far more competitive. Dallas right now at the top of or one of the top teams in it depending upon where you have them ranked and I want to ask about I want to start about the this this first. I know Dallas has a good goalie, good couple of goalies. I know Dallas has good forwards. I want to talk about what Dallas’s defense looks like. I want to start there because that’s the more interesting part for me. Uh Lindell Heiskin amazing amazing and a full season of Heiskin. Yeah. Thomas Harley we saw really and truly emerge on the national stage at Four Nations. You know, of all the guys they could have picked to bring in to play defense for Canada when Sheay Theodore went down, Thomas Harley was a surprise for a lot of people and he was outstanding. Beyond that, it’s Bashelle Leouchkin and Lungquist. Uh I’m It feels a little bit have and have not within the defense core. Is that um Alex Petravic? Oh, Petravic, too. Yeah. Uh, it’s I have more faith. I like Bouch. Yeah. Well, yeah. I like Bouch as like a a bottom path guy and a French word for mouth. Um, I think he’s he’s pretty good. Can he fair May the bush? He’s He sure can. Uh, Nils Lungquist I saw won the fitness competition or had the highest fitness score for not for not the first time. He’s done it two or three years in a row with with the Dallas Stars, but you got to remember it was Cece. It was Dumba. It was a world of hurt back there. And they they did well despite it. Like the really elite teams. It’s it’s weird. It’s been a trend in recent years where a lot of the elite teams have one part of the lineup where you where you go, ew, and they exceed or succeed. Uh despite all that, um Bishell, I think, is going to be better. Lungquist needs to stay in the lineup and he should be a big factor for them. I think they’re going to be totally fine. Yeah. And I think like if you’re healthy scratching for Petravic and one or the other flip that um it’s fine. Like I don’t I think Dallas is so deep that we got to get to we got to pick Knits to the sixth, seventh defenseman on their team to find a hole. Well, and that’s that’s what you’re doing with 100 plus point teams. Exactly. They’re so stacked. Yeah. Okay. So then let me talk about Jay Goinger because you know he’s one of Jesse’s favorite goalies. We know that little bit of a man crush there. Don’t blame him. Uh and he has said, especially after the benching last year when they lost, that he’s motivated and obviously Team USA is also sort of waiting in the wings for him should he want to seize that. What kind of a season do you expect from Otter? Cuz I don’t think that they can play him as much as you normally could, especially if he’s the starter for Team USA for the Olympics. I think they’re going to have to peel him back and make sure if he’s playing for USA in the Olympics that he’s fresh for the playoffs. If he’s the goalie he thinks he is, this will be the best year of his career. Yeah. Best best year of his career. Listen, I think you have a real chance of starting games for Team USA at the Olympics. Certainly. And not just in a backup role. Like there’s room for him to improve from last year and there’s room for Helle to go backwards. Uh, most goalies don’t stay the best goalie in the world year in and year out every single year. Don’t just ask Jesse about Yeah, you you chose the wrong year, my friend. Well, I’ve I’ve been generationally wrong on goalending. Yeah, but it I think Steve, you nailed it there. Which is a bad That’s a bad sign. That makes me feel terrible. That is a terrible sign if I’m co-signing your goalie opinion. I was remember I was really big on. So next up, Jakeer. I think this is his VZNA year. Uh I thought it was going to be Casey De Smith’s Vzna year. Uh or at least maybe I should bet on that given your goalending opinions. No, I honestly think this is Jakeer’s Vzna year cuz he seems motivated for that team USA job. I don’t think he’ll get it. They’ll probably end up just going with what they have and calling Ella Buck. But the year before, two years ago, they play him 62 games. He gets tired by the time the playoff there was too many games. They cut it back to 54. Last year I think it was 56. So they found like a good little healthy balance there. And now that he’s used to it, he’s a couple years old. He’s still young. He’s 26 years old. He’s he’s about to peak in his prime. And I think like right now, even if it’s not this season, it’s next season. One of these seasons is the right season to get in on Jake Autinger stock before it’s it’s already high, but it can go like Apple best biggest company in the world high. and now’s the time to get on that. And this could be his VZNA season. I’m banking on that. If someone’s an alltimer, it’s easy to identify and we talk about it all the time. But sometimes you’re watching a hockey hall of fame career and you don’t realize it. And Jay Cottinger, the fact that he’s played this much at 26. I I think we’re watching a future Hall of Famer right now. And