The Dallas Stars have skill — tons of it — one of the best goalies on the planet, and a GM who has been named the best at his job three years running and made The Blockbuster Trade of last season by bringing in Mikko Rantanen and extending his contract.

What they don’t have is a Stanley Cup Final appearance since the 2020 bubble, despite advancing to the third round three years in a row now.

Is it a lack of snarl? The Stars lost Mason Marchment in the summer and seem to have a little less of that now. Is it an issue with coaching? They replaced Peter DeBoer’s strong track record with Glen Gulutzan’s relatively unproven one as a head coach. Do they somehow need more skill? This is a still-developing team with young players whose best days have probably not arrived yet.

The Stars are beco

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