When you consider what Montgomery and his players had to deal with, it was a challenging year. This was the third head coach in three seasons for the players, so they had to adjust. Meanwhile, three key players (defenseman Stephen Johns, defenseman Marc Methot and center Martin Hanzal) were lost for the year due to injuries, and that forced the coaching staff to move pieces around.
"We had growing pains, which was natural," said Seguin. "It's not easy going through three coaches in three years. It is tough. But we bought in, and really since the All-Star break, we turned the page."
Which makes you think that next year could be even better. Yes, the team has some personnel decisions to make with unrestricted free agents like Mats Zuccarello, Jason Spezza, Ben Lovejoy and Roman Polak. Yes, there is the possibility the organization opens the door for even more youth next season.
But if the Stars got through the challenges of this season as well as they did, and will return the core of the team and have all of the experience of the season with the coaching staff, the guess is they are already miles ahead of where they started in 2018-19.
"Everything is going to be easier next year. The games aren't going to be easy, but our relationships, the language that we use, we should start the season a much more consistent team," Montgomery said. "We'll have our ups and downs at some point, but I think the beginning of the year -- the first month -- should be pretty smooth as far as us getting off the ground."