A power play plan: Stars excited for potential on man advantage this season

Statistically speaking, the Stars power play has a chance to be significantly better this season.

Head coach Glen Gulutzan comes in after running an Edmonton Oilers power play that had the highest success rate in the league over the past five seasons at 27.4 percent. What’s more, forward Mikko Rantanen ranks fifth among NHL players in power play points over that same span, tallying 162 points in 345 games.

Adding all of that to a group that already ranked sixth in the man advantage over the past five seasons at 23.4 percent seems like a really good thing.

“We definitely have the talent here,” said Gulutzan. “Now, we have to go do it on the ice.”

One of the fresh wrinkles for the new head coach is the fact that he has enough depth to run two balanced units on the power play – something he said he really didn’t get the chance to do in previous stops in Edmonton and Vancouver.

“With this roster, this is as close as I’ve come to seeing a 1A and 1B unit,” Gulutzan said. “That’s good. That little push is always helpful.”

The Stars have had deep skill for a while. Last season, they had eight players who finished with 20 goals or more. And while they lost Mason Marchment, Mikael Granlund and Evgenii Dadonov (all three of which played on the power play) over the summer, the mindset still is the same. Rantanen steps in to become a bigger force, while young players like Mavrik Bourque and Wyatt Johnston could see their own numbers increase.

That has allowed the team to have internal competition as the first PP unit might want to outdo the second PP unit in practice, or even in a game.

“Anyone that’s been on the bench and thinks that teammates don’t compete, they’re wrong,” Gulutzan said with a smile. “They watch what the other guy is doing and they push because of it. With us, it’s nice to have this many good players and they push each other internally.”

Veteran Matt Duchene said the inner mind of an athlete almost requires that competition – and the Stars are very good at it.

“I think internal competition is so healthy and so right for a hockey team,” Duchene said. “It can be fun. You can have little unspoken scoring competitions in practice and it’s great. Someone else’s success should push you. If someone else is the bar, you want to be at that bar.”

In the past, players like Jason Robertson and Rantanen have pushed from the first unit, while players such as Duchene and Tyler Seguin have driven the second unit. But because they move around, the competition is frantic and friendly.

“It’s five, six, seven guys who can be pushing each other,” Duchene said. “It’s so important for a hockey team and we’re really lucky to have that here. It’s a great atmosphere to be a part of.”

With Jamie Benn scheduled to miss about a month after surgery to repair a collapsed lung, the units are shuffling. In addition, the change to Gulutzan and the promotion of Neil Graham to assistant coach to lead the power play also creates opportunities. Gulutzan has been both a head coach (Dallas, Calgary) and assistant coach (Vancouver, Edmonton) and said he likes to let his assistants take charge of their units. That said, he and Graham will be a brain-trust that works together.

“It’s a great opportunity to collaborate and let those things happen organically,” Graham said of finding the right chemistry, both among coaches and players. “It’s your chance as a unit to make an impact on the game, and there’s only a couple so you want to make them count.”

Gulutzan ran a unit in Edmonton with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, two of the league’s best on the man advantage. Graham will get to work with Rantanen, Robertson, Duchene, Roope Hintz, Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen.

“It’s a challenge,” Gulutzan said. “You deal with the superstar players and some of the idiosyncrasies that they have, so you learn that. Grammer is very intelligent and he digs in. He has a great hockey mind, so it’s not going to be much of an adjustment. The players instinctually know what to do, and he has an eye for refining that.”

Gulutzan said that’s a key to power play success. Yes, you want to give the players a plan, but you also want to allow them to use their skill. The power play is the place where the best players have the most time and space, so they should be allowed to stretch their legs.

“You want road hockey with structure,” Gulutzan said. “You want top players like we have to play some road hockey, so you give them space. Basically, you’re trying to create looks, and then let them make the plays.”

That could be great for this unit. The Stars have two power play quarterbacks in Harley and Heiskanen who can man either unit. They have players who can move from unit to unit to give a little boost as the season goes on. Gulutzan said Rantanen might even take advantage to play on both units in the same two minutes if he’s feeling good.

Bottom line, the coach would like to be unpredictable.

“You want to establish a foundation first, but you also want to always be working on a little side project,” the new coach said. “Eighty percent of the time, there’s going to be consistency, but you do want to take advantage of the 20 percent when you can.”

Because, on paper, there is a wonderful opportunity this year.

“It should be fun,” said Robertson.

For a lot of reasons.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.