Many Dallas Stars players played well in January, catapulting the team into second place in the Western Conference at the Four Nations Face-Off break. Now, the team enters the final 25 games of the season with plenty on the line. Several other Dallas Stars players have been streaky throughout the season. Still, there are more who could push Dallas to the next level with additional contributions.
Here are three Stars players who need to be better down the regular season’s final stretch for the team to reach its full potential.
Stars Players Who Need to Be Better Down the Stretch
Forward Logan Stankoven
The rookie forward has been good all season. He has also been one of the most consistent Stars players on the ice each night. However, one aspect in particular lands him on this list: his lack of scoring goals.
Stankoven has been known as an elite goal-scorer and even displayed the skill during his stints with the NHL team last season. He appeared in 24 regular season games and amassed 14 points, then added eight points during an impressive 19-game playoff run.
Continuing to play with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston as well as a couple of other familiar faces was supposed to help him settle into a scoring role that would add a potent punch to the bottom-six. Yet, the 21-year-old has not been lighting the lamp as expected. He has 25 points this season but only seven have come in 2025. That led to the first healthy scratch of his career, but Dallas needs him in the lineup.
The Stars tend to do well when he plays well. Twenty-one of his points have come in Dallas wins, including all seven goals. He has just four points in Stars’ losses.
Dallas has enough firepower on offense to be a very good team already, but adding Stankoven’s contributions at the rate that was expected before the season would make the lineup even deeper and more difficult to compete with.
Defenceman Matt Dumba
Dumba had some great years with the Minnesota Wild, but his play has diminished over recent seasons. After a 50-point campaign in 2017-18, he has struggled to reach the 25-point mark and had just 26 total points in his last two seasons before joining the Stars.
He was not necessarily expected to be a savior or a top-pair defenceman when Dallas signed him in the off-season, but he was expected to contribute more to the team than he has, especially on the ice.
Injuries may have derailed his progress, but only collecting four points without a single goal this far into the season is plenty of cause for concern. It could cost him playing time if it hasn’t already. There are other Stars players that have been playing better when healthy, so Dumba will need to rediscover his game quickly if he wants to stay in the lineup.
Defenceman Brendan Smith
Smith was another key free agent signing along the blue line for Dallas back in July. The veteran brought an affordable two-way player who could (and has) fill in at forward.
Smith has been an excellent locker-room guy and played well defensively for the most part. However, he’s been in and out of the lineup. Through just 24 games, he has the same numbers as Dumba on offence. That’s not necessarily a deal-breaker. Smith skates well, but he has never been a huge point producer during his career. The defencemen has totaled double-digits in points six time during his 14-year career, never surpassing the 20-point mark.
Still, his career numbers show he has been productive enough in the pas to be a third-pair defenceman when given the chance. With all the injuries piling up, the opportunities should come. Now is Smith’s chance to prove he can still be a productive Dallas Stars player before the season ends.
Main Photo: Jerome Miron- Imagn Images
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