Performance evaluation: Lyubushkin’s first season in Dallas turned into a pleasant surprise for both player and team. For the defenseman, it was a rare dose of stability in an otherwise chaotic first six NHL seasons. He played in 80 of 82 regular season games (a new career-high) and was able to spend them all in Victory Green after playing for four different teams (Arizona, Toronto, Buffalo and Anaheim) in the previous three seasons. Meanwhile, the Stars got a reliable right-handed defender that could play important minutes on the second and third pairings. While one of the top moments of Lyubushkin’s year was snapping a goal drought that lasted nearly two years (720 days, to be exact) with a tally on March 4 against New Jersey, he provided plenty of other positives on the Dallas blue line. Lyubushkin averaged 17:23 time on ice per game, including 2:23 shorthanded which put him second on the team behind only Esa Lindell. He finished plus-5 in the regular season and posted 136 blocks (2nd on team) and 84 hits (3rd on team). The 31-year-old spent a large chunk of the season skating alongside Thomas Harley, and the two formed a balanced pairing. He also spent time next to Lindell, and the duo created a shutdown option for the Stars. Lyubushkin played in all seven games of the First Round against Colorado, surpassing 21 minutes of ice time in each of the first three games. He also played in all six games of the Second Round and Game 1 of the Western Conference Final before serving as a healthy scratch in the final four games of the Stars’ playoff run.
