Defending Big D's Stargazing podcast logo, featuring a Dallas Stars Victory Green cassette tape with tearaway jersey texture and nets over the sprocket holes, designed by Jason Lara

Logo design: Jason Lara | @NHLMaps

The Dallas Stars have visibly struggled with late-season injuries in the past couple of weeks. And nowhere has this been more apparent than in the depleted forward corps. How do you rotate lines when the second line is missing?

In this episode, Wes and Mark talk about this in depth. They discuss whether Michael Bunting needs to play on the first line, the possibility that Tyler Myers has a Jordie Benn problem, the state of the defense, how the Stars’ run-up to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is panning out, and – of course – who falls where on the Expected Rawr (xRawr) chart, now enhanced with up to 37 percent more made-up stats.

This is a hand-drawn black-and-white depiction of Wes Lawrence and Mark Zimmerman's enhanced Expected Rawr chart. The axis points are, clockwise from top, Him, Dawg, Passenger, and Poodle. The quadrants are, clockwise from top right, Beast, Grinder, Pylon, and Showboat.

You take two of your best players off the roster, and all of a sudden forward depth is an issue. We’re Stargazing, and we get it. We really do.

Which Stars are in which xRawr quadrant? So far, Wes and Mark have calculated rankings for the following players, current and historic:

Sam Steel

Jason Spezza

Alex Radulov

(Yes, we are this committed to the bit. Get on board now, or risk an injury when you try to jump this train during the playoffs.)

Let’s talk more in the comments. And don’t forget to give us a rate, review, or share wherever you get your podcasts. That’s, like, our whole thing right now.

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