The Texas Stars walked the same path as their parent team, the Dallas Stars, and their season concluded in the Western Conference Final of the Calder Cup playoffs.
The Texas Stars swept the Grand Rapids Griffins in the first-round, and then went on to defeat the Milwaukee Admirals in the second round before falling to the Abbotsford Canucks in six games. However, they didn't go down without a fight. The Stars went down 2-0 in the series and then fought back after being down 3-1 in the series. Though the season did not go all the way, they accomplished several big milestones and added some good players to their roster.
First and foremost, Matej Bumel won the AHL's Willie Marshall award for the most goals in the regular season with 39 goals. His whopping 39 goals also sets a new record for the Texas Stars in a single season. He also finished the season second in the league scoring with 72 points. Blumel is just the third player in franchise history to hit the 70 point mark, behind Travis Morin and Mavrik Bourque.
The Texas Stars added Harrison Scott, Sean Chisholm, Ayrton Martino, Artem Shlaine, Trey Taylor and Tommy Bergsland at the conclusion of their college seasons. Martino and Taylor both played together at Clarkson University and Taylor might be an underrated pick up.
Taylor won the award for best defenseman in back-to-back years while at Clarkson University and in 14 playoff games with the Texas Stars, he tallied one goal and five assists. Though the Stars already have a log jam of left-handed defenseman, Taylor could find himself playing in some NHL games next season, if he has a good training camp.
The same could be said for players like Blumel, Justin Hryckowian and Arttu Hyry, who already played NHL games in previous seasons, and have been developing their games in the AHL. Hryckowian joined the Texas Stars last season after the conclusion of his college season and made a big enough impression he played give games in Dallas this season when there were injuries. Hryckowian recorded 60 points in 67 games in his first full season in the AHL.
Just when it seemed as though the Stars were starting to thin out in their prospect pool after Bourque, Logan Stankoven and Lian Bichsel all made their way to the NHL, the Stars have been making great use of their undrafted signings. The front office in Dallas can also move forward without worry of having spent a lot of their draft capital the last few years in trades and even more this trade deadline for Mikko Rantanen. Their scouting department has continued to knock it out of the park in different ways, allowing the Stars to be competitive at every level and keep the level of real NHL talent replenished.
These signings will be important in the 2025-26 season as the Stars are facing a bit of a cap-crunch. They have approximately $5 million to sign several positions and having legitimate options in the AHL will allow Dallas to fill some holes in the lineup with minimal cap hits.
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