The Stars prepare for a divisional clash today as the Minnesota Wild come to Dallas. This is a must win for the Stars, because the Wild currently sit a point ahead of the Stars for third place in the division. And let us not forget that the Avalanche are right on their tail. This puts even more pressure on the Stars, but it’ll be the perfect test. The Wild have shaken off a mid season slump and have won five out of their last six contests. They’ll certainly look to continue that performance tonight.

The Stars also received some bad news in that Jason Dickinson will be out for the games slated this weekend. While Tyler Pitlick, on the other hand, is expected to miss about two weeks. This is usually a bad situation, but the Stars have a couple of younger players looking to fill those roles. Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov should now get their opportunity to string together a couple of games in the NHL. Fans got to see them together against the Sabres and were witnesses to their incredible speed.

The Stars need that speed to gather offense wherever they can get it. Yeah the Stars top line should be producing more, but the depth scoring should be helping out. Outside of the top three, the most goals on this team belongs to Miro Heiskanen with nine. The Stars have only seven players with 20 or more points. Benn, Seguin, Radulov, and Spezza are the only forwards above that mark. However, Spezza hasn’t put up a point in 11 games. The other three players are Klingberg, Lindell and Heiskanen. All defenceman. The next closest player is Faksa at 17. This is ridiculous considering that there are teams like Calgary that have five players above 50 points. Sadly the Stars don’t even have one player above 45.

The only reason that the Stars are in a playoff position is because of their defense and goal tending. Ben Bishop is having a Vezina candidate season. He is currently second in both GAA (2.29) and Save Percentage (0.924). Also, he is tied for second in shutouts with three. Anton Khudobin is fourth in GAA (2.46) and tied for third in Save Percentage (0.923). The Stars also boasts the number two defense in the league and have an elite goal tending duo. The only team better in both right now are the New York Islanders.

It also seems that every team in the Dallas area has made a big trade this year for better players. The Cowboys got Amari Cooper and the Mavs got Kristaps Porzingis. Now it’s time for the Stars to make a bigger splash. However, the Stars would have to either give up a first round pick, or trade someone like Robertson, Dellandrea, or Gurianov. It would be an interesting scenario, but overall it would be worth it to give up a pick than the player. If the Stars acquire a secondary scorer than there chance of a deep playoff run increases, thereby pushing back the draft pick and making the trade more favorable for the Stars.