The Dallas Stars have their season on the line on Saturday night. The Stars could have eliminated the Colorado Avalanche from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, Colorado claimed victory in Game 6. And that sets up a winner-take-all contest for the right to advance this postseason.

However, the Stars will be without two of their best players. Dallas will be without star players Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson, head coach Pete DeBoer confirmed to team beat reporter Mike Heika. No matter the result, neither player will skate in the first round of this series.

Heiskanen has not played since January 28. The Dallas defenseman took a brutal hit to the knee from Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone in that game. Robertson, meanwhile, suffered a leg injury in the regular season finale.

Losing these players at this time is certainly brutal for any team. This has caused the team to adopt a “next man up” mentality through this first-round series against the Avalanche. In saying this, the Stars know other teams are without some of their best players, as well.

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“I think next man up, it's this time of year,” DeBoer said before the playoffs, via NHL.com. “We're not going to be the only team either starting without somebody or losing someone at some point. That's playoffs. You've just got to keep moving forward.”

Heiskanen is one of the best defensemen in the NHL at this time. The Stars blueliner has become one of the better offensive forces from the point. In particular, he had a 75-point season as recently as 2022-23. In 2024-25, he had five goals and 25 points in 50 games.

Robertson, meanwhile, has made history for the Stars already in his young career. He is the first player to score 100 points in a single season since the franchise relocated to Dallas, Texas. He accomplished this feat in 2022-23. This past season saw the Northville, Michigan native lead all Dallas skaters with 80 points in 82 games.