One area of focus for each returning Dallas Stars player this season
For Stars set to hit free agency next summer, the 2024-25 season comes with high stakes
Dallas, TX
NHL’s powerhouse Central Division has seven playoff contenders, from Dallas to Nashville
Nino Niederreiter has taken a bit of a tour around the NHL’s Central Division, from Minnesota to Nashville to Winnipeg, so few know better just how deep it is.
The Dallas Stars are coming off a trip to the Western Conference Final, Colorado could get captain Gabriel Landeskog back after a two-year absence, Nashville loaded up by signing Steven Stamkos and others, St. Louis is back in the mix and Utah should be much-improved after relocating from Arizona. Only a maximum of five can make the playoffs.
“I feel like it’s back to a powerhouse,” Niederreiter said of the Central. “You have four or five teams that are going to play for the playoff spots, and I think it’s going to be very difficult.”
The Stars go in as the slight favorite after reaching the third round and pushing eventual West champion Edmonton to six games. Outside of the Oilers in the Pacific, Dallas is among the likeliest teams to get out of the conference and reach the final next spring, especially after making a long run.
“We learned just how hard it is to win,” young forward Wyatt Johnston said. “You always hear and everyone always talks about it. But you really learn once you get there how hard it is to win. It’s not easy to win even one playoff game, and you’ve got to win 16 of them to win the Stanley Cup.”
The Avalanche won the Cup three years ago, and hoisting it was the last thing Landeskog did on the ice in the NHL. Add him back to a group led by reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon and elite defenseman Cale Makar, and Colorado looks poised to be among the league’s best once again.
Then there are the Predators, who added Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei in free agency and signed goaltender Juuse Saros to a long-term extension. Saros and his teammates know it is time to make it count.
“You’ve got to work and be humble to get all the pieces working together because it is a hard league to win,” Saros said. “But obviously the expectations are there, for sure.”
On the rise
The Blues pulled off the biggest surprise of the summer, signing Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg of the Oilers to offer sheets that Edmonton opted not to match. Five years since winning the first title in franchise history and after going through a bit of a reset on the fly, St. Louis is back as a clear contender.
“(General manager Doug Armstrong has) been pretty open and honest with everyone about our team the last couple years and being in a retool,” forward Robert Thomas said. “We’re in a time to push right now. The retool’s over, we’re ready to go and I’m excited to kind of show everyone what we’ve built in St. Louis.”
The Utah Hockey Club also made some splashes, acquiring two-time Cup-winning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev from Tampa Bay at the draft among a series of moves by GM Bill Armstrong. There is also the excitement of the team formerly known as the Coyotes getting a fresh start in Salt Lake City, much like an expansion team but with tons of young talent already in place.
“It’s a great experience to be part of something brand new, a new team, because that doesn’t happen often,” goaltender Karel Vejmelka said. “It’s kind of unique, and I’m pretty excited about it.”
On the decline
Someone has to miss the playoffs other than Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks, who are likely at least a couple of years away from making that leap.
Minnesota might be on the wrong end of that in the final year of salary cap calamity. Buyouts of the albatross contracts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in 2021 will help the Wild immensely down the road, but they combine to count almost $15 million this season, which will hamstring GM Bill Guerin in what’s expected to be the final season for well-respected veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
On the hot seat
If Utah does not make a marked improvement, Andre Tourigny could be among the first coaches fired. Tourigny was brought in a few years ago to teach a young team good habits, and he has done that well, but an experienced hand at the wheel might be needed to take the next step for a franchise eager for a good start for their new fans.
Predicted order of finish
Dallas, Colorado, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg, Utah, Minnesota, Chicago.
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Dallas, TX
Mark Cuban takes legal action against the Dallas Mavericks ownership over proposed arena deal
The Dallas Mavericks have undergone a radical transformation since the heartbreak of the 2024 postseason, where a loss to the Boston Celtics signaled the end of an era. The decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025 remains one of the most polarizing moments in league history.
While the move shocked the basketball world, it effectively reset the franchise’s trajectory. By sheer luck, or what some critics continue to call “rigged” fortune, the Mavericks secured the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, allowing them to select Cooper Flagg.
Flagg has already proven to be a franchise-altering talent. Winning the Rookie of the Year award in the 2025-26 season, he became only the second rookie in the last 50 years to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
Mark Cuban reveals the moment when it became clear to him that Luka Doncic would excel in the NBA
The current front office is now laser-focused on building a sustainable, long-term contender around Flagg, ensuring that the team avoids the structural missteps that ultimately limited the Doncic years. With a roster now defined by youthful energy and versatility, the Mavericks are positioning themselves for a future where Flagg serves as the undisputed face of the organization.
Mark Cuban’s Legal Battle Against Former Franchise
The landscape of Mavericks ownership is currently embroiled in legal friction. Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur who sold his majority stake in 2023, has filed a petition in Dallas County district court seeking sworn testimony from a corporate representative of the Arena Development Institute.
The core of the dispute centers on the franchise’s pursuit of a new arena at the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas.
Cuban alleges that the team’s new governor, Patrick Dumont, is systematically shutting him out of major business decisions. According to court filings, Cuban maintains that he was contractually entitled to participate in the Valley View investment opportunity, a deal he believes he should have had a hand in.
The tension stems from a handshake agreement Cuban claims he had with Dumont and majority owner Miriam Adelson upon the sale of his stake. Cuban asserts that the deal included his continued oversight of basketball operations, a role he claims was stripped away and handed to former GM Nico Harrison without his input.
