Team photo a reminder of how much can change over course of season

DALLAS --The Stars took their team picture Friday at American Airlines Center. It's always a fun day during the season.
Teams wait until after the trade deadline because this is the roster that most fans will remember. Scott Wedgewood is in this picture. Same with Vladislav Namestnikov and Marián Studenič. That's important because it shows -- at least a little bit -- what this team has gone through.

It's a great reminder of how much rosters change from the start of the season to the end, and a bit of statement on what this group is hoping to become.
I've listened a great deal to the concerns of the fans for the past few years, and I've concluded that as much as many fans want to pass judgement after each period or game, the only real way to get a true read on the Stars is when the playoffs are over.
That's frustrating, and some might even say a copout, but I believe it's true. If you're indeed building a team to succeed in the playoffs, then the real grading of that team will take place when the playoffs are over. You look back at the 2018-19 season, and maybe you were disappointed the Stars finished 43-32-7 as a wild card team. But when they knocked off division champ Nashville in the first round and then lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion St. Louis in overtime of Game 7, the regular season didn't seem to matter as much.
Likewise, in 2019-20, when the team slid into the COVID-19 break on a six-game skid, you might've registered all sorts of complaints about player, coaches and management. But when the reconfigured team went into the bubble and beat Calgary, Colorado and Vegas, there was a certain feeling that many these guys knew what they were doing.
Now, they missed the cut last season, and that was concerning. Part of the problem was key injuries to Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov and Ben Bishop. Part of the problem was a schedule that was condensed by a COVID outbreak and a winter storm. Part of the problem was the team simply couldn't find a way to win in overtime. But again, when you say you build your team for the postseason, and then miss the postseason, that's cause for concern.
This year, they're treading a similar path, and the jury will have to make its decisions based on what happens when the playoffs begin. Dallas has positioned itself well by going 24-10-3 in its past 37 games. That's half a season that says they should be ready for the playoffs.
That said, they still have to get in, they have to be able to handle the pressure of the final nine games, and they likely will have a pretty good challenge once the postseason stars. If they're the second wild card, they'll have to play Colorado, which currently has the best record in the league. If they get in as the first wild card, it's off to Calgary to meet the red-hot Flames.
That could've been avoided had they been better during the regular season, and that's one area you can criticize if your idea is to "just get in." That said, Minnesota and St. Louis will likely meet in the first round, and one of those teams will go home with a ton of disappointment after the first round, so it's all relative, right?
Anyway, back to the team picture. The smiling faces show that the Stars have been pretty healthy this year, and that the front office has been able to navigate the hiccups. Yes, the plan was to have Bishop, Anton Khudobin or Braden Holtby in goal for the first playoff game. And none are available. But Jake Oettinger has been able to really take some strides this year at age 23, and Wedgewood has added a very nice safety net just in case.
Namestnikov is currently hurt, so we'll see what that means, but Studenic has added some depth, and rookie Jacob Peterson also has been a great addition to the forward group. Mix in the fact that moving out Jamie Oleksiak for Ryan Suter and Jani Hakanpää has been a fair swap, and the team seems to be in a pretty good spot.
Now, this group still will survive on the strength of Joe Pavelski, Roope Hintz, John Klingberg, Miro Heiskanen, Jamie Benn and Seguin - much in the same way it did back in the bubble, but there are enough tweaks to make this picture a little bit different.
I look back at the 1998-99 team and the 1999-2000 team, and the differences were noticeable. As Dallas tried to repeat, it did so without Craig Ludwig, Pat Verbeek, Dave Reid and Roman Turek. Instead, Brenden Morrow took a bigger role. So did Kirk Muller, Sylvain Cote and Dave Manson. It was the traditional turning of the soil that happens to every NHL team.
You can tell the process just by looking at past team pictures.
This year's squad has already been through a lot. Was it assembled correctly? Was it coached properly? Did the players do all they could? The Stars have put together two really nice playoff runs in the past three seasons. If they make it three in four, then maybe they'll prove that their philosophy is indeed working.
That's sort of how you judge these things around here.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.