2015–16 Dallas Stars season

2015–16 Dallas Stars
Central Division champions
Division	1st Central
Conference	1st Western
2015–16 record	50–23–9
Home record	28–11–2
Road record	22–12–7
Goals for	267
Goals against	230
Team information
General manager	Jim Nill
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Jamie Benn
Alternate captains	Vernon Fiddler Alex Goligoski
Arena	American Airlines Center
Average attendance	18,342 (30 games)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Texas Stars (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Jamie Benn (41)
Assists	Jamie Benn John Klingberg (48)
Points	Jamie Benn (89)
Penalty minutes	Antoine Roussel (123)
Plus/minus	John Klingberg (+22)
Wins	Kari Lehtonen Antti Niemi (25)
Goals against average	Antti Niemi (2.67)

The 2015–16 Dallas Stars season was the 49th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 5, 1967, and 23rd season since the franchise relocated from Minnesota prior to the start of the 1993–94 NHL season.

Standings

Central Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	z – Dallas Stars	82	50	23	9	48	267	230	+37	109
2	x – St. Louis Blues	82	49	24	9	44	224	201	+23	107
3	x – Chicago Blackhawks	82	47	26	9	46	235	209	+26	103
4	x – Nashville Predators	82	41	27	14	37	228	215	+13	96
5	x – Minnesota Wild	82	38	33	11	35	216	206	+10	87
6	Colorado Avalanche	82	39	39	4	35	216	240	−24	82
7	Winnipeg Jets	82	35	39	8	32	215	239	−24	78

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Pre-Season Game Log: 1–6–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 0–4–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 22	Dallas	2–3	Florida		Campbell	5,504	0–1–0	Recap
2	September 24	Dallas	0–6	St. Louis		Lehtonen	11,876	0–2–0	Recap
3	September 26	Tampa Bay	3–6	Dallas		Niemi	14,676	1–2–0	Recap
4	September 27	Florida	4–2	Dallas		Lehtonen	10,113	1–3–0	Recap
5	September 29	St. Louis	4–1	Dallas		Niemi	11,544	1–4–0	Recap
6	October 1	Dallas	2–3	Tampa Bay		Lehtonen	14,226	1–5–0	Recap
7	October 3	Dallas	0–4	Chicago		Niemi	21,221	1–6–0	Recap

