The Dallas Stars have been a perennial contender every year for the past four seasons, but they have been unable to get over the hump with this group of players. Three straight Conference Final losses set the stage for potentially a big season in 2025-26, but the surging Minnesota Wild, with new superstar Quinn Hughes, knocked them out in the first round. It left the Stars wondering whether this group would ever get it done. 

112 points in the Central Division gauntlet was no easy task, but the aging Stars looked like a team that had burned out by the time the first round began. Dallas could bounce back in the regular season again in 2026-27, but it's hard to trust them to do much in the playoffs as long as the Wild and Colorado Avalanche remain competitive. 

Hockey is a difficult sport to predict, so please gamble responsibly. Betting lines are from FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change.

Do I believe in the Stars? No. Do I think they are good enough to make anything that resembles a Stanley Cup run after seeing them fall short so many times? Again, no. Do I think this is the last year of their contention window if things go south in the playoffs again? Yes, I do. However, if we're purely projecting whether they will be 12 points worse this season with two extra games to claim those points, I'm going to lean that they'll find a way to go over the 101.5 number that the oddsmakers are giving them. 

Mavrik Bourque's 20 goals are undoubtedly a loss, and they could lose a couple of wins with him not in the lineup, but the return of Tyler Seguin should make up for some of that and this team still has the rest of their core remaining. The Jason Robertson one-year extension is an obvious bright spot of the offseason, purely because they get at least one more season to make a run with their leading scorer, but his future with the team is cloudy at best. 

If the bet on Dallas' points is going to hit, Robertson is going to have to step up and be the team's best scorer again. The three-time 40-goal scorer spent most of his time last season alongside Bourque, which could lead people to think that may hurt him, but his advanced numbers alongside Wyatt Johnston was actually better when they were given the chance.

It's unclear whether Glen Gulutzan is planning on deploying the team's two stars alongside each other this season, as the projections have Robertson playing with Seguin and Roope Hintz. However, if that is the direction he goes, the trio had a solid 117 minutes at five-on-five together last season where they outscored their opponents 11-2. 

The bulk of Robertson's production will still come on the powerplay, and they will return all of those players to the first unit. With 40 goals in three of his last five seasons, two extra games to hit the benchmark this year, and not having missed a game with injury in four-straight seasons, this bet has tremendous value.