The Dallas Stars spent much of their available salary cap space on their defense corps, and that's because their group of forwards is as deep and potent as any group in the NHL. Here's a breakdown of where the Stars' forwards rank in the league, and the changes they've made up front.

As the NHL’s 2024 off-season continues, THN.com is continuing to explore the state of the Dallas Stars. Last week, we began the process by analyzing the changes Stars GM Jim Nill made to his defense corps, and today, we’re turning our attention to the Stars’ group of forwards. (And as always, all financial information comes via Puck Pedia.)

RETURNING STARS FORWARDS: Jamie Benn; Tyler Seguin; Logan Stankoven; Roope Hintz; Jason Robertson; Mason Marchment; Matt Duchene; Evgenii Dadonov; Wyatt Johnston; Sam Steel

EXITING STARS FORWARDS: Joe Pavelski; Craig Smith; Radek Faksa; Ty Dellandrea

NEW STARS FORWARDS: Mavrik Bourque; Colin Blackwell

THE LOWDOWN: The Stars made their blueline a priority this summer, signing veteran D-men Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin and Brendan Smith. That didn’t leave a load of salary cap space to address their forward group, so Nill is looking internally to get improvement up front. Longtime star Pavelski has retired, while Smith left for Chicago, and Faksa and Dellandrea were traded to St. Louis and San Jose respectively. And veteran Matt Duchene, who generated 25 goals and 65 points for the relative bargain salary of $3 million last season, agreed to another one-year deal at the same price. That’s a coup for Nill & Co..

Meanwhile, Blackwell signed a one-year, $775,000 deal to shore up the Stars’ fourth line;the 31-year-old journeyman forward posted eight goals and 12 points in 44 games with Chicago this past season. And 22-year-old Bourque, who has been solid with the American League’s Texas Stars in each of the past two seasons – including winning the AHL’s award for top scorer in 2023-24 – has earned a promotion to the NHL squad.

All-in-all, the Stars’ heavy lifting at forward is still going to be carried out by Benn, Seguin, Hintz, Robertson and Duchene, and youngsters Stankoven and Johnston should be better and more productive on offense. That said, Dallas has seven returning forwards who each scored at least 21 goals last season. Few teams have that type of scoring depth, but Nill has assembled one of the most dangerous groups on the planet. They’ll miss Pavelski, but the future for the Stars is as bright as their present, and the drafting and development arm of the franchise has done yeoman’s work in getting them where they are today.

The Stars still have approximately $6.24 million in cap space, and even if RFA defenseman Thomas Harley’s new contract eats up a good portion of that space, Dallas will have some wiggle room to add an experienced hand at forward. Once again, Dallas will be one of the best teams in the league, and a front-runner to win the Stanley Cup. They’ve come close in the past two years, but this could be the year they put it all together and win their second Cup in franchise history.

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