It’s been less than two weeks since the Dallas Stars began their 2019 offseason journey. And while they have already started making moves, there is still plenty left to be done. Here are three priorities that the team must focus on as the heat of the summer approaches.

It seems crazy to think that the Dallas Stars wrapped up their 2018-19 campaign less than two weeks ago. It’s also crazy to think that a maximum of nine Stanley Cup Playoff games separate the NHL from crowning a new champion and closing the book on the 2018-19 season.

Simply put: the offseason is quickly approaching. And for the Stars and the rest of the NHL, that means an opportunity to assess and plan for the future.

The offseason is arguably the most thrilling time of year on the hockey calendar. Trade rumors begin swirling, draft prospects become a central focus for most teams throughout the early part of June, and each of the 31 teams survey their pending free agents and potential trade pieces as they assemble an offseason strategy that will help them get a step closer to being a contender in the season to follow.

And for the Dallas Stars, that very opportunity will come into play throughout this summer. That’s because the 2019 offseason offers the Stars a chance to capitalize on a promising foundation that they built with an impressive 2018-19 push.

It was a year filled with unexpected happenings, unlikely heroes, and consistently conquering adversity for the Stars. They went from an average beginning with their rookie head coach into a rut of mediocrity at the midway point of the year. They battled internal conflict, plenty of losing skids, and a handful of potentially backbreaking injuries.

And yet, they never crumbled. From the All-Star Break to the end of the season, the Stars posted a mark of 19-11-3. It was enough to help them bounce past the playoff wall and into sole control of the first wild card spot in the Western Conference by the time the regular season ended.

After securing their first playoff berth since 2016, Dallas knocked off the Central division champion Nashville Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and went the distance with the St. Louis Blues in round two before dropping in double overtime of Game 7.

But that by no means puts a bad light on the 2018-19 season. It was a campaign filled with promise, new beginnings, excitement, and the groundwork for a bright future.

The next step is making sure that groundwork stays solid. That’s where the offseason comes into play.

When you take a look at the basic offseason protocol (pending free agents, potential targets in free agency, cap space, draft positioning, etc.), it doesn’t seem as though the Dallas Stars have as significant or busy of an offseason as they have had in years past.

Even so, there are still moves to be made and a to-do list to sort through. And on that to-do list, there are a handful of priorities that the Stars will have to handle.

With the heat of the offseason around one month away from kicking off, let’s take a quick look at some of those top priorities for Dallas.