agree, most guys who end up there have a little bit of hardware. So here’s the question, boys. All right, this is a good one. Let’s say December 1st rolls around. Okay, Dallas Smith is the starter. Dallas is ahead of Winnipeg in the standings by more than five points. Mhm. Is Jake now the starter for Team USA? Probably not. What about January 1st? They’re up 10 points. Barring injury, I think Connor Halabuk earned his starting role at the Olympics through a heart trophy and Vzna last year. Okay, fair enough. That’s funny. Like they’ll have the most patience through 30, 40 NHL games. If he has two bad games at the Olympics, he’s gone. There you go. But I think he’ll start, but he can lose it. Oh, yeah. Easy. Easily. Now, what’s amazing about this Dallas Star Canadian tradition is you’ve got Jamie Ben with bonuses, but he’s starting at a million dollars, right? He’ll get bonuses. He It goes up to about five and a half. But you know, uh, Johnston, Rantin, Robertson, hints, Bourke, Steel, Duchain, Sean, uh, even even our our guy Faxa, who I believe is a um, and you know, former Leaf great Colin Blackwell is there too. That’s a loaded forward group that’s big, that’s mean, deep, built for the playoffs, and will kick your ass in the regular season. The only problem I can foresee is, hey, Jason Robertson’s on the last year of his deal, but that doesn’t feel like too much of an issue for the Dallas Stars. And I don’t think given the talent they have in that room, that’s going to be a distraction. No, I don’t think so. And their their young guys really need to take a step. Like Johnston, I really hated his playoff and he’s been so so good. Uh Maverick Borick, uh and I wrote down Lean Bashelle as well. like teams as good as the Stars who have contended as much as the Stars aren’t don’t usually have swaths of the roster that are that young. They’re in an amazing job. They really do. I I gush about that organization at basically every turn. I I think they’re I mean top three in the NHL just in terms of how they run things. Um what what’s the weakness? Like we already talked about it. Well, it certainly isn’t up front. The answer is maybe D, right? And then you take last year’s roster and you add freaking Gabriel Landis. No, you don’t. You add Ranson into it. Yeah, that I would say better. Yeah, just a bit. If you’re if you’re looking at the for group, also don’t forget the this past offseason, the massive deal they got on the Duchine deal where he could have gone to free agency because no one went to free agency and he could have been the bell of the ball, but because he’s still getting paid by Nashville has made a lot of money. So that $4.5 million deal for four years that he took is such a great discount for them. They took advantage of a situation. It was for four years. Yeah, it’s great. He also likes country music. So Oh, are you squinting at You’re not happy with four years. I’m I’m squinting at it for him because he’s made a lot of money. He’ll be okay. He’s made a lot of taxfree state. You’re good. That Nashville contract goes to 26. Wow. Oh, I forgot about Ah, he’s fine. Yeah, he’s going to be all right. Got his money. So, uh, Dallas looks unbelievable this year. There’s just no other way to say it. Where do you have them in the division? Because the question is always, how much are they giving to the regular season versus the playoffs? I have number one. You have number one. Just number one Vzna season. I am surprised that I am not the only one who has them ranked number one. Wow. Cuz they’re in the same division as the Jets. That was a bad way to phrase that. I’m surprised. I have them ranked third. Wow. Surprising. And it’s because I had Colorado first. Winnipeg won the president’s trophy. Right. And Dallas, I think, is going to play Autoner less. And I think that they’re not. And I think they got a lot of Olympians on that team because they’re so good. And so there’s going to be some nights where maybe they don’t dress their best guys and maybe you don’t have the best night and it doesn’t freaking matter. Do you know what I’m saying? Uh for the playoffs. It’s going to be a faxa breakout season. Well, first line center. I know the fact. Okay. Know the fact. So that’s my thinking is that Dallas is the ultimate we don’t care until the postseason team this year in the Western Conference kind of Hey, Florida Panthers finished third last year in the Atlantic Division. That’s true. That’s what I’m saying. Yeah, but here’s all their potential Olympians. Aer, Robertson, Finland, all the ent right? Yeah. Carolina, Dallas, there’s Finland done. Oh, Florida. Uh, that is your Dallas Stars season preview.

Steve Dangle, Adam Wylde, and Jesse Blake preview the upcoming season for the Dallas Stars and predict where they will finish in the Central Division.

Watch all of the SDP’s season previews here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk7FZfwCEidvSUzbw6oNte1NPk_wopwD

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