Stars still confident in potential of shuffled lineup despite winless streak

One of the most interesting challenges facing the Stars this season is the shuffling that will take place with the forward group.

Forced by the tightening of the salary cap and raises secured by existing players, Dallas bid farewell in the summer to Mason Marchment, Mikael Granlund and Evgenii Dadonov. Each had more than 20 goals last season. Then, since training camp, the team lost Jamie Benn (collapsed lung) and Oskar Bäck (lower body) from the rotation. In more recent games, Matt Duchene (upper body) has not been available either.

Those are some significant holes in need of patching.

Returning forwards such as Sam Steel, Colin Blackwell and Mavrik Bourque have been given bigger roles in the past few games, and newcomers like Nathan Bastian, Adam Erne and Justin Hryckowian have also been inserted where needed. But the process has been challenging and the results have been clunky at times.

Still, the Stars must forge forward through a daunting schedule to begin the regular season.

“We think we have the team here that can win with the lineup we have,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said Friday after indicating neither Duchene nor Bäck is probably ready to return Saturday against Carolina. “When you’re missing some firepower out of your lineup, then you need to tighten up defensively. That’s going to help us.”

The Stars did that on Thursday and played a much better game against Los Angeles. However, they didn’t score at even strength and lost 3-2 in overtime to fall to 3-3-1 on the season. While the top stars were great and the power play scored twice, there is the need to find offense out of some shuffled lines.

Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen are playing with Steel. Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston are playing with Bourque. Tyler Seguin has moved to center with Blackwell and Erne. There have been some great moments at times, but as the team waits for the return of Duchene and Bäck (possibly Sunday at Nashville), it has to improvise.

“It’s a big opportunity,” said Seguin, who has had some nice shifts in his new role. “Erne and Blackwell have been working hard and you need different guys to step up. It can’t be the same Mikkos and Johnnys doing it every night, so we’ve got to dig our heels in here.”

Blackwell, 32, has played 305 NHL games, including 63 with the Stars last year. He has been a solid fourth liner and penalty killer, so he knows that this new role is a step up.

“This is year 10 for me and you don’t get this opportunity too much,” he said. “There are a lot of moving pieces right now and you try to take every opportunity and make the most out of it. When guys go down, you have to have the right mentality. I heard Tyler talk about swagger, we need that, and also the next man up mentality of filling in.”

Erne was an unrestricted free agent who came to camp on a tryout after hip surgery, so he is in a great spot.

“I’m just ready for whatever, to be honest,” he said. “Gully knows what I bring to the table and every time I’m on the ice, I’m going to try to bring that.”

Erne is a physical player who hunts pucks and wins battles. That can be a huge help for skill players.

“Ern’s was big for us, helping to tilt the ice,” Blackwell said after a recent game. “It’s just an identity. Last year, we had the identity of forechecking hard and creating energy, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’ve got to find it and stick to that game plan and know your job.”

And while they try to break out of a four-game winless streak with a group who will likely be changed as soon as bodies start getting healthier, the belief is that this group can win right now.

“We’ve got the players,” Gulutzan said. “We’re not worried.”

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