After being in the race for the President's Cup for the majority of the year, the Stars crash and burn in the first round of the playoffs.  Going into the series, Stars GM Junya Kato, knew it was going to be a hard matchup for them.  "I spoke to Preds GM several times and discussed how I honestly thought there was a chance we would lose to them in the playoffs, if we met," Kato said during the final press conference.  "Don't expect too much change next year.  If we are going to make any changes, it will be a splash," Kato stated when asked what will change next year.  

The Dallas Stars will see a hand full of veterans leave next year, but will have a couple players, Zach Werenski and Bryan Rust, coming into fill some of the void.  They still have a few young blue chip prospects, Igor Shestyorkin, Kasperi Kapanen, Marko Dano, and Nikita Scherbak on the cusp of hitting the big leagues that could be dangled for "now" pieces.

With Scheifele, Pastrnak, O'Reilly, and Schwartz forward core coming back strong, the Stars will compete again with their very deep defense.  GM Kato has made it known that Suter and his final year are available for trade.  

Keep an eye on this team because they will be near the top again next year.