Regular season

Game Log
October: 9–2–0 (Home: 5–1–0 ; Road: 4–1–0) 18 pts # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 8 Pittsburgh 0–3 Dallas Niemi 18,532 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 10 Dallas 3–6 Colorado Niemi 16,024 1–1–0 2 Recap 3 October 13 Edmonton 2–4 Dallas Lehtonen 16,265 2–1–0 4 Recap 4 October 15 Dallas 5–3 Tampa Bay Lehtonen 19,092 3–1–0 6 Recap 5 October 17 Dallas 4–2 Florida Lehtonen 12,834 4–1–0 8 Recap 6 October 20 Dallas 2–1 Philadelphia Niemi 19,077 5–1–0 10 Recap 7 October 22 Dallas 4–1 Pittsburgh Niemi 18,490 6–1–0 12 Recap 8 October 24 Florida 6–2 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 6–2–0 12 Recap 9 October 27 Anaheim 3–4 Dallas Niemi 17,798 7–2–0 14 Recap 10 October 29 Vancouver 3–4 Dallas OT Niemi 17,664 8–2–0 16 Recap 11 October 31 San Jose 3–5 Dallas Niemi 18,178 9–2–0 18 Recap
November: 10–3–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 6–1–0) 20 pts # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 12 November 2 Dallas 1–4 Toronto Niemi 19,087 9–3–0 18 Recap 13 November 3 Dallas 5–3 Boston Lehtonen 17,565 10–3–0 20 Recap 14 November 6 Dallas 4–1 Carolina Lehtonen 10,188 11–3–0 22 Recap 15 November 8 Dallas 4–1 Detroit Lehtonen 20,027 12–3–0 24 Recap 16 November 10 Toronto 3–2 Dallas Niemi 18,266 12–4–0 24 Recap 17 November 12 Winnipeg 3–6 Dallas Lehtonen 18,010 13–4–0 26 Recap 18 November 14 Minnesota 2–3 Dallas OT Lehtonen 18,532 14–4–0 28 Recap 19 November 17 Dallas 3–1 Buffalo Niemi 18,101 15–4–0 30 Recap 20 November 19 Dallas 3–2 Washington Lehtonen 18,506 16–4–0 32 Recap 21 November 21 Buffalo 0–3 Dallas Niemi 18,532 17–4–0 34 Recap 22 November 24 Ottawa 7–4 Dallas Niemi 18,532 17–5–0 34 Recap 23 November 27 Vancouver 2–3 Dallas SO Niemi 18,532 18–5–0 36 Recap 24 November 28 Dallas 4–3 Minnesota OT Niemi 19,024 19–5–0 38 Recap
December: 9–3–3 (Home: 7–1–0 ; Road: 2–2–3) 21 pts # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 25 December 1 Dallas 3–4 Calgary SO Niemi 19,237 19–5–1 39 Recap 26 December 3 Dallas 4–2 Vancouver Lehtonen 18,302 20–5–1 41 Recap 27 December 4 Dallas 1–2 Edmonton OT Niemi 16,839 20–5–2 42 Recap 28 December 8 Carolina 5–6 Dallas Niemi 18,287 21–5–2 44 Recap 29 December 11 Philadelphia 1–3 Dallas Niemi 18,532 22–5–2 46 Recap 30 December 12 Dallas 0–3 St. Louis Niemi 15,023 22–6–2 46 Recap 31 December 15 Columbus 1–5 Dallas Lehtonen 18,232 23–6–2 48 Recap 32 December 17 Calgary 3–1 Dallas Lehtonen 18,410 23–7–2 48 Recap 33 December 19 Montreal 2–6 Dallas Niemi 18,532 24–7–2 50 Recap 34 December 21 Dallas 6–3 Minnesota Niemi 19,047 25–7–2 52 Recap 35 December 22 Chicago 0–4 Dallas Niemi 18,532 26–7–2 54 Recap 36 December 26 Dallas 2–3 St. Louis SO Niemi 19,185 26–7–3 55 Recap 37 December 27 St. Louis 0–3 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 27–7–3 57 Recap 38 December 29 Dallas 3–6 Columbus Lehtonen 15,836 27–8–3 57 Recap 39 December 31 Nashville 1–5 Dallas Niemi 18,532 28–8–3 59 Recap
January: 3–6–2 (Home: 3–2–0 ; Road: 0–4–2) 8 pts # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 40 January 2 Dallas 2–3 New Jersey OT Niemi 16,514 28–8–4 60 Recap 41 January 3 Dallas 5–6 NY Islanders Lehtonen 14,054 28–9–4 60 Recap 42 January 5 Dallas 2–6 NY Rangers Niemi 18,006 28–10–4 60 Recap 43 January 7 Winnipeg 1–2 Dallas SO Lehtonen 18,532 29–10–4 62 Recap 44 January 9 Minnesota 2–1 Dallas Niemi 18,532 29–11–4 62 Recap 45 January 15 Dallas 2–4 Anaheim Lehtonen 16,201 29–12–4 62 Recap 46 January 16 Dallas 3–4 San Jose OT Niemi 17,562 29–12–5 63 Recap 47 January 19 Dallas 2–3 Los Angeles Lehtonen 18,230 29–13–5 63 Recap 48 January 21 Edmonton 2–3 Dallas Niemi 18,532 30–13–5 65 Recap 49 January 23 Colorado 3–1 Dallas Niemi 18,532 30–14–5 65 Recap 50 January 25 Calgary 1–2 Dallas Niemi 18,532 31–14–5 67 Recap
February: 7–5–2 (Home: 1–4–1 ; Road: 6–1–1) 16 pts # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 51 February 2 Dallas 5–3 Winnipeg Niemi 15,294 32–14–5 69 Recap 52 February 4 Dallas 4–3 Colorado OT Niemi 14,351 33–14–5 71 Recap 53 February 6 Chicago 5–1 Dallas Niemi 18,532 33–15–5 71 Recap 54 February 9 Dallas 4–3 Minnesota OT Niemi 19,087 34–15–5 73 Recap 55 February 11 Dallas 4–2 Chicago Lehtonen 22,051 35–15–5 75 Recap 56 February 13 Washington 3–4 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 36–15–5 77 Recap 57 February 15 Dallas 3–2 Nashville OT Niemi 17,113 37–15–5 79 Recap 58 February 16 Dallas 1–2 St. Louis OT Lehtonen 18,156 37–15–6 80 Recap 59 February 18 Dallas 3–6 Arizona Niemi 11,853 37–16–6 80 Recap 60 February 20 Boston 7–3 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 37–17–6 80 Recap 61 February 23 Dallas 5–3 Winnipeg Niemi 15,294 38–17–6 82 Recap 62 February 25 Winnipeg 6–3 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 38–18–6 82 Recap 63 February 27 NY Rangers 3–2 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 38–19–6 82 Recap 64 February 29 Detroit 3–2 Dallas OT Niemi 18,532 38–19–7 83 Recap
March: 9–3–2 (Home: 6–1–1 ; Road: 3–2–1) 20 pts # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 65 March 1 Dallas 3–5 Nashville Niemi 17,113 38–20–7 83 Recap 66 March 4 New Jersey 2–4 Dallas Lehtonen 18,117 39–20–7 85 Recap 67 March 6 Dallas 2–1 Ottawa Lehtonen 19,419 40–20–7 87 Recap 68 March 8 Dallas 3–4 Montreal OT Lehtonen 21,288 40–20–8 88 Recap 69 March 11 Chicago 2–5 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 41–20–8 90 Recap 70 March 12 St. Louis 5–4 Dallas OT Niemi 18,532 41–20–9 91 Recap 71 March 15 Los Angeles 5–2 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 41–21–9 91 Recap 72 March 17 Tampa Bay 3–4 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 42–21–9 93 Recap 73 March 19 NY Islanders 0–3 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 43–21–9 95 Recap 74 March 22 Dallas 6–2 Chicago Lehtonen 22,034 44–21–9 97 Recap 75 March 24 Dallas 1–3 Arizona Lehtonen 11,887 44–22–9 97 Recap 76 March 26 Dallas 4–2 San Jose Niemi 16,439 45–22–9 99 Recap 77 March 29 Nashville 2–5 Dallas Lehtonen 18,265 46–22–9 101 Recap 78 March 31 Arizona 1–4 Dallas Niemi 18,532 47–22–9 103 Recap
April: 3–1–0 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 1–1–0) 6 pts # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 79 April 2 Dallas 3–2 Los Angeles Lehtonen 18,230 48–22–9 105 Recap 80 April 3 Dallas 1–3 Anaheim Niemi 16,585 48–23–9 105 Recap 81 April 7 Colorado 2–4 Dallas Lehtonen 18,532 49–23–9 107 Recap 82 April 9 Nashville 2–3 Dallas Niemi 18,532 50–23–9 109 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Final stats

