For much of the 2010-2011 season for the Stars, the storyline was whether or not Brad Richards would re-sign with the team. The offseason came and went and the Stars now find themselves entering the season without their best player and leading scorer the past two seasons.

His departure leaves an obvious hole at the center position and left the Stars scrambling to find replacements. Of course, no one person can replace what Richards brought to the team so the Stars went in a different direction.

Mike Ribeiro gets bumped up to the number one center spot and the Stars' season will rest on his shoulders. He doesn't get the public recognition that Richards does, but Ribeiro has proven himself capable of providing enough points to be counted as anumber one center in the league. In his five years here, Ribeiro has been in the top three on the team in scoring every year except for the 2009-2010 season. His point totals have been, except for that one season, in the top 10 among all the centers in the league.

If the Stars hope to succeed this year, they will need Ribiero to go above and beyond what he has done before and get his scoring near the 90-point mark (his career high is 83).

The problem lies in the depth of the position. Besides Ribeiro (and the departed Richards), only one center from the team last year scored over ten points. That's right, only one player had over TEN points and that player, Steve Ott, is considered more of a winger.

It's possible, and actually pretty likely, that Jamie Benn will find himself playing center a lot this season. He has the size and skill to excell at the position and he experimented a little at the spot last year.

What the Stars don't have in playmakers, they do have in tough gritty guys. Returning to the team are Toby Peterson and Tom Wandell, a couple of guys that are excellent defensive centers. New to the team, Vernon Fiddler and Jake Dowell. Again, these two new guys are two-way forwards, something this team has had disturbingly few of these past few years.

Both Fiddler and Dowell were the leaders among forwards on their respective teams (Phoenix and Chicago) in blocked shots and they can provide a few points as well. Fiddler averages around 25 points a year and Dowell has 21 during his first full season with the Blackhawks. These four guys will be rotating on the third and fourth lines and will be instrumental during penalty kills.

Without the high-scoring Richards, the Stars have dedicated themselves to a new team philosophy, one based on grit and toughness as is evident in their center position. With Richards gone, the spotlight will be on these guys, Ribeiro and Benn especially.

The Dallas Stars are without an owner, just lost their most talented (and most marketable) player to free agency and are a team without an identity. Despite all this, the Stars will find themselves on national TV eight times during the 2011-2012 season, five more appearances than they had last year.

The eight national appearances is the highest total that the Stars have had in four years. The increase in TV spots looks like another attempt by the NHL to promote hockey in the southern parts of the U.S.

All but one of the Stars' national broadcasts will be on the Versus/Soon-to-be NBC Sports Network.

Their appearances this year (all times are Central):

December 19 7:00 PM

Anaheim Ducks @ Dallas Stars

December 21 6:30 PM

Philadelphia Flyers @ Dallas Stars

December 26 6:30 PM

Dallas Stars @ St. Louis Blues

January 3 7:00 PM

Detroit Red Wings @ Dallas Stars

January 14 2:00 PM (on the NHL Network)

Colorado Avalanche @ Dallas Stars

January 16 6:30 PM

Dallas Stars @ St. Louis Blues

February 29 6:30 PM

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Dallas Stars

March 20 7:00 PM

Phoenix Coyotes @ Dallas Stars

With free agency pretty much over around the league, it's pretty obvious that the Dallas Stars have a radically different looking team. A squad that was one point away from the playoffs last season had no choice but to change up their roster after the departure of Brad Richards. Dallas got a deeper, tougher team to put onto the ice next season, but what about their division rivals? What moves did the other teams in the Pacific Division make?

Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim was one of the most quiet teams during free agency this year. They only completed five deals, two were re-signings, and they were all of the underwhelming variety. New to the Ducks are RW Andrew Gordon, LW Jean-Francois Jacques and D Bryan Rodney. Back with the Ducks are RW Brian McGratton and D Sean Zimmerman. Your guess is as good as mine as to who exactly these guys are. Regardless, these guys will be nothing more than extra depth to a Ducks roster that is loaded with talent as the core of their team is still with them.

Two players signed deals with other teams instead of coming back to the Ducks. Those two guys, F Josh Green (Edmonton) and D Andreas Lilja (Philadelphia), provided very little to the Ducks anyway so it's no loss for Anaheim that they are gone.

