Stars Spreading the Offensive Wealth
The Stars offense is firing on all cylinders and that means everyone is scoring.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports - Stars Spreading the Offensive WealthDallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer is not shy about his philosophy on rolling four lines night in and night out. Every line has their own role, and this season DeBoer has been able to effectively get the most out of each.
One of the best parts about picking DeBoer as the head coach is just how much he gets everyone involved in the offense. DeBoer has been to the Stanley Cup Final with two different teams, New Jersey and San Jose. On both of those rosters, there were eight players that had 50+ points.
Before DeBoer, Dallas was coached by Rick Bowness, who took a defense-first approach. Last season the difference between the two coaching systems spoke for itself in the final offensive results. But this season, the amount of depth on the roster has really played into DeBoer's sytem.
The Stars top line of Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz has dominated the league for the past several seasons. And this year, the signing of free agent Matt Duchene has resulted in the "top line" not even being the best on the team.
The Duchene, Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment line was the most unexpected surprise of the season.
After hip surgery, Seguin had to learn how to walk again, let alone play hockey. It took some time, but Seguin looks to have returned to form. He is on pace for 33 goals and 66 points, which will be his highest production in five seasons. He is on a four-game goal streak and has had six goals in his last six games.
Meanwhile Marchment faced his own struggles in his first season in Dallas, but has taken a huge step back to being the player the Stars signed. Any complaints about taking penalties has been hushed with the contribution to his line's offensive game.
This is not to discredit the Robertson, Pavelski and Hintz line, as they still holds the top three spots in points currently. And they are taking the harder match ups so that the Duchene, Seguin and Marchment line can continue doing what they have been doing.
While the Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadanov line seems like they've dropped off compared to last season, they are still pulling their weight. The "Bennaissance" of last season is no more, but the drop in production has still resulted in eight goals for Benn, and his linemates are some of the best forecheckers on the team.
The Stars are the only team to have seven 10+ goal scorers, and Dadanov and Thomas Harley are both sitting at nine goals. Dallas is also the first team in the league to have four 15+ goal scorers.
But the wealth doesn't stop there. Dallas has nine 20+ point players, tied for second with the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets. Only the Calgary Flames have more with 11 different players over 20 points.
Dallas is also tied for second with the Flames and St Louis Blues in short-handed goals with nine, only behind the Philadelphia Flyers who have ten. But unlike most of the other teams, the short-handed goals do not mostly lie with one person.
With the way this season is progressing, Pete DeBoer could find himself coaching yet another roster with eight (or more) players that have 50+ points, and perhaps continue the trend of making the Stanley Cup Final behind that balanced attack.
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