The Dallas Stars have major soul-searching to do after their NHL Playoff exit

ST PAUL, MINNESOTA - APRIL 30: Jamie Benn #14 of the Dallas Stars and Marcus Foligno #17 of the Minnesota Wild meet after Game Six of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Grand Casino Arena on April 30, 2026 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) | Getty Images To call the 2025-26 Dallas Stars season a disappointment would be one of the biggest understatements in hockey after their crushing opening round loss to the Wild on Thursday night. It’s left the team needing to make critical decisions this offseason which will decide whether or not Dallas can remain a contender, or takes a significant step backwards in the future.

So, what exactly went wrong with the Stars this season? Everything on paper pointed to this being a Stanley Cup caliber team, likely to compete with the Colorado Avalanche for the best in the West — and during the regular season they did for the most part, but as the playoffs commenced we saw the holes in the lineup open up, holes which aren’t easy to patch. Bad chemistry The trade for Mikko Rantanen made all the sense in the world last year, with the high-scoring Finn appearing to be the superstar forward they needed.

Adding Rantanen to one of the highest-scoring teams in hockey should have been a boon — but the deal hasn’t really worked out. The problem hasn’t been Rantanen (though he’s understandably the scapegoat), and more how Rantanen is playing inside the Stars system. The issue is that he’s no longer the elite goal scorer he was in Colorado without Nathan McKinnon’s puck distribution in the middle, which has forced him into being a passer from the wing.

Rantanen doesn’t have a place on the top line with Wyatt Johnson being a puck-dominant center, and Jason Robertson being the go-to finisher. Throwing him on the second line hasn’t worked either, with Matt Duchene being hurt, and regressing in significant ways this past season. This is even more problematic in looking at what the Stars gave up in the Rantanen deal.