Apr 16, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators celebrate the win against the Dallas Stars during the third period at Bridgestone Arena. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images As the 2025-26 season approaches, we’re previewing each of the Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators]’ Central Division opponents. This series will feature each team in chronological order and not their predicted order of finish in the division. Today’s preview focuses on the Dallas Stars [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/dallas-stars]. 2024-25 SEASON BY THE NUMBERS RECORD 50-26-6 (.646) OVERTIME 7-4 SHOOTOUT 2-2 OVERALL 5th OFFENSE 3.35 GPG (3rd) DEFENSE 2.71 GAA (6th) POWER PLAY 22.0% (17th) PENALTY KILL 82.0% (4th) EXPECTED GF/60 2.68 (5th) EXPECTED GA/60 2.67 (26th) SEASON ANALYSIS Despite a third straight trip to the Western Conference Finals, the results ended up the same for the Dallas Stars: no trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Things unraveled for Dallas in the WCF, losing to the Edmonton Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers]in five games despite looking like the best team on paper heading into the playoffs. Acquiring Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund before the trade deadline still didn’t bring a Stanley Cup to Big D, and the Stars replaced Peter DeBoer with Glen Gulutzan behind the bench for his second stint as Stars’ head man. General manager Jim Nill obviously saw something in Gulutzan that wasn’t present 12 years earlier, when Nill fired him in one of his first moves as GM. With captain Jamie Benn coming back on a one-year contract, Rantanen beginning his first full season in Dallas, and Jake Oettinger the obvious No. 1 netminder despite a shaky Game 5 against the Oilers, hopes are still high in Dallas. The Stars know how to get to the post-season; they’ve treaditionally had one of the top records in the NHL during the regular season and finished fifth overall in 2024-25 with a 50-26-6 record. It’s finishing in the playoffs that’s been the team’s Achilles heel. They simply ran out of gas against Connor McDavid and the Oilers the past two seasons. OFFENSE Rantanen is clearly the top dog for the Stars when it comes to scoring. He was on fire during the playoffs, notching 22 points (9-13-22) in 18 post-season contests. But shuttling between the Avalanche, Hurricanes and Stars clearly had an effect on his scoring last season. His 88 regular-season points were 16 less than his output the year before. Perhaps the eight-year deal he signed with the Stars will give him the peace of mind he didn’t have in 2024-25. Dallas lost some of their scoring punch during the off-season with the departures of Granlund, Mason Marchment and Evgenii Dadonov. This will put more pressure on former 109-point producer Jason Robertson, who had 80 points last season and is entering his contract year. Matt Duchene (82 points) will also be counted on to keep the scoring machine running. The biggest question offensively is can the Stars keep that machine from glitching deep into the post-season. DEFENSE The Stars decided not to make any big splashes defensively. While Cody Ceci left in free agency, Nils Lundkvist hopes to be back following a late-season injury. Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell are the clear top three on Dallas’s back end, but there are question marks beyond them. Ilya Lyubushkin, Alexander Petrovic and Lian Bichsel are younger, but need to provide some relief to the top three. GOALTENDING One position that will not be a heated competition in training camp is in net. Oettinger will be the clear No. 1 for the foreseeable future. ‘Otter’ went 36-18-4 in 2024-25 with a 2.59 goals-against average and .909 save percentage. However, his post-season was up and down (9-8-0, 2.82 GAA and .905 SP. Like the Stars’ offense, Oettinger needs to have some gas left in the tank for a deep playoff run. Casey DeSmith is a solid backup who is entering the second year of a three-year contract. SPECIAL TEAMS As power-play coach for the Oilers prior to his arrival in Dallas, Gulutzan had one of the NHL’s best teams with the man advantage. Neil Graham, who coached the Stars’ AHL [https://thehockeynews.com/ahl/]affiliate Texas Stars, was hired to head the power-play unit in Dallas, but Gulutzan will certainly have input in that department. Dallas finished 17th on the power play last season. Alain Nasreddine is the only assistant holdover from the DeBoer regime, and with good reason. He ran a penalty-kill unit that ranked fourth in the NHL last season. LAST SEASON’S SERIES The Predators didn’t have much to cheer about in 2024-25, but they ended the season on a positive note with a convincing 5-1 win over Dallas in the final game. Otherwise, the season series with the Stars was split 2-2-0. Only one of the four games was close, a 4-3 Dallas victory on Oct. 10. 2025-26 SEASON SERIES The two clubs will first meet at Bridgestone Arena Oct. 26, followed by another in Nashville on Nov. 8. The final game will take place in Dallas Feb. 28. THE BOTTOM LINE Dallas may have a new coaching staff, but much of the team’s core is still intact. Therefore, the pressure of lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup for the second time in team history will remain. The Hockey News Store The Hockey News Store Online store to purchase subscriptions, single issues, special issues and products from The Hockey News [https://thehockeynews.store/?_gl=1*17geuxi*_ga*MTIwMzQ5NjgyNS4xNzUwNzI0NDQz*_ga_ZET34ZFCGX*czE3NTc2MTgwNTIkbzE3OSRnMSR0MTc1NzYxODQ3NCRqNjAkbDAkaDA.]
