On the topic of Dallas though, their defense looks awful shaky to go with sub par goalies. A few trades could make them a serious threat imo though.
Having seen how many other teams do well by injecting youth, and considering all the vets Dallas had last year that improved all the way up to a 2.79GAA, we can't be afraid of youth. I see it as a near perfect transition and building of a D core.
Four years ago (maybe five) Jordie Benn and Brendan Dillon make the big club. Dillon seems to have more upside, but gets traded for Demers, now gone. Benn still here as the 6-7 option, occasionally playing better.
Three years ago, Nemeth comes up for playoffs, stays. (yes, injuries and regression but he was impressive and can regain that form)
Two years ago, Klingberg comes up about 20 games into the season and impresses, becoming one of the NHL top offensive D men.
Last year, Johns comes in late and is impressive, fits seamlessly.
This year, Lindell, called the best D man not in the NHL by some, comes in.
Next year, we also have Honka and maybe Backman coming, with Honka said to be as good as Klingberg.
Yeah, Oleksiak has flopped a bit, but drafting D prospects with your no. 1 and 2 picks for years, and getting a bonus in a firth round pick like Klinger, and then working them in slowly sounds like a good plan to me. Old hockey players get older (Stahl) and young ones get better.
We have been waiting for a good homegrown D to be built for years. Nice to see it come together. These guys have the physical talents and a chance to be bigger and faster than any D we have ever had. Of course, there will be growing pains, and they mostly have to pan out for the Stars to be contenders, so that is a little scary, but not as scary as bringing in retread after retread to what has historically (last ten years) not been a good D.
