In Season 19, Dallas once again succeeded yet struggled in what was ultimately a season of dichotomies. Although their 47 wins represented a 7-win improvement on S19 and the third highest total in franchise history, their position in the standings remained static and they once again failed to move past the quarter-finals in the postseason. A post-season analysis revealed that Dallas finished the season as one of the best defensive teams in the CMHL, finishing 3rd overall in goals against per game. Yet they also finished the season as one of the worst offensive teams in the league, highlighted by a stunningly disappointing season for Brayden Point, who went from a career-high 108 points in S18 to only 67 points in S19. In fact, no player on the Stars scored more than 75 points last season. This left more questions that answers for the offseason and GM habsfan93.
Meanwhile, the ICHF Minnesota North Stars continued to build on their successes, winning the ICHF Central Division in S19 by just one point, this just two years after missing the ICHF playoffs in GM habsfan93's first full season with the Stars. They then took their division rival Flaming Poo to Game 7 of the quarter-finals before luck turned the other cheek and graced the Poo's cheeks with success. Nevertheless, S19 marked a continued upward trajectory for Minnesota with high hopes for S20.
Let's take a look at what changes are in store for the Season 20 Stars and North Stars...
Presenting the Season 20 Dallas Stars Opening Game Lineup:
Alex Debrincat - Brayden Point - Andrew Mangiapane
Alex Kerfoot - Paul Stastny - JT Compher
Jack Quinn - Nicolas Roy - Brock McGinn
Saku Maenalanen - Sam Carrick - Dryden Hunt
Cam Fowler - Darnell Nurse
Mike Matheson - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Justin Barron - Scott Harrington
Fredrik Andersen
Karel Vejmelka
All things considered, it was a quiet summer for GM habsfan93 who is choosing to stay the course rather than make wholesale changes, hoping that last season's offensive difficulties were an anomaly and not the norm. The biggest substractions are Jake Allen, who left as a UFA and Mats Zuccarello who was sent to the Montreal Canadiens - with his three million dollar contract and no spot in the top 6 forward group, his salary had to be cut to make way for the raises that numerous RFAs (Kerfoot, Compher, Andersen, Matheson) were commanding. A total of 7 players are new to the roster this year, 4 of which (in bold ) are UFA signings while 2 (in bold italics) are making the jump straight to the CMHL from the Stars prospect list and Vejmelka (in italics) gets promoted from last year's ICHF squad.
Players to watch in Season 19:
- One sign of hope that convinced GM habsfan93 to stay the course was the S19 in-season acquisition of Andrew Mangiapane (pictured below) for the top line, who seemed to click with Point and Debrincat. Mangiapane scored 19 goals and 33 points in 50 games for Dallas and GM habsfan93 is hoping a full-season under his belt in Dallas will allow him to surpass that.
- Dallas really struggled in the faceoff circle last year which contributed to their offense issues. To address this, Brayden Point is coming in with fresh rerates that give him his highest faceoff rating since habsfan93 took over in S17 and the GM signed veteran faceoff specialist Paul Stastny to man the 2nd line, in what is expected to be Stastny's final season in the CMHL before retirement.
- Mike Matheson took a huge step forward in training camp this fall and is expected to challenge Darnell Nurse for time on the first pairing with Cam Fowler. Both are on one-year contracts and will be looking to prove their worth for long-term contracts next summer.
- The Stars will be starting the season with two rookies in the lineup in Jack Quinn and Justin Barron. Expectations for both are moderate and neither is going to be depended on for more than a supporting role but at the same time, both will need to prove their value as there are numerous alternative options on the North Stars roster should they not perform in line with expectations.
- Fredrik Andersen struggled with consistency last season and was ultimately supplanted by Jake Allen by season's end as the Stars 1A goalie. With a fresh contract in hand, he'll be given another go this season but keep an eye on Karel Vejmelka who was absolutely brilliant in the ICHF last year and is looking to make the next move. The Stars showed last season that they are willing to go with the goalie that is playing well, not the goalie with the bigger contract.
Presenting the Season 20 Minnesota North Stars Opening Game Lineup:
Ondrej Palat - Josh Bailey - Keifer Sherwood
Robby Fabbri - Mike Vecchione - Oskar Sundqvist
Nolan Stevens - Cam Hillis - CJ Suess
Lucas Condotta - Ben Jones - Shane Gersich
Will Butcher - Corey Schueneman
Dennis Gilbert - Paul Ladue
Grant Hutton - Sean Day
Antti Raanta
Louis Domingue
Given last year's success, GM habsfan93 opted to make few changes to the North Stars lineup from what finished the season last year. Three players (in bold italics) are making the drop from the CMHL Stars to the North Stars due to the UFA signings and rookies taking spots in Dallas. Where the North Stars will see their greatest change is in net with both players (in bold) new to the Dallas organization this summer, one via UFA and the other via trade.
Ondrej Palat (pictured below) is a victim of the salary cap game as many had him projected to be on Dallas' second line until the Stastny signing and he may wind up back in Dallas when the mid-season cap bump hits, but for now, he'll look to find his game while seeing big minutes for the North Stars and giving them a huge offensive boost. Robby Fabbri meanwhile was a huge disappointment last year in Dallas and will be looking to prove that he belongs on a CMHL roster next year with a strong season in the ICHF. Both players fill the voids left by the retirements of Michael Chaput and Sakari Manninen.
On D as well, the only change is Corey Schueneman coming back to the ICHF to bump Filip Johansson out of an everyday role, as the Stars opted to sign a UFA dman with more defensive qualities for the #6 spot in Dallas. This represents an overall boost for the North Stars, who were already excellent defensively last season.
In goal, the North Stars were decimated by retirements and unrestricted free agency with all but long-range prospect Cole Brady remaining in the fold. With Jake Allen signing in Anaheim and Cory Schneider, Antoine Bibeau and Dylan Ferguson all retiring from the CMHL, the North Stars brought in two veteran netminders to fill the pipes while their long-range prospects continue to develop. Antti Raanta has been a CMHL-level starter for the last several years but with the goalie market saturated, chose to sign as a UFA with Minnesota and is expected to provide veteran leadership to a club once again expecting to vie for the Western Conference title. He may also swing up and down with Vejmelka depending on how things go in Dallas. Louis Domingue came back in exchange for Mats Zuccarello from Montreal and should be a capable ICHF backup.
GM habsfan93 has put together what he believes are two rosters that can compete for the a top 4 finish in each conference yet again and hopefully achieve greater playoff success. Stay tuned!
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