Anaheim still has a couple of interesting free agents on their roster. They're waiting on Teemu Selanne to figure out whether or not he wants to retire and it looks like Anaheim is choosing not to re-sign Ray Emery. Emery did pretty well in a fill-in role as goalie, but with Dan Ellis around and presumably Jonas Hiller returning from his concussion/vertigo, whatever it was, Anaheim looks set at the goaltender position. Expect pretty much the exact same Ducks team as last year, with reigning Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry leading the way.

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings were one of the most active teams in free agency this year, perhaps second only to Philadelphia. LA struggled down the stretch of last season with their offense when they lost Anze Kopitar so it's pretty obvious that they went into this offseason looking for offensive playmakers. They made one of the biggest signings when they inked Simon Gagne to a 2 year, $7 million deal and were involved a high-profile trade where they sent Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn to the Flyers in return for then-Flyers captain Mike Richards. If all works out for the Kings, offense should not be the problem this year.

Aside from the guys that they sent away in the trade, LA also lost Michael Handzus to the San Jose Sharks. Handzus played in every game for the Kings last season and he would probably be missed, but the addition of Mike Richards more than makes up for that. The Kings didn't lose anyone else of significance although defenseman Drew Doughty is still an un-signed restricted free agent.

Phoenix Coyotes

Despite their ownership troubles, Phoenix was very busy in free agency. Without the funds to sign Ilya Bryzgalov, they shipped him off to the Flyers for a draft pick and then searched in the market for their goalie. They ended up signing former Stars and Lightning goalie Mike Smith to a 2 year, $3.5 million deal in the hopes that he could turn into a legitimate number one goalie for their team. They also signed Raffi Torres away from the Vancouver Canucks, perhaps only to annoy every other team in the league to death when they put him out on the ice.

The best thing that Phoenix probably did was who they re-signed, namely Keith Yandle to a 5 year, $26.25 million contract. Yandle is one of the best young D-men in the league and making him the focal point of their team was only right. They also kept Radim Vrbata, one of their better wingers.

The Coyotes did lose a few guys in free agency. D-man Ed Jovanovski bolted for the Florida Panthers and Vernon Fiddler signed a contract with the Stars. Losing Bryzgalov was a huge blow to the team so I wouldn't expect Phoenix to be as good as last year.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks were, pardon the pun, in a frenzy during free agency this year. They made two of the biggest trades of the offseason by sending Devin Setoguchi, a recently re-signed Setoguchi, and Dany Heatley (as well as a couple of highly touted prospects) in seperate deals to the Minnesota Wild for Brent Burns and Martin Havlat. They definitely shored up their defense by getting Burns and Havlat is just as good, if not better, than Heatley. Signing D-man Jim Vandermeer away from Edmonton and C Michael Handzus away from the Kings helps with their depth.

They did lose a couple a guys though. Ben Eager left for the Oilers and D-man Ian White is now going to play in Detroit. All-in-all though, it looks like a good offseason for the Sharks. If this team can develop a chemistry together quickly with all of these new parts, they will be well on their well to repeating as the Pacific Division winners.

Sheldon Souray

Age: 34 (Born July 13, 1976)

Height/Weight: 6'4"/233 pounds

Shoots: Left-handed

The Stars power-play just got a lot more menacing with the signing of Sheldon Souray. Souray, who signed a one-year, $1.65 million deal, has an absolute cannon of a shot (one of the fastest in the NHL) and will surely be one of the pointmen on the powerplay. The 12-year-veteran has struggled a bit with injuries the past few seasons and actually ended up in the AHL last year after not playing well for the Edmonton Oilers. His contract was bought out by the Oilers and the Stars jumped on the opportunity of signing him.

During the 2008-2009 season, Souray was a major component of the Oilers power-play, scoring 12 times and assisting on 11 others. As long as he can stay healthy, there is still a lot of ability left in Souray to make a difference for this team. During the 2006-2007 season, he set an NHL record for defensemen by scoring 19 power-play goals.

