Projecting the Stars: Esa Lindell

In advance of the 2024-25 NHL regular season, The Hockey News’ Dallas Stars team website is introducing a series of player projections for the Dallas Stars. Yesterday we left off with Colin Blackwell and Logan Stankoven next up is Esa Lindell.

Esa Lindell has spent his whole career with the Dallas Stars, and while other defensemen have come and gone, Lindell has established himself as a constant presence on the Stars blue line. A defensive specialist, Lindell has played the most minutes on the penalty kill in the entire NHL over the past five years. He has scored clutch goals and been a compliment to a revolving door of defensemen since the departure of longtime partner John Klingberg. Will Lindell once again settle in seamlessly with another new defensive partner?

Career: 49 goals, 191 points in 604 games

2023-24 Statistics: 5 goals, 26 points in 82 games

Salary Cap Hit: $5.8 million through 2024-25

Summary of 2023-24 Season: Lindell had another solid season, always the defensive pillar trusted in any situation, and an absolute beast on the Stars penalty kill. He almost always stays on the ice for the whole two minutes of the kill, and has played over 200 more shorthanded minutes than anyone else over the past five years. He was partnered with Jani Hakanpaa for most of the season until the trade deadline, where he got a surprise upgrade when the coaching staff decided to put Chris Tanev with him. Some thought Heiskanen would benefit from the Tanev addition, but Lindell and Tanev became the most important defenders throughout three tough rounds of the playoffs. They made it through a majority of the postseason without getting scored on, shutting down players like Jack Eichel, Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Lindell's game reached a new level with a top-tier partner, which shows that he shouldn't have to drag someone else's game up if the Stars want the best from him.

Projections for 2024-25 Season: Going into a new season, Lindell will have yet another partner with the departure of Tanev and Hakanpaa, who both went to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Stars have a lot of options on the blue line, so Lindell's partner could be Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith or Nils Lundkvist. The most likely on paper would be Dumba, who is the biggest name of all the additions, and has the highest ceiling of that list. If Dumba and Lindell gel together, it could set Dumba up for a needed bounce-back year, which would mean the top four for the Stars would end up getting a significant upgrade from the pre-Tanev lineup. Lindell's game does not hinge on his offensive abilities, but he has consistenly put up around 25 points for the past three seasons and will likely do the same with the offense group Dallas has. Lindell has scored some key goals over the past few seasons, and he has the ability to get back to a double digit goal tally for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

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Projecting the Stars: Logan Stankoven

Projecting the Stars: Colin Blackwell

Projecting the Stars: Mavrik Bourque

Projecting the Stars: Wyatt Johnston

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