Dallas Stars 2023- 24 roster prediction for opening night: Which defensemen will make the cut?

The NHL offseason is here, and with it, is a summer of potential change for the Dallas Stars.

Dallas shouldn't need a ton of change after reaching the Western Conference finals for the second time in four seasons and only falling to the eventual champs, the Vegas Golden Knights.

We have already predicted how the Stars forwards will stack up. So as we slide into the summer, let's do an early prediction of the Dallas Stars 2023-24 opening night defense lineup.

Defenseman

• Harley-Heiskanen
• Lindell-Hakanpaa
• Suter-Lundkvist
• Miller

For a look at which players will return next season, check out our Dallas Stars free agency articles.

Dallas Stars 2023-24 opening night defense lineup gives young players their shot

The lines listed above will likely see plenty of trial and error at the beginning of the 2023-24 season. What we do know are the names involved. What we don't know is who will slide in where.

Clearly on the top pair will be Miro Heiskanen.

The 23-year-old defender is the best player in the Dallas dressing room and is only getting better. In 2022-23, Heiskanen shined in the absence of John Klingberg, tallying more than double his career-high with 73 points and solidifying his number-one defenseman role.

With Heiskanen, Dallas could opt to insert either Thomas Harley, Nils Lundkvist, Ryan Suter or Colin Miller.

While Suter played with Heiskanen a lot in 2022-23, the veteran defender looks to be slowing down and is a much better fit on a bottom pair. In that role, he could play fewer minutes while assisting in the development of the youngsters.

Harley and Lundkvist are the future on the blue line, with Harley looking to be NHL-ready and Lundkvist seeing plenty of ups and downs in his first full NHL season. Heiskanen has shown his ability to play either side, meaning that it could be a righty or lefty along with him.

Whichever defender does not fit with Heiskanen will likely slide into the third-pairing/seventh-defenseman role. Dallas will probably be without their veteran seventh man Joel Hanley, meaning that the top six should change throughout the year.

The second pairing seems destined to remain the same, as Esa Lindell and Jani Hakanpaa played together for the entire 2022-23 season. The two complement each other well and can slide up or down in terms of minutes played without issue.

The key to watch on the Dallas Stars blue line is the development of Lundkvist and Harley. If either, or both, are not ready, what will the Stars do?

Do they believe Miller can fill in bigger minutes despite some struggles in that role last season? Are they stuck with Suter playing 18+ minutes per night? It certainly makes them a less dangerous team.

If Harley is where they think he is and Lundkvist can take the next step this season, the Dallas Stars can move from an above-average blue line to one of the best in the NHL.