Happy New Year’s to all of our readers at The Hockey Writers! Here’s to a 2026 full of success and good health, and may your resolutions last longer than they did last year.
Speaking of resolutions, now that the season of giving (and receiving) is over, it’s time to make a list of all of the things we want to change and do better as the calendar turns, and the same thing can be said of every franchise in the NHL.
Related: Stars Weekly: Dominant December, Mikko Rantanen, Power Play Success, & PWHL Takeover
For the Dallas Stars, it’s kind of hard to go in-depth about things that need to change, considering that the Stars are 25-7-7 and sit near the top of the league in a plethora of categories.
However, for the Stars, this season is about the Stanley Cup, and nothing less, so the standard is higher coming down the stretch. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few New Year’s resolutions for Dallas heading into 2026.
1. Keep Improving the Penalty Kill
The Stars currently own the seventh-best PK unit in the NHL at 82.9%. Now, these rankings can be a little misleading, since we’re literally talking about percentage points here. They are 0.1% ahead of the Florida Panthers and 0.1% behind the Philadelphia Flyers. But the rankings are what they are, and it’s important nonetheless.
It might seem like a reach to say that the PK needs to improve, considering they are in the top 10. However, this recent success is not indicative of the way it’s been going all season. At the end of October, the Stars were 25th in the league at 71.4%. At the end of November, while trending up, they were still 21st in the NHL at 79.3%. When you look at the season as a whole, it is really impressive to see the steady improvement month to month.
When talking about a team like the Stars, it might seem unnecessary to pick on something like the PK. They have been one of the frontrunners in this league since day one, and the PK was one of the few issues to harp on. However, this unit has been in the top five in two of the last three seasons, and in the one season they weren’t, they were in the top 10. They have been so consistent in this part of their game that it’s natural for eyebrows to be raised when it slips below what is expected.
The Stars have a 30.6% success rate on the power play, which is second in the NHL, and it has been at the top of the league all season long. Obviously, having a successful PP is a massive advantage. But when your PK is struggling, it almost becomes a wash. Now that the PK is becoming the elite unit we’ve come to expect, the special teams as a whole are becoming a strength that will pay dividends as the season goes on.
2. Shoot the Puck!
The Stars are currently 29th in the NHL in shots per game, with 25.2. Again, if that average ticks up by one shot, they are 25th, and if it drops down one, they are dead last, so the margins are quite thin. However, for a team with the likes of Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Matt Duchene, and for a team that has a lethal power play, it’s hard to imagine how the Stars rank near the bottom of the league in this category.
So far, this has not been a problem. The Stars are second in the NHL in goals scored with 136, and, according to MoneyPuck, they lead the NHL in shooting percentage with 11.9%. That is almost 1% better than the next group of teams behind them.
Whatever they are doing is working so far; however, for a team that is scoring so much on so few shots, it stands to reason that their production could be even better if they just shoot the puck more. Easy enough, right?
The other side of this is that the Stars are getting outshot a lot. Out of 25 wins this season, only 10 of them have come on a night in which they have outshot their opponent. That says a lot about their goaltending, amongst other things, but it is also a stat that doesn’t feel sustainable.
3. Win the Stanley Cup
Alright, I know this one is on the resolutions list for every team in the NHL, and a realistic resolution for a good chunk of them. For the Stars, however, this has been a slow build for half a decade.
The Stars lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final in the COVID bubble and have lost three straight Western Conference Finals. They traded for Rantanen, fired coach Pete DeBoer, hired Glen Gulutzan, and have been building a strong, young roster for the last few years.
Related: Mikko Rantanen’s Case to Be Finland’s Captain at 2026 Olympics
Year after year, it feels like the Stars have been getting closer, but each year they lose, it can also feel farther away.
I’ve been trying to hit the gym every Jan. 1 for the last 10 years. This year, it will be different. When it comes to the Stanley Cup, the Stars hope that 2026 will be different, too.
And yes, the Stars and I are a perfect comparison.
