Stars Depth Forwards Must Step Up After Injuries

The Dallas Stars are one of the National Hockey League’s best and brightest squads. From their tenacious scoring led by Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston to their spectacular efforts on the blue line thanks to the trio of Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell, the Stars seem to have it all. Even their goaltending is stout. As such, Dallas is the second-best team in the entire league and would most likely be the Stanley Cup favorite if not for the Colorado Avalanche.

But just because things seem all rosy and wonderful — the Stars have won nine out of their last 10 games, with the lone loss being in a shootout to Colorado — the road ahead is littered with potholes. It’s all because of injuries, the ultimate downside to sports. Some of the Stars’ biggest stars — Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz — are unavailable for the foreseeable future. Rantanen was injured during the Olympics while he was playing for Finland men's national ice hockey team, while Hintz went down in a heap of pain versus the Avalanche on March 6. He couldn’t put any pressure on his left leg and had to be helped off the ice. The prognosis afterward was that he would miss an extended period of time.

The hope for both players is that they’re well enough to compete once the playoffs roll around in mid-April. Every indication has been that that is the expectation for the Finnish forward pair, though with injuries it’s sometimes hard to exactly forecast the recovery timeline. Still, it’s good news that both are probably going to be back and rolling at some point during this season.

Nonetheless, the Stars’ forward depth is going to be tested. Should it not step up and capture the moment, then that could spell disaster for Dallas. Only time will tell.

The Stars Are Prepared for this Moment

Mar 8, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Michael Bunting (58) and Chicago Blackhawks left wing Andre Burakovsky (28) battle for the puck during the game between the Stars and the Blackhawks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

In anticipation of the need for forward depth, general manager Jim Nill and the Stars’ front office acquired former Nashville Predators left wing Michael Bunting before the trade deadline. That deal was made before Hintz’s injury, which just shows how important acquiring more offense was for the Stars. The addition of Bunting should go a long way in alleviating at least some of those pains without Rantanen and Hintz in the lineup, though certainly not all of them.

In the absence of Rantanen and Hintz, the scorers for Dallas are going to need to score. Robertson must continue to rack up goals. Johnston has to do the same, particularly on the power play. Bunting has to pull his weight; Mavrik Bourque, though young, needs to continue to show up and show out on a nightly basis. Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn aren’t exempt from these requirements, either.

Because while the Stars are a spectacular team that’s poised to make a run at a championship, it hasn’t been able to find consistent scoring other than from its top players. This isn’t the most unusual phenomenon in the world, but if the team wants to win its first Stanley Cup since 1999, it’s going to need that depth to show up. With Rantanen and Hintz out of the lineup for the moment, that depth needs to arrive at the party as soon as possible.

What’s Next for the Dallas Stars?

The Stars are coming off one of their hottest stretches in franchise history, winning 10 in a row before falling to the Avalanche on March 6. They’ll look to pick that momentum back up against the Vegas Golden Knights on March 10, the Edmonton Oilers on March 12 and the Detroit Red Wings on March 14.

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