After being dubbed the “winners” of the 2017 off-season, many pundits predicted the Dallas Stars would not only make the playoffs last season, but would potentially challenge for the Central Division crown. In fact, seven of us picked them to win the division last year.
The idea of Alexander Radulov playing on a line with Jamie Benn or Tyler Seguin sounded like pucks pounding the back of nets, and with Ben Bishop in tow, it appeared their perennial goaltending crisis was solved. In addition, they added Marc Methot, Erik Karlsson’s former defensive partner who’d famously almost had his finger removed by Sidney Crosby.