The Edmonton Oilers open up the Western Conference Final tonight against the Dallas Stars. As Oilers fans, we all know what the Oilers side of this series is thinking, but we have no idea what is happening on the Stars side of things. Being part of FanSided gave me the chance to reach out to the Dallas Stars site and see how the other half lives.
I have reached out to Brian Sweet, the site expert for Blackout Dallas, and asked him a couple of questions about this series from the point of view of the Stars. While as an Oilers fan we may not like some of his answers, most importantly the last one!, he makes some excellent points that as Oilers fans we may have been blind to.
1. Both of these teams have a pretty similar core to last year's, but the Stars have added one major difference maker, and that is Mikko Rantanen. How much does having a bonafide star like him change this team?
Having a bonafide star like Mikko Rantanen helps a lot when he has a lot of chemistry with his fellow countrymen on the Stars. A lot of people around Dallas think the Stars would have been in the Stanley Cup Finals last season if they had Rantanen. Having him for another 8 seasons really helps keep the Stanley Cup window open in Dallas for the foreseeable future. I will say the Dallas Stars are having issues keeping his jersey in stock after the game 7 hat trick he scored.
2. Coming into the playoffs, the Stars had a couple of key injuries with Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen being out. They are now back in the lineup. Do you think they are back to 100%, or do you think they are still getting better/healthier as the playoffs go on?
You could tell when Robertson and Heiskanen returned and played their first playoff game that they were shaking off the rust. So far, both of them have improved significantly with each game that they’ve played in the playoffs. While I don’t know if they will be at 100% going up against the Edmonton Oilers, you could tell their teammates fought hard to remain in the playoffs until they were healthy again. That says something about how important both of them are to the Stars competing for the Stanley Cup.
3. How do you think the Stars will handle McDavid and Draisaitl? Which defensive pairings and what forwards will the Stars look to send out against them?
That’s a very tough question because the Stars have four excellent defensemen they could mix and match to go up against McDavid and Draisaitl. I could see either Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley, Alexander Petrovic, or Esa Lindell get sent out there to shut both of them down. The Stars were testing out different line combinations at practice yesterday. I’m sure if both of them are out there on the ice together, at least two of the four defensemen will be out there against them. It’s just tough to tell what combination Pete DeBoer will use against them right now.
4. The Oilers were able to beat the Stars in 6 games last year, both teams are better than they were last year(in my opinion) do you think the Stars got “better” enough to improve on the result of last year?
I think the Stars didn’t have enough to beat the Edmonton Oilers before the Mikael Granlund or Mikko Rantanen trade. After Jim Nill stole those players for nothing on the trade market, I think they have enough talent they can beat the Oilers in 6 games. It just depends if the Stars decide to show up and get revenge on the Oilers from last year. I think the Oilers might have some issues going up against Jake Oettinger who’s auditioning for the Team USA Starting Goaltender at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He’s dead set on being the starting goaltender for Team USA over winning a Stanley Cup.
5. Do you think the winner of this series will win the Stanley Cup? If no, who in the East worries you?
I don’t know if the Western Conference will win the Stanley Cup based on how the Florida Panthers played last night. I remember thinking the Stars were going to sweep the Panthers in the Global Series in Finland at the beginning of the season. I can tell you the Stars were grateful not to play the Panthers again this season after being swept in Finland by them. Based on how they are playing right now, I don’t know if the Stanley Cup will be leaving Florida anytime soon.
6. Outside of the Stars, which team have you been following or watching the most?
I know this might come as somewhat of a shock to your readers, but I’ve been following the inaugural season of the Utah Hockey Club/Mammoth since they are in our division. I wanted to see how Utah would welcome a NHL hockey team after a long history of minor league hockey in the state. After their first season in the league, I think Gary Bettman made a smart move by moving the Arizona Coyotes to Utah and hand the keys to Ryan Smith. He’s going to be a future GM of the Year award winner once he builds a solid team in Utah.
7. A prediction for the series, who do you think wins and in how many games?
I know your readers won’t like my answer, but I have the Stars winning in 6 games over the Edmonton Oilers. Over the course of the season, most of the team that lost to the Oilers last season have been talking about getting payback for last season. That’s the type of motivation that can swing the pendulum in Dallas’ favor heading into this series. Nothing against the Edmonton Oilers and what they have done this season, I just think the Stars are going to ride home-ice advantage all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals with their 6-1 home record. Outside of losing to Colorado at home in the first round, the Stars have been perfect defending home ice.
This should be a very entertaining series, just like it was last year. While all the eyes of the Stars and Oilers fans will be glued on this series, I would also expect every hockey fan to be watching these games. They should be high tempo and exciting to watch, with puck drop only hours away, the time till then will be moving very slowly.