NHL experts and analysts around the country have weighed in on the 2024-25 NHL season. Here's what they think Dallas is capable of this year.
The Dallas Stars have made the Western Conference Finals two years in a row. Can they make it a third? Can they finally get over the hump and make it even further? Can they win the Stanley Cup?
All of these questions will be front of mind when the Stars begin their season Thursday against the Nashville Predators. Though there's still a lot of hockey to play, experts around the country have weighed in on the 2024-25 NHL season. Here's what they think Dallas is capable of this year:
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Of the 23 ESPN hockey contributors who weighed in on the upcoming season, 18 picked the Stars to win the Central Division. Second-round foe the Colorado Avalanche came in second with four selections, with just one picking the Predators. As for the Stanley Cup, Dallas got the second-most selections (8) behind the Edmonton Oilers' 11.
Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report's Lyle Fitzsimmons predicts that the Stars will win the President's Trophy as the League's best regular-season team. Of course, that means winning the division as well and entering the Stanley Cup playoffs as the No. 1-overall seed. That may not be good for Dallas' Stanley Cup odds, though, and some consider it a curse. Only eight teams in NHL history have won both the President's Trophy and the Stanley Cup, most recently the Chicago Blackhawks during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
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For what it's worth, Fitzsimmons' colleague Lyle Richardson predicts that the Stars will upset Stanley Cup favorite Edmonton in the Western Conference Final before winning it all. Joe Yerdon thinks similarly.
The Athletic
The Athletic polled its hockey writers to predict the 2024-25 season, and 21.4% of respondents picked Dallas. That was the second-highest vote share, with Edmonton -- sensing a pattern? -- taking the lead with 46.4%. Not many writers saw a scenario where one of those two teams, call them the Best in the West, make the Stanley Cup and lose, with the New York Rangers running away as the runner-up choice with 42.9% of the vote. The Stars and Oilers combined for just 17.8%.
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A little rain on the parade, though: Of teams predicted by Dom Luczyszyn's model to earn 100 points this season, the Stars were picked by 7.1% of respondents to be the most disappointing team.
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Chris Bengel predicted Dallas to finish second in the Central Division behind the Avalanche then lose to the Oilers in the Western Conference Final. Meanwhile, Austin Nivison thinks the Stars will win the division and beat the New Jersey Devils for the Cup.
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"The Dallas Stars have lost in the Western Conference Final in each of the last two seasons, but they get over that hump this season. The Stars did downgrade their defensive depth in the offseason, but that is made up for and then some by a forward group that has more firepower than the Galactic Empire. That, along with elite goaltending from Jake Oettinger, helps them sneak past the Edmonton Oilers in a rematch of last year's conference final," Nivison said.
The Sporting News
The Sporting News predicted the Stars to come in second in the Central Division but win the Western Conference Final and ultimately the Stanley Cup.
"Dallas has knocked on the door so many times over the past couple of seasons. The team is too deep and plays so structurally sound. If Jake Oettinger can find himself in the postseason, it's a scary team to think about come playoff time," Bryan Murphy wrote.
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Here's a fun one. EA Sports, the maker of the NHL 25 video game, simulated the season in the game. Dallas came in second in their division behind the Avalanche then lost to the Nashville Predators in the first round. Yikes. In this simulation, the Rangers win it all.
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