Dobber’s Offseason Fantasy Grades 2018: Dallas Stars

Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – Dallas Stars

 

For the last 15 years (12 with The Hockey News, last year’s via pinch-hitter Cam Robinson) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 16th 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!

 

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Gone – Curtis McKenzie, Antoine Roussel, Greg Pateryn, Dan Hamhuis, Kari Lehtonen, Coach Ken Hitchcock

 

Incoming – Roman Polak, Blake Comeau, Anton Khudobin, Coach Jim Montgomery

 

Impact of changes – While a new coach will always mean a new style, a new system and repercussions on the production of certain players, it’s the minor personnel changes that jump out in terms of a potential ripple effect. The Stars lose a couple of their stay-at-home depth defensemen which may mean more defensive responsibilities for their offensive blueliners (John Klingberg and Esa Lindell), and that would impact their even-strength numbers.

In Khudobin the Stars now have a backup goalie they can trust. Starter Ben Bishop has been getting injured often over the past couple of seasons and Khudobin shores up the stability. If Bishop misses time this year, Khudobin will slot in without missing a beat.

 

Ready for full-time – Here is where the Stars improve the most. At this point it looks as though two key prospects will be joining and upgrading the team. Valeri Nichushkin is technically not a prospect as he’s already played a couple of NHL seasons. But he spent the last two in the KHL and now is making his return with a big enough contract ($2.95 million per year, two years) to see to it that he gets a real shot at a second-line spot with power-play time. Be careful not to overrate him as he wasn’t overly productive in the KHL (51 points in 86 games) and his best NHL season was 34 points. He’s two or three years from hitting the kind of production numbers you’re envisioning for him. (Read Nichushkin's scouting profile here)

The other key prospect is defenseman Miro Heiskanen. Last year’s third overall draft pick is considered one of