Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – Dallas Stars

For the last 14 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

This year, due to Dobber’s battle with cancer, he recruited Cam Robinson (of Frozen Pool Forensics fame) to pinch hit. The 15th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey.

Enjoy!

Gone – Antti Niemi, Ales Hemsky, Patrick Sharp, Cody Eakin, Travis Morin, Dylan Ferguson, Mattias Backman, Maxime Legace, Lindy Ruff (Head Coach)

Incoming – Alexander Radulov, Ben Bishop, Martin Hanzal, Marc Methot, Tyler Pitlick, Brian Flynn, Brent Regner, Mike McKenna, Ken Hitchcock (Head Coach)

Impact of changes – Many see Dallas as the big winner of the offseason, and for good reason. GM Jim Nill realized, like many, that this Dallas team is amid their window despite missing the playoffs last season and it was time to load up. Having players such as Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in the heart of their primes means it’s imperative to surround them with adequate talent. Adding Ben Bishop, even if he plays merely at league average, will be a big boon compared to the previous tandem’s inefficiency. Marc Methot was brought in to solidify John Klingberg and the top pair, Hanzal brings a heavy body down the middle and will lessen some of the defensive responsibilities from Jason Spezza, while Radulov offers a tantalizing option on the top line left wing and power play. The final addition of head coach Ken Hitchcock returning adds credence to the team’s desire to play improved team defense, as Hitch won’t fool around when it comes to systems and responsibility.

Piece it all together and you have a team that should be able to keep more pucks out and should score a few more as well.

Ready for full-time – Julius Honka was one of the fortunate few to escape the CHL-NHL agreement despite playing his draft season in Swift Current. Due to his being loaned out from his Finnish club team, Honka could walk right off the draft floor and into the American Hockey League as one of the rare 18-year-olds. In the past three season, the creative right-handed defender has steadily improved his point-per-game totals from 0.46, to 0.60 to the 0.62 his produced in 2016-17. That progression along with his maturity in the defensive end of the rink earned him 16 games with Dallas where he scored a goal and added four assists to go along with a 56.5 CF% while seeing just under 17 minutes a night. While it appears the 21-year-old is ready for full-time duty, he remains exempt from waivers while others are not, so instead of risking a lost asset, Nill may shuffle the talented Finn back and forth all season. Honka plays a very similar game to fellow righty John Klingberg. So should the team’s top defender suffer an injury, Honka would be thrust into a prime offensive position, as he was when Klingberg struggled at times last season. Read more on Honka here.

Jamie Oleksiak has found his way into Dallas’ lineup in each of the last five seasons, but never for more than the 41 games he played last year. The towering 6’7” rearguard was a first-round selection (14^th overall) in 2011 and is now waiver eligible, meaning he should be considered a near lock to make the team or else risk being poached for nothing. While not an offensive player, Oleksiak does engage physically in the hits department but despite his imposing size, doesn’t offer much in the way of penalty minutes for those in the multicat world. Read more on Oleksiak here.

Another former first round selection, Jason Dickinson (2013), appears ready to fight for a full-time job in the NHL, but will likely have an uphill battle. The offseason signing of Martin Hanzal pushes the 22-year-old pivot down the pecking order and likely means a third season in the AHL.  With 86 points in 133 career minor league games, the former Guelph Storm star does have some more room to reach dominance at that level and appears to have a nice middle six, two-way ceiling moving forward. Read more on Dickinson here. 

Fantasy Outlook – Dallas is one of the few potential fantasy gold mines. They own two legitimate super star forwards in Benn and Seguin who can reach a point-per-game or better and have just added a dynamic left wing in Radulov who could chip in with 60 if things go well. Jason Spezza is a suitable depth piece who is boosted by his inclusion on the team’s top power-play unit, and John Klingberg is one of the best young offensive defenders in the game. The addition of Bishop suddenly gives them a fantasy-relevant goaltender to add to the mix. All-in-all, there is much to like about this team from a fantasy perspective and they should compete to be one of the highest scoring squads in the game.

Fantasy Grade: A- (Last year: B)

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