One shift at a time: Stars motivated to put offseason tweaks into action

The prism of NHL expectations might be its most diverse at the start of the regular season.

Fans and media are usually looking down the road and trying to win the Stanley Cup in Week 1.

Management and coaches might be reliving the past and wondering what they should have done to beat Minnesota in the first round last season.

And players…well, they just want to get on the ice and play.

“It’s not rocket science, we’ve just got to go out there and play our first shift,” defenseman Thomas Harley said. “We haven’t even played Game 1, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

The Stars on Friday will start the “real” games by hosting the St. Louis Blues and will quickly follow it up on Saturday with a game at Nashville. If you want to start making things complicated, you can ponder the fact they lost Mavrik Bourque, Ilya Lyubushkin, Alexander Petrovic, Nathan Bastian and Adam Erne in the offseason and will start the year with Matt Duchene on LTIR. Because of salary cap concerns, Colin Blackwell and Arttu Hyry are among players who might have to jump back and forth between the NHL and AHL to start the year. Both were officially called up Thursday and either could slot into the lineup on Friday or Saturday. And, oh yeah, Tyler Seguin will play his first regular season game since an ACL injury knocked him out in early December 2025.

Maybe that’s why the focus is one shift at a time.

The Stars did that last season under a new coaching staff and started the year 21-5-5. It was a great example of how you can manage a chaotic environment with intelligence and focus. Dallas went 14-2-5 in one-goal games during that stretch, and that was one of the numbers that struck head coach Glen Gulutzan.

“We had some results, but we didn’t love our play until after Christmas,” Gulutzan said of his team’s adjustments at midseason that brought a more complete style of play.

The team played in 46 one-goal games on the season (2nd most in the NHL), showing how tight everything is around the league. After a study of analytics over the offseason, Gulutzan decided to push for tweaks that will allow Dallas to have more puck possession and more territory in the offensive zone. If the Stars can execute those changes, they could be even better than the 50-20-12 record that was third best in the league.

“How many games were we clearly better than our opponent? For us, it wasn’t nearly enough,” he said. “So, we’re pushing here – tactically, mentally – and being unsatisfied is a bit of a motivator too.”

When the Stars lost in the first round to Minnesota, there were myriad “reasons” – injuries to Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen, a lack of even strength scoring, and a highly-motivated opponent in the Wild. The key is not allowing them to become excuses.

Gulutzan and the staff have installed a style of play that will ask to get the puck out quicker and try to keep it in the offensive end. It will push for more creativity, but the hope is that won’t cause any more risk. To help institute those changes quickly, Gulutzan is relying on a veteran roster that has been together for a while. Among the “regulars” returning are Hintz, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Jake Oettinger and Harley. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin also bring a veteran presence, although each battled injuries last season.

“Hopefully, with our veteran guys, they find their footing quickly,” Gulutzan said. “They might not find their full stride, but they can minimize those things.”

Dallas went three rounds deep in three consecutive playoffs before last year, so there was a month extra in the summer to rest and train. There was also an extra month to think about the disappointment.

“We didn’t love how it ended last year, so guys came back and looked hungry,” Benn said. “We have something to prove here.”

Gulutzan said they are carrying themselves with “intention.” They have a job to do and they are fully engaged in that job. Now, you can say they always do that or that it’s a long season or that we have no idea how this roster is going to look in six months – and you would be right. So while all of this could be really important, it is just talk right now.

That said, you need to take each day and do your best. The Stars prospects did that and won their tournament in Detroit. The full roster came to camp with a good attitude and went 4-0-0 in preseason play. It is one step at a time, but the steps are a lot easier if you have a good map.

“You lean on each other,” Benn said. “I think we do that well.”