With all these signings, it's pretty clear that the Stars had a plan going into free agency of what types of players they wanted to get. Everyone that they signed are described as physical players, with the forwards also playing well on the defensive end, and they also improved on special teams. They shored up the penalty-kill with defensive minded forwards and added a big shot and a physical presence on the power-play. In my opinion they had an excellent offseason, even with the loss of Brad Richards. Next season will certainly be an interesting year for the team.

Now if only we could get an owner...

RW Michael Ryder

Age: 31 (Born March 31, 1980)

Height/Weight: 6'0"/192 pounds

Shoots: Right-handed

The Stars made their highest profile signing this offseason with the addition of Michael Ryder, who signed a 2-year, $7 million contract. Ryder will be here to at least try to replace some of the production that Brad Richards gave the Stars.

He's a proven goal-scorer, having hit the 30-mark twice and it's almost a certainty that he will have around 20 goals when the season ends. Last season, Ryder had 41 points (18 points, 23 assists) in 79 games, but where Ryder really shows up is in the playoffs. He was marvelous during the Bruins Stanley Cup run this past season. In 25 playoff games, he had 17 points (8 goals, 9 assists). In his past few postseasons, Ryder has been near a point-per-game during the playoffs. If Dallas is able to make the playoffs during his time here, you can be sure that Ryder will score some points.

With all of the line shuffling that will need to be done with the departure of Richards, Ryder will also be a big presence in the power-play. In his three seasons with Boston (2008-2011), he ranked 2nd, 2nd and then 1st on the team in power-play goals. His 25 power-play goals during those seasons was the most on the Bruins during that time period.

Ryder in the playoffs this year against Tampa. Ryder does the dirty work around the net in these goals and that kind of player would be great to have on the power-play. Brendan Morrow does a fine job, but Dallas lacked a second player that could set those screens on the net. Ryder solves that problem.

Another video of Ryder's work in front of the net.

C Jake Dowell

Age: 26 (Born March 4, 1985)

Height/Weight: 6'0"/199 pounds

Shoots: Left-handed

The Stars went into free agency looking to add a lot of depth to their team, and with the addition of Jake Dowell with a one year, $800,000 contract. Dowell has played intermittently with the Chicago Blackhawks during his career and spent his first full year in the NHL during the 2010-2011 season.

In 79 games last season, he had 21 points (6 goals, 15 assists) while playing on the depth lines and his role with the Stars will be much of the same. Much like their previous forward signings of Vernon Fiddler and Radek Dvorak, Dowell is a good penalty-killer and a solid man to take face-offs. The Stars basically signed an entire penalty-killing line with those three signings as they try to shore up a penalty kill that was ranked 23 (out of 30) in the NHL last year.

Dowell also really likes to fight, as numerous videos on youtube will show. If nothing else, Steve Ott has a new buddy who will help him out in fights.

Here's Dowell wailing on former Star Brandon Segal. If Dallas re-signs Segal sometime in the future, will this be brought up?

And Dowell with another fight.

C Vernon Fiddler

Age: 31 (Born: May 9, 1980)

Height/Weight: 6'2"/195 pounds

Shoots: Left-handed

The Stars found themselves with another good two-way forward when they signed Vernon Fiddler to a 3-year $5.4 million contract. Fiddler has been in the NHL for eight years and guess what, he's a tough, in-your-face player. He kills penalties and is good on both sides of the ice. Fiddler will be a good mentor and example for Tomas Vincour as well as depth for Toby Peterson and Tom Wandell.

Last year, he played in 71 games and tallied 22 points (6 goals, 16 assists). For his career, he has played 452 games (59 goals and 86 assists for 145 points).

He'll be splitting time on the checking line with Wandell, Peterson and Vincour if he is not in the minors. He'll also be very valuable on the penalty-kill. 

He also has a lot of fight videos floating around youtube.

A goal off the face-off from Fiddler (He's a very good face-off guy, something this team sorely needs with Ott as the only other option)

His only hat-trick of his career

RW Radek Dvorak

Age: 34 (Born: March 9, 1977)

Height/Weight: 6-2/206 pounds

Shoots: Right-handed

The Dallas Stars signed 15-year veteran Radek Dvorak to a 1 year, $1.5 million deal during their signing spree yesterday.  Dvorak is a two-way forward and is known as a solid penalty-killer. 

