The 2012-13 Dallas Stars are going to be a very different team than the one that narrowly missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons. Will they be be a better team? That remains to be seen.

Since the end of last season, the Stars have traded Steve Ott and Mike Ribeiro and lost Sheldon Souray and Adam Burish to free agency. They've added 40-year-old Ray Whitney for two years and 40-year-old Jaromir Jagr for one. The Stars acquired Derek Roy and Cody Eakin but soon learned that Roy will be lost until at least late November as a result of a shoulder injury that required surgery. As such, the Stars will have to get creative for awhile to plug the second-line center hole.

In looking over the Stars roster as presently constituted, I think the top six up front will be fine (barring additional injuries) once Roy gets back in the lineup. There are some good young players in the system -- particularly on defense as well as 2012 first-round pick Radek Faksa -- but I don't think there will be any high-impact rookies this season. In-season ijuries could severely deplete the team's scoring depth in a hurry, as it has in recent season.

The blueline really concerns me heading into next season. I think Alex Goligoski will have a better season if he stays healthy. I think Philip Larsen will continue to improve. Aaron Rome is an upgrade on Adam Pardy, at least. On the whole, though, the current Stars blueline remains largely undersized -- three starters under 6-feet tall, plus the slightly-built Larsen -- with no one who is quite ready to step into the role Souray played last season.

In tomorrow's blog, I will discuss the Stars' defense in depth. In the days that follow, I will look at other questions surrounding the roster. For today, however, I'm curious what readers see as the No. 1 area of concern/need for the Stars as things stand right now.



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