Stars Preview: Ron Tugnutt Autographed Card

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This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: Unlike in the distant past where I would post different texts on this collectibles blog and my personal one, I've been using a new format for the past couple of years, where I'll copy the same text on each one. As a father of two young kids, I just do not have enough time to write two separate posts per day on each blog. This year again, the entire scope of the analysis will take place first and the featured player will have a direct or perhaps indirect connection to what's written, below.

Caveats: At this point, despite training camp being set to start in a few days, several players haven't found a team yet, (at least) three star players have active trade requests, and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much left to do.

Key Exits: Mavrik Bourque (C), Michael Bunting (LW), Ilya Lyubushkin (D), Adam Erne (LW), Nathan Bastian (RW), Alexander Petrovic (D), Vladislav Kolyachonok (D)

Key Arrivals: Joel Kiviranta (LW)

Top prospects: Emil Hemming (RW, 20), Cameron Schmidt (RW, 19), Jakub Vanecek (D, 18), Rémi Poirier (G, 24), Tristan Bertucci (D, 21), Ayrton Martino (LW, 23), Aram Minnetian (D, 21)

The Dallas Stars were in a cap crunch, which is why it took them until very close to his arbitration hearing to sign restricted free agent Jason Robertson, but the $12M cap hit meant other players had to leave; Bourque's departure might end up hurting the team's depth some day, but at his age, Robertson had already had a 100-point season under his belt, so the choice wasn't exactly all that hard to make.

What makes their odds look good:
High-end talent through the entire top-six, Jake Oettinger who can play at a Vezina level for extended periods of time in net, Miro Heiskanen who can play at a Norris-level on D (and Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell by his side), and a top-five GM in Jim Nill.

Question marks:
How many games do the team's former top players Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin play this year? Which Oettinger shows up more often: the Vezina-level goalie who gers called upon by Team USA, or the one with a below-league average save percentage?

Outlook:
On paper, this is one of the league's five best teams in terms of depth of high-end talent and overall depth - in the same conversation as the Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers. It's possible they regress, run into some bad luck or injury trouble, but in most analyses and simulations, they end up second not just in their own division but in the entire Western Conference.

Prediction:
2nd in the Central Division.

I've written about Ron Tugnutt many times before, as he's been a big part of my fandom during my youth and teenage years, up there with Patrick Roy, Sean Burke and Ron Hextall. He is the only goalie in NHL history with two 70-save games on his resume (one in the regular season, in a 3-3 tie between the Québec Nordiques and Boston Bruins, and one in the payoffs, with his Pittsburgh Penguins losing 2-1 against the Philadelphia Flyers in a five-overtime marathon).

Here he is wearing the Stars' white (then-home) uniform, on card #300 from Upper Deck's 2002-03 Series 2 set, which he signed in gold sharpie and looks amazing:

He finished his career in Dallas, and while his goals-against averages were decent (2.47 in 2002-03 and 2.41 in 2003-04), his save percentages at .896 and .900 respectively were roughly 10 points below the league average, which probably means Stars fans have fewer fond memories of him than other fanbases he's played in front of. No one can take away his peaks, however, and not even prime Dominik Hasek can touch this season: