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Who's in: Alex Auld, Karlis Skrastins, Jeff Woywitka
Who's out: Steve Begin, Joel Lundqvist, Brendan Morrison, Mark Parrish, Tobias Stephan, Darryl Sydor, Sergei Zubov

Outlook: Much like the Avalanche, the Stars are a relatively new franchise that's enjoyed a lot of recent success but which is in for a bit of a rough stretch.

Owner Tom Hicks, one of a few in financial distress these days, canned two-headed GM monster Les Jackson and Brett Hull in early June and handed the reins to former Stars star Joe Nieuwendyk, a rookie GM only two seasons removed from life as an NHL player. Nieuwendyk's first call in the hot seat was a controversial one, as he turfed long-time head coach Dave Tippett and brought in Marc "Crow" Crawford to attempt to turn things around.

In terms of on-ice personnel, the losses weren't overwhelming, although Sergei Zubov signed in the KHL and a handful of other depth players exited stage left as the team's budget was heavily slashed. The inbox wasn't exactly overflowing either as Karlis Skrastins constituted Nieuwendyk's big buy in free agency. He also pulled off a savvy deal to bring in Alex Auld as Marty Turco's backup, rectifying one of the real faux pas of the two-headed era by giving his No. 1 some support.

Dallas should improve tremendously in goal if nowhere else after finishing 29^th in team save percentage last time around, although the same cast of middling defenders returns in front of Turco, and Crawford is known as anything but a defensive wizard.

Having captain Brenden Morrow in the fold full-time should also do wonders for the team's goal scoring ability, however, and that alone will make the Stars at least a bubble candidate to return to the postseason.

X-factor: Marty Turco

For a more in-depth stars preview, visit Defending Big D
For more NHL analysis, check out the McKeen's Hockey Yearbook