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Jamie Benn	82	41	48	89	7	64
Tyler Seguin	72	33	40	73	2	16
Jason Spezza	75	33	30	63	4	22
John Klingberg	76	10	48	58	22	30
Patrick Sharp	76	20	35	55	−3	27
Ales Hemsky	75	13	26	39	3	20
Alex Goligoski	82	5	32	37	21	34
Cody Eakin	82	16	19	35	3	42
Mattias Janmark	73	15	14	29	12	16
Antoine Roussel	80	13	16	29	11	123
Valeri Nichushkin	79	9	20	29	2	12
Colton Sceviour	71	11	12	23	6	21
Jason Demers	62	7	16	23	16	72
Vernon Fiddler	82	12	10	22	5	31
Johnny Oduya	82	4	17	21	8	26
Patrick Eaves	54	11	6	17	−5	27
Radek Faksa	45	5	7	12	9	16
Jordie Benn	64	3	9	12	2	21
Patrik Nemeth	38	0	8	8	−1	14
Jyrki Jokipakka	40	2	4	6	1	6
Kris Russell†	11	0	4	4	−1	2
Stephen Johns	14	1	2	3	−6	6
Travis Moen	23	0	2	2	−3	21
Jamie Oleksiak	19	0	2	2	−5	21
Jason Dickinson	1	1	0	1	1	0
Brett Ritchie	8	0	1	1	−3	7
Curtis McKenzie	3	0	0	0	−1	0
Esa Lindell	4	0	0	0	−3	0
Devin Shore	3	0	0	0	2	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Jamie Benn	13	5	10	15	2	10
Jason Spezza	13	5	8	13	0	2
Cody Eakin	13	1	7	8	−4	8
Alex Goligoski	13	4	3	7	−6	6
Patrick Sharp	13	4	2	6	−4	0
Patrick Eaves	9	3	3	6	3	2
Radek Faksa	13	3	2	5	2	2
Mattias Janmark	12	2	3	5	−3	2
Colton Sceviour	11	2	3	5	1	0
John Klingberg	13	1	3	4	−5	2
Ales Hemsky	13	1	3	4	−1	2
Kris Russell	12	0	4	4	1	4
Johnny Oduya	13	1	2	3	1	2
Vernon Fiddler	13	1	2	3	−1	8
Jason Demers	13	0	3	3	1	8
Antoine Roussel	13	2	0	2	0	16
Valeri Nichushkin	10	0	1	1	−2	2
Travis Moen	6	0	0	0	−1	2
Jordie Benn	1	0	0	0	2	4
Curtis McKenzie	1	0	0	0	0	5
Stephen Johns	13	0	0	0	0	6
Tyler Seguin	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brett Ritchie	2	0	0	0	−2	0