He's played 1,118 games in his NHL career and has amassed 556 points (215 goals, 341 assists). During his career, as long as he gets some solid playing time, he will get you 10-15 goals. Like most of the draft picks and signees this year, Dvorak is a tough player. 

He'll serve as a placeholder before some of the Stars younger forwards make their way through the minors.

I expect him to be a late-line depth forward and an integral part of the penalty kill.

Dvorak highlights from 2008-2009 (It's not so great when your highlight video is only a minute long)

D Adam Pardy

Age: 27 (Born: March 29, 1984)

Height/Weight: 6-2/206 pounds

Shoots: Left-handed

I'll be honest, before the Stars signing him yesterday, I had no idea who Adam Pardy was. With Dallas losing three defensmen to free agency, they set out to find replacements and one of the first that they got was former Calgary Flame Adam Pardy for a two year, $4 million deal.

Pardy has played three seasons in the NHL, all with Calgary, and brings size and grit to the defense. He won't be mistaken for an offensive machine anytime soon, but he will provide a bit of offense every now and then. He's played 147 games in his NHL career and has a total of 26 points (4 goals, 22 assists). He will fill one of the roles as a third/fourth line defensemen.

During his one year in the ECHL, with the Las Vegas Wranglers, he played under current Stars coach Glen Gulutzan so there is some familiarity there. Gulutzan knows what he's getting from Pardy and he obviously feels that it's well worth the sort of headscratching $2 million per year deal. 

Don't expect a whole lot from him, but know that his role will most likely be similar to what Mark Fistric brings to the team.

A couple of videos of Pardy (he has a lot of fight videos on youtube, although he seems to lose a majority of them):

Pardy fighting Troy Bodie

Pardy getting a nice hit

With less than a day left before the NHL free agency begins, the Stars have made decisions on just about all of their restricted and unrestricted free agents. Here's a quick update on the status of those guys.

• Brad Richards UFA - He's already stated that he won't be back with the Stars. The rest of the league will be bidding for his talents when Friday finally rolls around. He's looking for a long term deal worth at least $7 million per year.  

• Jamie Langenbrunner UFA - Langenbrunner, who returned to Dallas this year in a trade with the New Jersey Devils, will be hitting the free agency market. There is still a possibility that he could return to the Stars, but Langenbrunner wants to test the market first. During his four months here, Langenbrunner played in 39 games and had 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) while playing most of his time on the third and fourth lines.

• Brad Lukowich - Re-signed with the Stars on a one-year, two-way deal. He'll probably spend most of next season playing with the Texas Stars and helping to mentor the young defensemen there. 

• Travis Morin - Morin saw most of his time with the Texas Stars last year, but could have a bigger role next season after Dallas re-signed him to a two-year, two-way contract. 

• Colton Sceviour - Signed a one-year, two-way contract to stay with Dallas. Sceviour is a prime candidate to jump up to the big show after spending most of last year with the Texas Stars. He'll be looking for a spot along the third or fourth lines.

• Brandon Segal UFA - Segal did not receive an offer from the Stars so he will be hitting the free agent market. He split his time last year with the Texas Stars and the Dallas Stars but when he was with the big club, he played 46 games and had 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists). His spot will most likely be taken by a young player coming up from the minor league affiliates.

• Karlis Skrastins UFA - Skrastins had a solid year in 2010-2011, but it looks to be his last for the Stars. Dallas has not sent an offer over to him and it looks likely that he will be moving onto the KHL next season. He was one of the best shot blockers on the team and always willing to give up his body.

• Brian Sutherby UFA - As Dallas continues to rebuild the third and fourth lines, it looks like Sutherby will not be returning to the team. He has not received an offer and will be hitting free agency. He played in 51 games last year and had 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists).

• Jeff Woywitka UFA - Woywitka will also be a free agent when Friday arrives. He had a tough year in Dallas this past season playing as a second-line defensemen and there were many calls from fans to bench him in favor of Mark Fistric. He would function better as a third option, where his production would look more friendly. In 63 games last year, he had 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists).

• Jason Williams UFA - Williams will also be hitting the free agent market. Dallas signed him during the latter part of the season and he played in 27 games, where he had 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists). Like Segal and Sutherby, his spot will be handed over to a young talent from the minors.