Dallas Stars 2025-26 season preview: Bottom 6 forwards – Hockey Writer – Dallas Stars

Hockey officially returned when the Dallas Stars started the preseason, with the NHL preseason overall defeating the St. Louis Blues 2-1 Saturday night with a 2-1 gunfight. Preseason hockey will be played all over North America as you read this book, which means we are one step closer to playing in the standings.

Related: Dallas Stars 2025-26 season preview: Top 6 forwards

Today, we continue to preview the 2025-26 season, this time the striker at the bottom six. Let’s dive.

Johnston may be the best third-tier center in the NHL

Thanks to the huge depth of the stars in the middle of the ice, which includes Matt Duchene continuing to improve his game and maintain his second-tier center championship, the star is probably the best third-tier middleman in the NHL. Wyatt Johnston still qualifies in this place at least compared to his peers, but this is where he fits best in this lineup.

Johnston entered his fourth season in the NHL and everything has been up since his first game. He played all 82 games in each of the first three seasons, with the total number of each season improving in each category. In 2024-25, Johnston had 33 goals, his second consecutive season of over 30 goals and added 38 assists to score 71 points. His playoff work has been reduced, with four goals in 18 games and 10 in 19 games the previous year. But for a young budding superstar, there is nothing he doesn’t want to dislike about his growth. Additionally, if the roster needs to be restarted, or if Duchene takes a step back, Johnston can lead a line in the top six if necessary.

On the right, the Star has another young player who has the potential to play higher in the roster. But Mavrik Bourque still has a lot to prove when he enters his second NHL season. Burke scored 11 goals and 25 points in 73 games last season, but it is worth noting that nine goals and 18 of them were 42 games he played in the 2025 game on the schedule. There are talks in the media about his ability to play on the left, which may give him a chance on the second line. In theory, I like his idea on Jamie Benn, but he still needs to play more consistently where he is stuffed right now.

On the left is the sure stable sam steel. Although he may never break the threshold of 25 goals, even though that’s good, Steel is just as consistent as his character. The 27-year-old scored six to 10 goals in each season in each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each of each He never tried his best in defensive discipline.

Faksa’s return marks a new identity in the fourth line

We can talk for an hour, about why the stars can’t hang with the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals and why they might be lucky enough to be there in the first place. Worth it, but lucky at the same time. One important reason is that they lack physical and advantage as the playoffs progress.

Here are two additions, the first is a reunion with Radek Faksa, who has been with the stars in the first nine seasons of his career. Last season, Faksa threw 115 hits with the St. Louis Blues game, which would be second in the stars. But to show how much Dallas lacks in the game, Jamie Benn ranked second with a 114 shooting percentage, with third place being Colin Blackwell and Ilya Lyubushkin’s 84.

Oskar’s back (left wing) and Blackwell (right wing) are on the wing position on this roster. Back is a reliable option, but probably won’t be higher than the fourth row. As a rookie last season, the defender had four goals and 16 points, and although general manager Jim Nill rewarded him with a two-year extension, the stars’ game lurked in the shadows, meaning the defender will need to avoid looking at part of the activity from the news box this season.

Similar to Steel, Blackwell is just one of those players who rarely transfer. He exerted an energy and passion that might not always be shown on the score sheet, but had the ability to wield a game with a big shift. With the star’s emphasis on the body, Blackwell’s ability to swing and play defensively should mean he’s more than last season’s 63 games.

Competition bottom six

Since the body is a coincidence theme of this season’s preview, Nathan Bastian will see a lot of time on this fourth line, and of course, he will surely break into a world like a back. Bastian has combined 138 hits with the New Jersey Devils in 59 games, with a total of 281 games in his last two seasons. In theory, a line with Bastian, Faksa and Blackwell will have a difficult identity, and the stars have been missing for a while. When Bastian is a right wing, so is Blackwell, I can see Faska being moved to the left and Blackwell goes into the middle, putting Bastian’s slot into his cozy right wing attractions. They can also put Bastian on the left just to find a way to do it.

Justin Hryckowian hit eight of his five games last season with the big club, throwing his gloves with Nathan Walker in the first four minutes of the weekend’s star’s first preseason, and in the case, throwing the hat to the ring, one of the first calls.

So far, Gulutzan’s training camp

Like we did for the top six previews, let’s compare these lines to the lines of head coach Glen Gulutzan, who has so far.

The lines listed above come from Monday’s exercises, and they are not far from what we expected here. Jason Robertson and Johnston are together are what we have seen in the past few seasons, but with the parade of Mikael Granlund and Mason, it’s hard to imagine Robertson not being in the roster that started this season. That being said, if steel could build chemistry and fit into the first line or second line, that’s what Gulutzan wanted to have in his back pocket.

The fourth line is exactly the same as we proposed earlier, and Gulutzan has experimented on the left in Bastian.