The relationship has devolved into what Cuban describes as “adversarial business practices.” In a particularly blunt exchange, Cuban alleges that Dumont challenged his influence by asking, “Why would I give you control of a $4 billion asset?” despite Cuban still retaining a 27 percent stake in the team.
While the team’s current management moves forward with plans for a new arena, slated to open for the 2031-32 season, Cuban is fighting to reclaim a seat at the table.
A Legacy of Transformation
Before this public fallout, Mark Cuban’s tenure as majority owner was defined by a total overhaul of the franchise’s culture. When he acquired the team in 2000, the Mavericks were largely an afterthought in the professional sports landscape.
His 24-year run as owner culminated in the franchise’s most glorious moment: the 2011 NBA Championship. Under his leadership, the Mavericks became a perennial playoff contender, fostering a standard of excellence that transformed the team into a global brand.
Regardless of the current legal animosity, Cuban’s legacy remains the bedrock upon which the modern Mavericks were built.
Dallas, TX
Mark Cuban takes legal action against Dallas Mavericks ownership over potential new arena deal
Mark Cuban has gone to court over frustrations that he’s being kept in the dark about the Dallas Mavericks moving forward in their quest to build a new arena.
Cuban’s lawyers have filed a petition in Dallas County district court seeking sworn testimony from a corporate representative of the Arena Development Institute, a company formed by Mavericks ownership in Delaware.
In June, the Mavericks announced that they had entered into an option agreement for the potential purchase of 104 acres of land at the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas.
The Mavericks’ lease at American Airlines Center expires in 2031, and the team hopes to move into a new building ahead of the 2031-32 season.
Cuban claims that this potential new arena deal could violate contracts he already has in place with the Mavericks’ owners in Texas.
In the document Cuban filed, he outlines his version of how he sold his majority stake in the Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont, the Sands Corporation CEO who also serves as the Mavericks governor. Cuban said he began working with them in 2019 to pass gambling in Texas. Their goal at the time was to build a “Venetian style destination resort” somewhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
In 2023, Cuban officially sold his majority stake in the Mavericks to Adelson. Cuban said that they had a handshake agreement in place where he would remain in control of the Mavericks’ basketball decisions while Dumont would be in charge of the team’s business side.
“This handshake agreement was reiterated in multiple emails and orally in the presence of Dumont, Miriam Adelson, another NBA owner, and Mavericks employees,” Cuban’s legal action read.
The Athletic asked Cuban if he could produce these emails. Cuban replied, “Can’t say anything at all.”
Dumont, of course, leaned on former general manager Nico Harrison to make basketball decisions, which went well — at first. The Mavericks made separate moves for P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, which resulted in them catching fire to close that season and making a surprise run to the NBA Finals.
But all of that goodwill was erased when Harrison decided to trade Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025 — a failed move that eventually cost Harrison his job.
In May, Dumont hired Masai Ujiri — a championship-winning executive who spent 12 seasons running the Toronto Raptors — to take over in Dallas as president and alternate governor. Ujiri will clearly wield significant power in Dallas. In one of his first major moves, Ujiri chose to fire coach Jason Kidd, despite Kidd having more than $40 million remaining on his contract.
Cuban maintains a 27 percent stake in the Mavericks but has minimal say in the day-to-day operations of the team. In the petition Cuban filed in court, he claims that Dumont once told him, “Why would I give you control of a $4 billion asset?”
— Melody Gutierrez and Nathan Fenno contributed to this report
Dallas police officers and firefighters are being praised after rescuing a homeless woman who was trapped in a ravine for days. First responders said the rescue pushed them to their limits, but they never gave up.
Paramedics and police officers responded to a call late last month in searing afternoon heat after a man working out near Conrad High School reported hearing faint cries for help.
“When we got the initial call with DPD, we were seeing notes that said that there was someone deep back beside the ravine,” Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedic Robert Kober recalled.
A recent storm had turned the terrain in the area into a thick, sticky mud. “You stepped in it, you sank past your ankles, sometimes halfway or more up to your knees. Nasty, nasty conditions,” Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Mark Gnewuch said.
They hiked nearly a quarter mile through the muck, thick brush and even sewage to find the woman. A one point they even needed to fashion a makeshift bridge, Kober said.
“By the time I got out there, I’d already slipped and fell once and my thought process was ‘wow, she has been out here for a while,’” Gnewuch said.
“I was expecting to see someone who was barely coherent, possibly deceased, but when we arrived on location and I saw her, she was actually carrying on a conversation,” Kober said.
The woman was taken to a hospital suffering from severe dehydration, prolonged sun exposure and other injuries, but was in stable condition.
“I have been on similar situations where individuals who are in that type of environment for that long, they don’t survive, so it was definitely a miracle to make it through,” Kober said.
The rescue was proof of what can be accomplished when first responders work together.
-
Seattle, WA50 seconds agoSeattle Weather: Cooler Sunday to close out weekend
-
Denver, CO3 minutes agoColorado Court of Appeals reverses sanction against Denver DA for pattern of discovery violations
-
San Diego, CA11 minutes agoRecord campaign cash was spent in San Diego’s City Council primaries. Did it pay off?
-
Milwaukee, WI18 minutes agoMilwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates Live Stream: How to Watch MLB
-
Atlanta, GA21 minutes agoFire’s hot shooting leads to 102-92 win over Dream with Angel Reese injured
-
Minneapolis, MN26 minutes agoMN weather: Extreme heat warning in the Twin Cities
-
Indianapolis, IN33 minutes agoWoman Injured in Shooting at Indianapolis Hotel
-
Pittsburg, PA36 minutes agoAfternoon showers possible on Sunday in Pittsburgh, but weather remains mostly sunny
