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Are rewards in the cards for Dallas, the NHL’s biggest off-season gambler?

The cards began stacking against the Dallas Stars before the 2016-17 season even got underway.
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Dallas Stars new head coach Ken Hitchcock, center, instructs his team along the bench during preseason NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues in Dallas. (Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The cards began stacking against the Dallas Stars before the 2016-17 season even got underway.

Team captain Jamie Benn got hurt late in the off-season, Tyler Seguin went down a few weeks later, and things only got worse from there as the Stars ended up with their worst season in more than 20 years.

General manager Jim Nill got busy in the off-season, almost surprisingly so.

“I knew he was going to try to make our team better — as any GM (would) — but he always seems to find a way to blow any expectations you might have,” Seguin said.

A look at the key moves of the biggest off-season gambler:

KEN HITCHCOCK — Head coach

How he helps: The Stars were a defensive disaster last season. Not only did they suffer from arguably the league’s worst goaltending, but woeful defence, both at even-strength and on the penalty kill.

Hitch is here to help.

The 65-year-old, fired midway through his sixth season with the Blues, has a well-earned reputation for boasting strong defensive outfits that keep the puck more often than not. Over his five full seasons in St. Louis, the Blues gave up the fourth fewest goals, second shots and owned the top-ranked penalty kill.

Hitchcock is also known for driving programs to the next level, including with the Stars, whom he led to a Stanley Cup in 1999. St. Louis had a 22-point jump in Hitchcock’s first season there.

Nill said Hitchcock was the obvious choice for that sparkling resume as well as his past connection to Dallas, where he spent six-plus seasons. He hoped Hitchcock would round the Stars out from a “run-and-gun” outfit to one with obvious structure and stability.

“He’s the last piece of the puzzle, I think, where he can add that type of structure to our game,” Nill said.

BEN BISHOP — Starting goaltender

Acquired by: Free agency (six years, US$29.5 million)

How he helps: Of the 41 goaltenders who played at least 30 games last season, Stars netminder Antti Niemi ranked 41st in save percentage (.892) and tandem-mate Kari Lehtonen (.902) ranked 39th. The duo were especially porous on the penalty kill with a combined save percentage of .815.

It’s difficult to win with that kind of netminding.

Bishop is supposed to fix those ills. The 30-year-old, who played minor league hockey for the Texas Tornado, didn’t have a great year last season, stumbling to a .910 save percentage in 39 games. But there’s a track record of success there, including a Vezina trophy nomination in 2016. He’s a massive presence between the pipes — at six-foot-seven he was the NHL’s tallest netminder last season — and Nill thinks his puck-playing ability will help the team’s defence.

“It’s no secret, if you’re going to win in this league your goaltending has got to be top-notch,” Nill said. ”Average goaltending is not going to do it.”

MARC METHOT — Defenceman

Acquired by: Trade (prospect and second round pick to Vegas)

How he helps: The Stars got some of the defensive presence they lacked by way of expansion, with the Golden Knights flipping Methot to Dallas for future considerations. Outside of 34-year-old Dan Hamhuis, the club’s back-end is brimming with youth and Nill felt Methot, a 32-year-old with almost 600 games of experience, would help. Long the defensive partner of Erik Karlsson in Ottawa, Methot could easily slide into top pairing duties with another talented Swede, 25-year-old John Klingberg. The Ottawa native should help the penalty kill, too.

ALEXANDER RADULOV — Winger

Acquired by: Free agency (five years, $31.25 million)

How he helps: Dallas was an offensive juggernaut two years ago, but fell off considerably last season. Radulov was added to inject firepower beyond Seguin, Benn, and Jason Spezza — the trio responsible most of the scoring previously. Seguin, for one, is excited. He figured the Stars would get a goalie and assumed Martin Hanzal was the requisite forward addition. “And then obviously when you top it off with Radulov, it got me a little giddy,” Seguin said last month.

Because Radulov played last season in the Eastern Conference and spent the four prior seasons in the KHL, Seguin knew little about his game. So he turned to YouTube.

“I can see how good of a player he is,” Seguin said of Radulov, who racked up 54 points for Montreal in his NHL return. ”He’s so good on the puck. He’s a good playmaker and he’s a guy that always has good puck possession numbers and you see he controls the play so I’m looking forward to that.”

MARTIN HANZAL — Centre

Acquired by: Free agency (three years, $14.25 million)

How he helps: The long Czech centre wasn’t the most exciting addition of the Stars big summer, but the organization thinks he’ll find a big role for the new head coach. “He’s got this type of body now that he can match up against anybody,” Nill said, listing off potential foes in Jonathan Toews, Anze Kopitar, and Ryan Getzlaf. Hanzal is six foot six, a sturdy puck possession player and ace in the faceoff circle. Nill spoke to Stars players like Benn for their assessment and what he heard back impressed him.

Hanzal was a “big, mean, nasty guy” whom the group didn’t like playing against.