Is the roster built for that? Are they really good enough? The Oilers gambled their 2018-19 version would not resemble 2017-18. The big question is if “demand” will be enough. “They hired Hitchcock,” one executive said, “Because they can’t check. The concerns in Dallas after last season were that the more passive system prevented power play opportunities (they were 20th with 244 attempts), that they dropped from eighth in scoring at all-star to 18th by season’s end, and that they led the NHL in both icings and offsides.
Last year, that dropped to 3722 (19th) and 7292.
Their games had 7686 total, one of the league’s highest numbers. In 2016-17, Dallas had 3850 shot attempts, sixth-most in the NHL. It was fourth-best in the league last year before Ben Bishop’s injury damaged their final month. His return to Dallas came after a season where the Stars had an historically bad penalty kill. The Blue Jackets dropped from 276 to 244 when he joined for most of 2006-07. He coached 62 games in his opening season with Columbus. Dallas went from 260 goals against to 222 in his first full year. Here’s what else we know: team defence gets better almost immediately.
