Although not everyone expected it, the Dallas Stars have had a great season this year, sitting in tied for first-place in the Western Conference with 83 points. The people who had faith in the Stars at the start of the season were mainly hoping to make the playoffs as a seven or maybe eight-seed, but they are now looking to contend the Stanley Cup.

The Stars have backed their 38 wins with great production from star left wing Jamie Benn and center Tyler Seguin. Benn and Seguin are second and third in points this season with 70 and 68. While Benn and Seguin are the main superstars of the team, they have had a great supporting cast this year. John Klingberg, Patrick Sharp and Jason Spezza have been great this year, each with more than 40 points. They must keep this depth for them to make a run for the Cup.

The Stars last made the playoffs in 2014, but failed to make it past the first round, losing the series to the Ducks. This is a much different team however. While many of the players from that team are still Stars, they have matured as a team and are now a team backed by young stars.

If the season ended today, they would face the St. Louis Blues, who have acted as a nemesis for the Stars this year. The Blues are 3-1-0 against Dallas this season. This would be very frightening for Stars fans, with such a poor record head-to-head, but come playoff time, the Stars might learn from those losses and step it up.

One challenge the Stars may face in the road to the Cup is being in the same division as the Blackhawks, the defending champions and Western Conference points leader. With the new playoff procedures implemented two years ago, the Stars would end up playing them in the second round, assuming they defeated one of the Wild Card teams in the first round.

The Blackhawks in the playoffs are often seen as a team that is unbeatable, but the Stars are a team that could upset them. As I mentioned earlier, they are a team stacked with young talent, and if the talent shows up, it will be very possible for the Stars to defeat the Blackhawks in a seven-game series.

Finally, if they get past the challenges from the Western Conference, they will have to face the winner of the Eastern Conference, who could be the Washington Capitals, the NHL leader in points. The Capitals have shown that they are a dominant team, but the Stars are very capable of beating them. This would be an interesting matchup to see how the young talent of the Stars matches up against the solid veterans of the Capitals.

The Stars have not won the Stanley Cup since 1999, when they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 in the series. The Stars have great potential to win the Stanley Cup if the production keeps up from the young stars.