After three straight Western Conference Finals appearances, the Dallas Stars enter the 2025-26 season with hopes of going further and lifting their first Stanley Cup since 1999.
While the NHL season got underway Tuesday, the Stars don’t get started until Thursday night with a game against the Winnipeg Jets. So, what do experts across the country expect from the Stars under new head coach Glen Gulutzan?
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Among 26 hockey experts for ESPN, 11 picked Dallas to win the Central Division, only behind the rival Colorado Avalanche. The Stars were also the joint-second most popular choice to lift the Stanley Cup tied with the Vegas Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers with four votes. Ten different teams got votes with only the Avalanche (5) receiving more votes.
Beyond that, Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger got some love in the Vezina Trophy poll, garnering the second-most votes (7) with only the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (10) getting more.
Out of 35 responses, the Stars were the top pick (28.6%) to win the Stanley Cup in 2026. They come in ahead of two Western Conference foes in the Vegas Golden Knights (22.9%) and Edmonton Oilers (17.1%).
On the flipside, Dallas received the fourth-most votes as the team that will be the biggest disappointment among those projected to score at least 100 points in the upcoming season.
Among Stars players, Mikko Rantanen received Richard Trophy votes (2.9%) Miro Heiskanen got Norris Trophy votes (5.7%) and Jake Oettinger got Vezina Trophy votes (17.1%). Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan also received 8.6% of votes in the Adams Award poll.
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CBS Sports’ Chris Bengel picked the Stars to win the Central Division before losing to the Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals. Austin Nivison also picked Dallas in the Central, but has them losing before the Conference Finals. Regardless, Nivison picked Oettinger to win the Vezina.
Of The Sporting News’ four-man panel of experts, three of them picked the Stars to lift the Stanley Cup in 2026. The same number picked Dallas to win the Central Division, though interestingly one of those didn’t pick them to go all the way in the postseason.
On the individual front, goalie Oettinger got one vote for the Vezina from deputy editor Bryan Murphy.
EA Sports
The video game studio behind the popular NHL game also offered its two cents with an in-game prediction they shared on social media. In it, the Stars come second in the Central behind the Avs then beat Winnipeg in a seven game first round series before losing to Colorado in six.
How to watch Stars-Jets to open the 2025-26 season: TV/streaming info and more
Dallas will hit the road for its first game of the season, facing the Jets at 7 p.m. Thursday at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.
Predicting the Stars’ 2025-26 season: Can Dallas maintain success under Glen Gulutzan?
Our experts share their predictions as the Stars look to take another step toward Stanley Cup success.
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.