Embracing the unexpected a key theme in this crazy, fun 2024-25 Stars season

One of the great things about covering a pro sports team is you get to see just how uniquely every season unfolds.

It’s not just that the rosters change, but that individuals are at different places in their respective careers, coaches are implementing what they have learned from the past and trying new things, and every night can flip the script at a moment’s notice. Molecules are colliding all of the time.

The Stars are a great example of that this year. As much as you may have thought the third season under Pete DeBoer and Co. would just be another step forward, the pieces are very different. Radek Faksa played nine seasons in Dallas and was a significant part of the leadership infrastructure. Scott Wedgewood was only here for three years, but was a huge dressing room presence as backup goalie and everybody’s practice buddy. Ty Dellandrea was Jake Oettinger’s best friend. Jani Hakanpää and Chris Tanev were huge pieces of the back end.

And, obviously, Joe Pavelski was part coach, part captain, part superstar and part landlord – and his retirement changed the team dynamic in so many different ways.

And that makes this campaign very different. Not only did Jim Nill bring in some new faces including Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, Casey DeSmith, Colin Blackwell and Brendan Smith, the organization promoted Mavrik Bourque, Oskar Bäck, and Lian Bichsel from the minors while also taking a look at several other prospects. That’s a pretty darn big shakeup of personnel and personalities. So, there are going to be some adjustments.

Maybe the most significant move was Pavelski’s retirement. It meant that a top line that had been like clockwork for three seasons had to change, and that affected both Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. It meant that Wyatt Johnston had to live on his own for the first time in his NHL career, and that had to be challenging.

When the team struggled to score early, you could see that Hintz, Robertson and Johnston all were affected. Robertson also had foot surgery in the offseason and Johnston missed time in training camp with various ailments – and that didn’t help.

But what’s interesting about the most recent surge is the fact that those three are leading the way. Hintz has received a boost from both going to Finland with the Stars for the Global Series and anticipating playing for his home country in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. Mix that with the fact that losing Pavelski has seemingly created a need for more leadership from the 28-year-old, and it’s been an important year for Hintz. As a result, he currently leads the team with 22 goals. Johnston, meanwhile, seems to be using the lessons that Pavelski taught during car rides and family dinners to establish his own good habits this year.

“He’s the gift that keeps giving,” DeBoer said of Pavelski.

And that’s part of the liquid nature of this stuff. Smart people get smarter because they know how to use the information they’re given. That knowledge grows exponentially because you get new experiences and new lessons every day.

When Tyler Seguin needed hip surgery back in December, the wheels were set in motion for the Stars to add to this group. Seguin has a salary cap hit of $9.85 million, and the league allows teams to use that space for a potential replacement player if the injured player is out for the remainder of the regular season. Seguin will not play before the playoffs, and after Miro Heiskanen suffered a knee injury last week, the time to use all of that cap space arrived rather quickly.

The obvious need for the team in recent weeks has been adding another right-handed defenseman. That need became accelerated when Heiskanen (who is a lefty but plays the right side) was listed as “week-to-week” with a knee injury. It was made paramount when Nils Lundkvist (a righty) had shoulder surgery that shut him down for the season.

So, Nill whipped together a deal that brings in right-handed defenseman Cody Ceci, as well as a suitable replacement for Seguin in forward Mikael Granlund. The two played Sunday, looked great, and helped Dallas claim a 5-3 win over Columbus.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Ceci and Granlund are not unlike Evgenii Dadonov and Max Domi in 2023 or even Tanev last season. They are the right players at the right time. It’s something that Nill is becoming known for. So bringing in two key additions long before the trade deadline makes sense. It gives everyone the chance to adjust and get ready for the playoffs – and the Stars have big postseason plans. They advanced to the Western Conference Final in each of the past two seasons, and they want more this year. That’s a reasonable request when you acknowledge that players like Johnston, Thomas Harley, Logan Stankoven and Bourque are only getting better as the season rolls along.

Rookie defenseman Bichsel has had his own interesting journey this year, coming over from Europe, playing in the AHL and now finding a way to fit into the NHL at age 20. Just one more chapter in the 2024-25 Book of Stars.

We have 30 more games to go in the regular season, and then the real story begins.

When will Heiskanen be ready to go? Will Seguin be in a place where he can help in the playoffs? How will the 4 Nations Face-Off affect players like Hintz, Esa Lindell and Oettinger? Can Mason Marchment jump right back in at his point-a-game pace he showed at the start of the year? How will his return affect the forward lines? Will all of this adversity harden the Stars and make them a better playoff team?

You look at the potential postseason run, and it’s got a Squid Game vibe to it. Vegas went out in the First Round last year. Same with LA. The League’s top teams never seem any safer than those clawing to get in as a wild card. Could the Stars’ best laid plans fall flat? If they did, all of Victory Green Nation would be in a Cowboys-like panic.

It could happen. That's the beauty – and the reality – of sports.

But as we swerve down this road once again and start overthinking everything, you have to sit back and appreciate the drama. For a society that craves new streaming options every weekend, this is a pretty intriguing show you get to watch.

Enjoy it, because we really have no idea where this season is heading. That seems clear with every new notification and update.

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.