Here is a breakdown of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars rosters by some basic data points.

Acquisition Type

Let us first have a look at how the players were acquired on their respective teams.

No surprise that “Drafted” is how a good chunk of all teams are built.

Development Path to the NHL

Next, we will look at these players development path. Development Path can be subjective since several players had multiple stops in their development. I used rational assessments to determine which league had a more prominent role in these players early development between the ages of 17 to 20.

Age

The average ages are similar, but it is interesting to look at the different clusters of players that make up the average. Dallas has a group around 34 years old; while Tampa Bay has a large group of players between 29 and 32.

Nationality

And finally, we peek at the nationality mix of the two different rosters.

For more info on nationality, check out this post from last December that gives a broader view on nationality trends across the NHL.

I hope this gives you a bit more understanding of the teams vying for the Stanley Cup.