Health Could Be the Stars’ Toughest Opponent in 2026-27

Across the NHL, it seems like the up-and-coming teams have caught up to the old guard. In the Atlantic Division, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers missed the playoffs in 2025-26 while the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens asserted themselves as Stanley Cup contenders. In the Metro, the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils continued to go backwards, as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers found themselves playing in late April.

In the West, while a few deck chairs were rearranged, the playoff picture ended up fairly status quo. The Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues found themselves on the outside, and the Anaheim Ducks and Utah Mammoth took their places, but other than that, the big boys of the conference remained the same, and heading into this season, it’s hard to envision that changing. Sure, every season has its surprises, but can you see a world in which the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, and Vegas Golden Knights aren’t leading a top-heavy Western Conference? I can’t.

And that brings me to the Stars. It seems like, at least to me, that their first-round loss to the Minnesota Wild, coupled with the drama surrounding Jason Robertson, has cast unwarranted doubt over the franchise ahead of the 2026-27 campaign. This team has been the class of the West and the Central for the last four seasons, and I assure you, there is no reason why that will change any time soon. Except for health, which plagued Dallas for the entirety of last season.

Let’s get into it.

2025-26’s Health In Review

The Stars finished second in the division and the conference, and third in the NHL with 112 points, and when it comes to the rest of the conference, it wasn’t close, with the Wild finishing behind them with 104. They were ninth in the league in goals scored, second in goals against, second on the power play, and 13th on the penalty kill.

Throughout the season, the Stars had seven winning streaks of four or more games, and two of them were during a 16-game point streak from Jan. 22 to March 14.

By the time the playoffs rolled around, health was a big topic of conversation, and rightfully so. Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Mavrik Borque, and Esa Lindell were the only skaters to play all 82 games, and there were only 10 who played 70 or more. In fact, the Stars never had a fully healthy roster. Jamie Benn and Oskar Back started the season on the injured reserve, and that bad luck never straightened out.

Dealing with all of that and entering the first round with a 50-20-12 record was actually incredibly impressive when you lay it out like that. In that opening round, the Wild were faster and healthier, and the Stars weren’t able to keep up. Now that they are healthy and relatively the same team, it seems logical to assume this team is going to be a force to be reckoned with yet again.

Forward Group Cannot Afford Another Injury-Filled Season

This forward group still has studs all over the place, and of course, Robertson’s return is huge on many levels. Yet, there are still some holes that do raise concern.

Robertson and Johnston combined for 90 goals and 182 points last season. Mikko Rantanen had 22 goals and 77 points in just 64 games, and Roope Hintz had 15 goals and 44 points in just 53 games. Matt Duchene had 16 goals and 45 points in 57 games, and Tyler Seguin had seven goals and 17 points in 27 games.

That right there is where the majority of the offense is coming from in Dallas. The good thing about that is Robertson and Johnston are getting better every season, and Rantanen is as steady and consistent as they come. Trusting Hintz, Duchene, and Seguin to stay on the ice is the hard part.

Duchene did play 80 and 82 games in 2023-24 and 2024-25, but he turns 36 in January, and that was a serious injury he went through last season. Hintz missed only six games in 2024-25, but he always seems to have something nagging him as it gets later and later into the season. Then, there’s Seguin, who has played 115 games in the last three seasons combined. While his ceiling is still quite high, his floor is him not being available at all.

The rest of this offense is serviceable and dependable. Guys like Sam Steel, Justin Hryckowian, Back, Radek Faska, and Colin Blackwell do what they do and do it well. But they’re third- and fourth-line guys. Yes, Hryckowian could move into the top six at some point, but to rely on that is risky, at best.

The Stars need all of their guys to be healthy and productive. There’s just not enough wiggle room to lose a key piece for weeks on end, especially with Bourque being traded earlier in the summer.

The “Big 3” D-Men Should Be Just Fine

Pound for pound, the Stars probably have one of the best defensive units in the NHL, especially with the emergence of Lian Bichsel and Nils Lundkvist. Of course, however, it starts with Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen, and Thomas Harley.

If the term “out of sight, out of mind” had a mascot, it would be Lindell. He’s one of those players where, if you don’t notice him, he’s doing his job. The 32-year-old Finn plays 82 games, or close to it, seemingly every season, and consistently leads the NHL in penalty-killing minutes. His point production is never flashy, but he’s as reliable defensively as you’ll find. I know plus/minus is looked at sideways nowadays, but when you’re a plus-168 in 766 career games, you’re doing something right. In his 11 seasons, he has only had one minus season, and that was in 2015-16 when he was a minus-3 and played only four games.

Heiskanen and Harley are the offensive leaders on the blue line for the Stars. After netting only 25 points in 50 games in 2024-25, Heiskanen bounced back with a relatively healthy 2025-26, with nine goals and 63 points in 77 games. Harley’s last two seasons, however, have been the exact opposite. Two years ago, the 24-year-old Olympian had 16 goals and 50 points in 78 games. Last season, he had just six goals and 30 points in 70 games. Beyond the lack of offense, he just didn’t play well, and the Stars need him to be both healthy and productive in 2026-27.

When it comes to Lindell and Heiskanen, we pretty well know what we’re going to get, and I feel good assuming Harley is going to come back healthy and play at the level we all expect from him.

Bichsel and Lundkvist Are the X-Factors On the Blue Line

To me, the real X-factors for this D-core are Bichsel and Lundkvist.

Bichsel’s size and physical presence have been something that the Stars have desperately needed for a while, and he has it in spades. Last season, however, the injury bug hit him as well, allowing him to play in just 50 games. Post-injury, he never really got into any sort of a rhythm.

After struggling for playing time with former head coach Pete DeBoer, Lundkvist was finally given a longer leash under current head coach Glen Gulutzan, and a new contract. When he played, he took a massive step forward, especially defensively, which is what they need. He’s always had a ton of offensive upside, but with Heiskanen and Harley, solid defensive play from Lundkvist is a need, and his production is a bonus. Again, staying healthy was an issue, as he played in just 52 games.

Ilya Lyubushkin was traded in the Bourque deal, and Alex Petrovic left in free agency, which means that this blue line is much thinner than in years past. Kyle Capobianco, who is a capable player in his own right, is currently the seventh defenseman. Beyond that, the cupboards are pretty bare. Tyler Myers coming back for a full season after being acquired at the trade deadline is promising, but Bichsel and Lundkvist need to stay healthy to avoid putting pressure on the other two guys.

Health Could Be the Stars’ Biggest Hurdle

We haven’t mentioned goaltending yet, and that’s because when it comes to health, we don’t really need to. Jake Oettinger and Casey DeSmith were the only two goalies to tend the crease last season, as well as the season before. If you want to be pessimistic, maybe that luck runs out. But to me, it’s fair to expect more of the same.

As for the rest of the roster, the health of the 2026-27 Stars could be the biggest hurdle between them and another dominant season. The Stars, Avalanche, Wild, Golden Knights, and Oilers still appear to be at the top of the West, and to me, the Stars have just as good a chance as any of those teams to get past the conference final.

It really all comes down to health. I know this seems obvious and simplistic, but Dallas cannot afford major injuries this season. They already could use another forward in their top six, maybe even two. So losing a big horse for a significant amount of time is just not an option. In addition, they don’t have the resources to go out and get an adequate replacement if that were to happen.

The Stars are a really good team and a legitimate Cup contender. Let’s raise a glass to good health, though, because the margins are really, really thin.