Game Day Guide: Stars vs Kraken

When: Sunday, November 9 at 6:00 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: Victory+

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Live Stats: NHL Game Center

Tickets: Single-game / Groups / Rentals

Local Parking: AAC Parking Options

Arena Bag Policy: Frequently Asked Questions

20% Off In Arena: Fanatics Military Hoody

Food Highlight: All-beef Hot Dog

50/50 Beneficiary: Dallas Stars Warriors

Promotional Schedule: Military & Veteran Appreciation

Five Points 5️⃣

• The Dallas Stars face the Seattle Kraken Sunday night for the first of three matchups this season. The two teams will face each other again Nov. 26 in Seattle and Feb. 25 in Dallas.
• Dallas is 10-1-1 all-time vs. Seattle, including a 5-0-1 mark on home ice.
• The Stars have won six consecutive games against the Kraken dating back to Dec. 18, 2023. Dallas has outscored Seattle 20-6 during that span.
• Forward Roope Hintz has recorded 12 points (6-6—12) in 12 career games against the Kraken. Seattle is one of eight teams that Hintz has averaged at least a point per game against in his career, with the others being Detroit (1.53), Edmonton (1.18), Washington (1.09), Los Angeles (1.07), Chicago (1.00), New Jersey (1.00) and Minnesota (1.00).
• Forward Wyatt Johnston enters Sunday’s contest riding a three-game point streak against the Kraken, scoring three goals during those games. Johnston has registered eight points (6-2—8) in nine career games against Seattle, while upholding a plus-minus rating of +6.

Players To Watch 👀

Stars defenseman Heiskanen tied his single-game career high with four assists in Dallas’ game on Nov. 6 against Anaheim. Heiskanen last had four assists in a game on March 5, 2024, against the San Jose Sharks. In all, Heiskanen has 10 points (3-7—10) in 14 games played this season, ranking fourth on the Stars in scoring and tying for 11th among all NHL defensemen in points entering play Saturday. Heiskanen is averaging 25:26 of ice time per game this season, which was the fifth-highest total in the NHL entering play Saturday. In his career against Seattle, Heiskanen has registered 11 points (3-8—11) in 10 games, carrying a plus-minus rating of +5 and averaging 1.10 points per game.

Kraken forward Jordan Eberle paces the team in goals (5) and is tied for the team-lead in scoring with 10 points (5-5—10) entering play Saturday. Eberle also leads Kraken forwards with 31 shots this season. In his fifth season with Seattle, Eberle ranks third in franchise scoring with 187 points (72-115—187). According to NHL Stats, he is the only active player to score 70 goals with three different franchises (also EDM and NYI). In his career against Dallas, Eberle has recorded 17 points (4-13—17) in 37 games.

First Shift 🏒

Maybe the most interesting thing about the 2025-26 Dallas Stars is how much they have changed since last season.

Yes, the firing of Pete DeBoer and the hiring of Glen Gulutzan is the biggest topic of discussion, but even the roster is significantly different. By trading for Rantanen and giving him an eight-year contract that averages $12 million a season, Dallas created the need for some salary cap adjustments.

So Mikael Granlund, Cody Ceci and Evgenii Dadonov had to be allowed to explore free agency, and Mason Marchment and Matt Dumba had to be traded. When you consider the money alone, that’s a significant amount of NHL talent that went out the door.

Granlund signed a three-year deal with Anaheim that averages $7 million per season. Ceci inked a four-year contract with LA that averages $4.5 million. Marchment, who was traded to Seattle and will return for the first time Sunday, is in the last year of a four-year deal that averages $4.5 million, and Dadonov is a bargain at $1 million for New Jersey.

“It’s a tough business, and you have to make tough decisions,” said Stars GM Jim Nill. “Those are very good players.”

Marchment tallied 22 goals for the Stars last season. Dadonov had 20. Granlund had 22 goals combined with San Jose and Dallas last season and added 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in the playoffs.

That’s some real scoring depth that helped make the Stars the third best scoring team in the league at 3.35 goals per game. That impact has been felt this year, as Dallas ranks 19th at 3.00 goals per game, but that’s part of the moving target of building a team.

Rantanen leads the Stars with 21 points and is tied for third in league scoring. 22-year-old Johnston is surging close behind 19 points. Meanwhile, young players like Thomas Harley and Mavrik Bourque are hoping to step up, and depth players like Steel, Colin Blackwell and Radek Faksa are expected to take bigger roles as the season progresses.

To be fair, the Stars added Granlund and Ceci at the trade deadline, so they were without them for the first half of last season, so maybe the changes aren’t as drastic as you think.

But comparing this roster to the one that made it to the Western Conference Final is, in a word, interesting.

Key Numbers 🔢

44.9 percent

Seattle ranks 30th in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage at 44.9. Dallas ranks 10th at 52.4 percent, but is coming off one of its worst games, winning just 44 percent in Nashville on Saturday.

100

Over the past two seasons, Mason Marchment tallied 44 goals among 100 points for the Stars, ranking sixth in scoring on the team. He was also plus-37 and led the team in penalties taken and penalties drawn.

10-1-1

Dallas is 10-1-1 all-time against the Kraken in the regular season and has won six straight contests.

He Said It 📢

“That’s the type of game I came here for – playoff type games that are tight checking with chances both ways. I thought our group did a good job responding to the physicality. I think we just stuck with it, that’s been the story for the past few weeks.”

-Stars forward Adam Erne on a 5-4 win over Nashville on Saturday

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.