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Antti Niemi	48	43	2654	25	13	7	118	2.67	1246	.905	3	0	2	2
Kari Lehtonen	43	39	2279	25	10	2	105	2.76	1121	.906	2	0	3	2

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Kari Lehtonen	11	10	555	6	3	26	2.81	257	.899	1	0	0	0
Antti Niemi	5	3	237	1	3	13	3.29	96	.865	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Stars. Stats reflect time with the Stars only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Suspensions/fines

Player	Explanation	Length	Salary	Date issued
Jason Demers	Elbowing Pittsburgh Penguins forward Nick Bonino during NHL game No. 93 in Pittsburgh on Thursday, October 22, 2015, at 16:48 of the third period.	2 games	$36,559.14	October 23, 2015

Awards and honors

Awards

Regular season

Player	Award	Awarded
T. Seguin	NHL Second Star of the Week	October 19, 2015
Ja. Benn	NHL First Star of the Month	November 2, 2015
T. Seguin	NHL Second Star of the Week	November 9, 2015
Ja. Benn	NHL First Star of the Week	November 30, 2015
A. Niemi	NHL Second Star of the Week	December 28, 2015
T. Seguin	NHL All-Star game selection	January 6, 2016
Ja. Benn	NHL All-Star game selection	January 6, 2016

Milestones

Regular season

Player	Milestone	Reached
M. Janmark	1st career NHL game 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	October 8, 2015
J. Demers	100th career NHL assist	October 10, 2015
C. Sceviour	100th career NHL game	October 13, 2015
M. Janmark	1st career NHL assist	October 13, 2015
K. Lehtonen	250th career NHL win	October 15, 2015
R. Faksa	1st career NHL game	October 17, 2015
A. Niemi	20,000 career NHL minutes	October 27, 2015
D. Shore	1st career NHL game	November 3, 2015
T. Seguin	300th career NHL point	November 3, 2015
J. Jokipakka	1st career NHL goal	November 3, 2015
R. Faksa	1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	November 6, 2015
V. Nichushkin	100th career NHL game	November 8, 2015
A. Goligoski	500th career NHL game	November 19, 2015
Jo. Benn	200th career NHL game	November 19, 2015
K. Lehtonen	30,000 career NHL minutes	November 19, 2015
P. Eaves	500th career NHL game	November 28, 2015
A. Niemi	200th career NHL wins	November 28, 2015
Ja. Benn	400th career NHL point	December 15, 2015
J. Spezza	800th career NHL game	December 17, 2015
A. Goligoski	200th career NHL assist	December 19, 2015
J. Klingberg	100th career NHL game	December 22, 2015
J. Oduya	700th career NHL game	December 26, 2015
J. Spezza	500th career NHL assist	January 5, 2016

