Dallas Stars enter 2024-25 season with revamped, new-look blueline

Sam Nestler
Sam Nestler
Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Dumba
Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Stars fell two wins short of the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season. And while they made a valiant run in the 2023 playoffs, this past season felt much different. This time, Dallas was a true Stanley Cup contender.

In the 2024 playoffs, their lack of defensive depth became not only apparent, but a real obstacle in their path of reaching the ultimate goal. Coach Pete DeBoer had no faith in 23-year-old Nils Lundkvist, who played less than five minutes per game before eventually being replaced by Alexander Petrovic. And the five-man rotation they were using really began to take its toll in the Western Conference Final. After taking a 2-1 series lead and 2-0 lead in Game 4, the Stars watched the Edmonton Oilers roll out five straight goals and three straight wins to advance to the Final.

Now, general manager Jim Nill and his staff have made some hefty changes on the blueline over the first few weeks of the offseason. They were unable to re-sign Chris Tanev, who was their top priority but couldn’t find a deal that worked with Dallas being so tight to the salary cap. Tanev went to Toronto instead, while the Stars opted for more of a strength-in-numbers or quantity-over-quality approach.

Nill added three blueliners in free agency, signing Matt Dumba to a two-year, $7.5 million contract, Ilya Lyubushkin to a three-year, $9.75 million deal and Brendan Smith to a one-year contract worth $1 million. He also re-signed Lundkvist for one-year and $1.25 million after not sending a qualifying offer and brought back Petrovic on a two-year deal.

On the other side of things, the Stars allowed Jani Hakanpaa to become a free agent, bought out the final season of Ryan Suter’s contract and placed seventh defenseman Joel Hanley on waivers during the season. They are expected to re-sign restricted free agent Thomas Harley, who had a breakout 15-goal and 47-point season, this summer.

So, it is safe to say that the Stars’ blueline will look very different from a season ago.

The newcomers each bring their own style of play and potential upside. Dumba is a righty, something Dallas really lacks, and has proven his offensive capability and physical play in the past. Lyubushkin is a defense-first right-hander that should play a similar role to Hakanpaa. And Smith is a veteran of 694 NHL games who should nicely replace Suter.

But the Stars will really miss Tanev. The 34-year-old only played in 19 regular-season games with Dallas but had a massive impact and was a huge piece of their successful playoff run. Tanev racked up 73 blocked shots, 30 hits and shut down the top players and power plays of three of best offensive teams in the league. He was likely the top candidate to fit next to Miro Heiskanen, who has been playing on his off side (right) for the past few seasons.

So what will the blueline actually look like in 2024-25?

I believe that the Stars will try just about every combination over the first few months of the season. They have a bunch of new faces and want to find the best fit for both Heiskanen and Harley, who were playing together on the top pair for a large portion of last season. Here is how I would line up for the season opener in Nashville on Oct. 10:

  • Heiskanen-Dumba
  • Lindell-Harley
  • Smith-Lyubushkin/Lundkvist/Petrovic

It should be most important to get Heiskanen back on his strong side. He is a Norris-caliber defenseman and needs to be put in the best position to succeed. Sure, he is elite and can play both, but that doesn’t mean he should.

From there, the more lefty-righty combinations, the better. Harley, like Heiskanen, has the ability to play on the right side and should be able to create plenty of offense with stay-at-home Esa Lindell backing him up. If 29-year-old Dumba is not up for top-pair minutes with Heiskanen at this point in his career, they could slide Harley back up and move Heiskanen back to the right side. Unfortunately, they don’t have many more options to fit on that top pair. And finally, the bottom pairing will be a heavy rotation of a handful of similar players.

Another defenseman that could crack the lineup is 20-year-old Lian Bichsel. The 6-foot-6 2022 first-round pick played well in his first professional season with the Texas Stars in the American Hockey League (AHL). After backstopping a strong season for Rogle BK in the Swedish Hockey League, Bichsel tallied seven points (one goal, six assists) and a minus-2 rating in 16 AHL games. He added one assist in five Calder Cup Playoff games.

When DeBoer opted to scratch Lundkvist in the postseason, many believed Bichsel would make his NHL debut. He was called up to the big club but did not play in any games. If he is ready at some point next season, and that is a big if with his minimal experience, it could really help Dallas. His size and style of play should not only replace what they lost in Hakanpaa, but would probably upgrade it and make them tougher to play against.

No matter what, it is going to be a new-look, revamped blue line in Big D next season. Whether that is for better or worse, we will just have to wait to find out.

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