As you read this at the end of a long week, enjoying a cold beverage, or maybe your Monday morning coffee, I hope a smile comes to your face when you realize that by this time next week, the NHL will have kicked off, and hopefully the Dallas Stars will be 2-0-0.
Related: Dallas Stars 2025-26 Season Preview: Top-6 Forwards
Today, we inch closer to the end of our season previews with the defense. Last season, the Stars ranked sixth in the NHL with 2.71 goals allowed per game, and fourth on the penalty kill with an 82% success rate.
Deep Defense and Strong Penalty Killing is the Backbone of the Dallas Stars
The Stars have a lot of star power and playmaking ability, from Mikko Rantanen to Jason Robertson, from Wyatt Johnston to Roope Hintz, from Matt Duchene to Tyler Seguin, the list goes on and on. Jake Oettinger also gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so. But the truth is, this D-core has been the backbone of the team for quite some time, and doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.
Miro Heiskanen, the 26-year-old Finn, has been a mainstay on the Stars’ blue line for over half a decade, but he broke out offensively in 2022-23. From 2022-23 to 2023-24, Heiskanen had 20 goals and 127 points in 150 games, including 55 power-play points. While those were his best seasons points-wise, he’s always been a great distributor of the puck, and he’s always had a knack for putting the puck on net. Heiskanen missed 32 games due to injury last season and was not at full strength when he returned in the playoffs. Now that he’s healthy, he’s primed and ready for a big season on the blue line.
I wax poetic about Heiskanen’s offensive capabilities because his defensive play is so crisp and effective that it almost doesn’t have to be mentioned, which is exactly what can be said about his defensive partner, Esa Lindell, who is a steady-Eddie defenseman, and it’s hard to ignore Lindell’s plus/minus stat. He was a plus-34 last season and is plus-138 in 684 games throughout his career.
What really makes Lindell a massive asset to the team, however, is his effectiveness on the penalty kill. The Stars had 572 penalty minutes last season. Lindell was on the ice for 287 of them – the most shorthanded minutes in the NHL by almost 10 minutes.
The positive is that the Stars were one of the best shorthanded teams in the league, and clearly, Lindell played a big part in that. The downside is that as the playoffs went on, Lindell’s legs seemed to get heavy. Was that just the grind of the postseason, or was he overworked? It’s hard to know, but we’ll see how new head coach Glen Gulutzan approaches that this season.
Harley’s Breakout Season and Lundkvist’s Shot at Redemption
Thomas Harley has been hyped for a few years now. If you’re not a Stars fan, he likely broke into your world during the 4 Nations Face-Off when he played for Team Canada. Harley has scored 31 goals and 97 points in 157 games over the last two seasons, including 24 power-play points. In addition, he was a plus-60 across those seasons. I know some consider that rating archaic, but with a plus-minus that high, it can’t be ignored. Not to mention, he scored some clutch goals in the playoffs to boost his stock.
Harley’s big contribution last season was on the power play. From the beginning of the season until Jan. 28, the Stars’ power play ranked 23rd in the league with an 18.8% success rate. Jan. 28 is significant because that was the day Heiskanen, the Stars’ top power-play quarterback, was injured against the Vegas Golden Knights. Heiskanen has been a big part of the power play for many years, but many criticized him last season for passing the puck rather than creating chances with his shot.
When Heiskanen went down, Harley became the go-to player on the power play, and in the remaining 30 games of the season, the Stars’ power play ranked sixth in the NHL at 27.1%. It’ll be interesting to see how power-play time is split between those two as the season progresses.
Then, there’s Nils Lundkvist’s redemption tour. Lundkvist entered the league in 2021-22 with the New York Rangers and a ton of offensive upside. Since joining the Stars in 2022-23, there have been glimpses of that, but mostly, his play has been underwhelming. Ahead of the 2023-24 season, the Pete DeBoer-led coaching staff harped on Lundkvist to improve his defensive game, which was never his strength. By taking his offense away, his overall game suffered, and that continued last season, which was shortened to 39 games due to midseason surgery.
As the seasons went on, it was clear he had lost favor with his former head coach. Now, under a new coaching staff and with a new one-year contract, Lundkvist has one last chance to prove he can add value to the team.
Stars’ Banging Bodies and Attention to Detail
Harley wasn’t the only Dallas D-man to have a breakout season. While point production will probably never be his strength, Lian Bichsel broke onto the scene with a physical and aggressive style that has been lacking on the Stars recently.
Sometimes the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Well, not in this case. In just 38 games last season, due to being bounced back and forth between the American Hockey League and NHL, Bichsel had 155 hits, which led the Stars by a mile. Jamie Benn was next with 114, and Colin Blackwell and Ilya Lyubushkin were tied for third with 84.
Related: Dallas Stars 2025-26 Season Preview: Bottom-6 Forwards
Now, 155 hits in 38 games is an unsustainable pace over a full season. Kiefer Sherwood led the NHL with 462, and Mathieu Olivier was next with 306, which is probably where Bichsel will end up. Regardless, the Stars have relied on goal scoring and defensive play, which has worked wonders during the regular season, but their lack of physicality has failed them in the playoffs three years in a row. Bichsel is just 21 years old and has a long way to go defensively, but his ability to punish the opposition and dominate physically has catapulted him to a full-time NHLer.
Rounding out the defense and the third pair is Lyubushkin. He is another physical presence on the back end, and while he’s not at the level of Bichsel, he’s still very effective. The team knows what they’re getting with him; he’s dependable defensively and doesn’t take too many risks offensively, which is exactly what they want from their third-pairing blueliner. His shortcomings are highlighted when he has to move up the lineup due to injury, so if this unit stays healthy, he’ll be just what the Stars need.
More of the Same For the Stars’ Defense
The biggest difference on the back end for the Stars is the commitment to giving Lundkvist an honest shot at a long-term place on this roster. Other than that, it’s more of the same in Dallas. Lindell and Heiskanen have been anchors on this unit for years, and Harley has quickly made that duo a trio of go-to defensemen.
Bichsel’s performance last season has solidified his position on this team, and Lyubushkin’s veteran consistency has also become something the Stars rely on.
The only other thing to keep an eye on throughout the season and into the playoffs is the usage of Alexander Petrovic, which has been very sparse over the course of his two seasons in Dallas. Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, Petrovic has played just six regular-season games. In the playoffs, however, he has played 24 and has fit in seamlessly. The fact is, there is typically no room for him during the season, but when they need fresh blood in the playoffs, he’s the first one they go to, and he always seems to impress.
Regardless of who is in and who is out, it’s safe to assume that this team will be top five in goals against and penalty killing yet again. However, like the rest of the team, it will all come down to how they perform in the postseason.
