The Dallas Stars fell to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night and now have lost in the Western Conference Finals for three straight seasons.
Edmonton once again took control of Game 5 early in the game and is now en route to the Stanley Cup Playoff Finals after the 6-3 victory.
The Stars have now lost in the Western Conference Finals for the third straight season, so what must change for this team to make the jump and finally make it to the finals next season?
The biggest question for the Stars entering this offseason is what needs to change in the personnel, with Dallas likely to make at least one significant change to the lineup entering next season.
Dallas must enter this offseason with an improvement plan along the right side of the defense, as the team heavily relied on defenseman Miro Heiskanen despite nagging injury concerns throughout the postseason.
The difficult part about this upcoming offseason is that Dallas is likely to lose multiple players in free agency, as the team has only $5 million in cap space to spend during this period.
Players such as Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, and Matt Duchene could all exit the team in free agency in hopes of a bigger contract, meaning the Stars must trust some of the younger players to step up next year.
The second biggest piece of this offseason comes with Dallas deciding on how to proceed with Coach Pete DeBoer, who has proven to be one of the best all-around coaches in the league but has failed to take his teams to the finals in recent memory.
DeBoer has managed to make six of the last seven Western Conference finals as the coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, San Jose Sharks, and Stars, but he has failed to make the finals in any of those seasons.
While Dallas should not move on from DeBoer this offseason, the team should be wary of committing to a long-term extension with a coach who cannot seem to make the jump into the best coaches in the league.
A large part of these issues stems from the Stars’ inability to begin a game well. The team conceded the first goal in 15 of its 18 postseason games, including seven straight games to end the season.
These issues in starting a game are largely related to a coach’s game planning and the players’ effort, which were both issues from the beginning of this postseason run.
Dallas will likely commit to DeBoer for next season, but the team should consider waiting on an extension until they are convinced he can win the most important games of the season.
The Stars will now enter a difficult offseason in which the team could undergo major changes. There is no clear indication of which direction the organization’s leadership will take.