Western Conference Playoff Preview and Prediction: Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights

The top team in the Western Conference against the second Wild Card team should be a no-contest, right?

Wrong, as the reigning Stanley Cup champions finished eighth in the West. Not only that, but they have reinforcements on the way, as Mark Stone is ready to suit up in Game 1 for the Vegas Golden Knights’ first-round series against the Dallas Stars.  

This will be an interesting series. Let’s compare the two teams’ forwards, defence, goaltending, and playoff experience to see who has the edge.

Forwards

The Dallas Stars team is made up of veterans who’ve been there and done that, young players currently in their prime, and even younger players who are early in their careers. This is reflected in their top three scorers.

Jason Robertson was selected in that great 2017 class, and he has 29 goals and 80 points, leading the Stars in 2023-24. Joe Pavelski is one of those veterans, and he had 27 goals and 67 points as a 39-year-old. Wyatt Johnston was selected in the 2021 draft (one pick after Xavier Bourgault), and he had a team-leading 32 goals and 65 points.

Of course, there are players who don’t quite fit into one of three categories but still had great seasons. Roope Hintz was selected in 2014 and had 30 goals and 65 points. Matt Duchene, a free agent signing, had 25 goals and 65 points as well.

Other important forwards in the lineup include Jamie Benn (21 goals, 60 points), Mason Marchment (22 goals, 53 points), Tyler Seguin (25 goals, 52 points), Sam Steel (nine goals, 24 points), Evgeny Dadonov (12 goals, 23 points in 51 games), Craig Smith (11 goals, 20 points), and Radek Faska (seven goals, 19 points).

The Stars also called up Logan Stankoven, who was selected in the same draft as Johnston and had six goals and 14 points in 24 games this season.

Vegas is led by Jonathan Marchessault, who scored 42 goals and 69 points this season. Jack Eichel had 31 goals and 68 points, while Willam Karlsson had 30 goals and 60 points. Eichel missed nearly 20 games, while Karlsson missed 12 games.

Captain Mark Stone also missed games as well, ending up on the LTIR for the third consecutive season right before the trade deadline. He had 16 goals and 53 points and could be in the lineup for Game 1. This also freed up a whole lot of cap for the Knights, and they acquired Tomáš Hertl and Anthony Mantha.

The former had two goals and four points in six games (17 goals, 38 points in 54 games this season), while Mantha scored three goals and 10 points as a Knight, and 23 goals and 44 points in 74 games.

Depth scoring include Chandler Stephenson (16 goals, 53 points), Ivan Barbashev (19 goals, 45 points), Nicolas Roy (13 goals, 41 points), Mike Amadio (14 goals, 27 points), Paul Cotter (seven goals, 25 points), Pavel Dorofeyev (13 goals, 24 points), Brett Howden (eight goals, 19 points),  Keegan Klesar (eight goals, 18 points), and William Carrier, who scored six goals and eight points in 39 games this season.

Both teams can roll four lines and it’s pretty evenly matched. If I had to pick a better forward core, Dallas would get the slight edge.

Defence

The Stars only made one move at the trade deadline, trading a prospect, a 2024 second-rounder, and a conditional third-round pick in exchange for Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames. It won’t be the only time the Flames traded a defenceman to either of these two teams.

Tanev joined an already strong defence core, as Miro Heiskanen had nine goals and 54 points this season. On his left side was Thomas Harley, who scored 15 goals and 47 points and is progressing to become a very good defender. The second pairing consists of Tanev on the right side (two goals, 19 points) and Esa Lindell (five goals, 26 points) on the left side.

One of those veterans I mentioned in the forward section is on the third pairing, which consists of Ryan Suter (two goals, 17 points) and Nils Lundkvist (two goals, 19 points).

The Golden Knights also traded with the Calgary Flames to land the other half of their then-second pairing, acquiring Noah Hanifin. The left-shot defenceman had 13 goals and 47 points this season, falling one point shy of matching his career-high. Alex “Axe-man” Pietrangelo is his defence partner, and he had four goals and 33 points in 64 games this past season.

Vegas’ second pairing consists of Brayden McNabb (four goals, 26 points) on the left side, and Shea Theodore (five goals, 42 points in 47 games) on his right side. Their third-pairing has Nicolas Hague (two goals, 12 points) and Zach Whitecloud (two goals, 14 points). In terms of their seventh defender, experienced veteran Alec Martinez (four goals, 17 points) could be used if a defenceman goes down.