Transactions

The Stars have been involved in the following transactions during the 2015–16 season:

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 27, 2015 (2015-06-27)	To San Jose Sharks 7th-round pick in 2015	To Dallas Stars Antti Niemi (rights)
July 10, 2015 (2015-07-10)	To Chicago Blackhawks Trevor Daley Ryan Garbutt	To Dallas Stars Patrick Sharp Stephen Johns
February 29, 2016 (2016-02-29)	To Calgary Flames Jyrki Jokipakka Brett Pollock Conditional 2nd-round pick in 2016	To Dallas Stars Kris Russell

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 15, 2015 (2015-07-15)	Johnny Oduya	Chicago Blackhawks	2 years, $7.5 million

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Jhonas Enroth	Los Angeles Kings	1 year, $1.25 million
July 3, 2015 (2015-07-03)	Shawn Horcoff	Anaheim Ducks	1 year, $1.75 million

Claimed via waivers

Player

Previous team

Date

Ref

Lost via waivers

Player

New team

Date

Ref

Lost via retirement

Date	Player	Ref
September 4, 2015 (2015-09-04)	Rich Peverley

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 29, 2015 (2015-06-29)	Antti Niemi	3 years, $13.5 million
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Patrick Eaves	1 year, $1.15 million
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Curtis McKenzie	2 years, $1.35 million
July 9, 2015 (2015-07-09)	Jamie Oleksiak	1 year, $875,000
August 28, 2015 (2015-08-28)	Cody Eakin	4 years, $15.4 million contract extension
March 18, 2016 (2016-03-18)	Stephen Johns	2 years, contract extension
March 25, 2016 (2016-03-25)	Niklas Hansson	3 years, entry-level contract
May 12, 2016 (2016-05-12)	Denis Gurianov	3 years, entry-level contract
May 18, 2016 (2016-05-18)	Chris Martenet	3 years, entry-level contract
May 31, 2016 (2016-05-31)	Justin Dowling	1 year
May 31, 2016 (2016-05-31)	Brendan Ranford	1 year
June 9, 2016 (2016-06-09)	Mattias Backman	1 year
June 10, 2016 (2016-06-10)	Brett Ritchie	1 year

Draft picks

See also: List of Dallas Stars draft picks

Below are the Dallas Stars' selections at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, to be held on June 26–27, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	12	Denis Guryanov	RW	Russia	Lada Togliatti-2 (Russia-Jr.)
2	49[a]	Roope Hintz	LW	Finland	Ilves (Finland)
4	103	Chris Martenet	D	United States	London Knights (OHL)
5	133	Joseph Cecconi	D	United States	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
6	163	Markus Ruusu	G	Finland	JYP Jr. (Finland-Jr.)

Draft notes

• The Dallas Stars' second-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015 that sent a second-round pick in 2015 (36th overall) to Ottawa in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2015 or 2016 and this pick. Ottawa previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on July 1, 2014 that sent Jason Spezza and Ludwig Karlsson to the Stars in exchange for Alex Chiasson, Nick Paul, Alex Guptill and this pick.
• ^a The Detroit Red Wings' second-round pick went to the Dallas Stars as the result of a trade on March 1, 2015 that sent Erik Cole and a conditional third-round pick in 2015 to Detroit in exchange for Mattias Janmark, Mattias Backman and this pick.
• The Dallas Stars' third-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on March 1, 2015 that sent Mattias Janmark, Mattias Backman, and a second-round pick in 2015 to Dallas in exchange for Erik Cole and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Detroit will receive a third-round pick in 2015 if they do not qualify for the 2015 Eastern Conference Final and Cole does not play in 50% of Detroit's playoff games – was converted on April 8, 2015 when Cole was injured for the remainder of the season.
• The Dallas Stars' seventh-round pick went to the San Jose Sharks as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015 that sent Antti Niemi to Dallas in exchange for this pick.