Wyatt Johnston’s Dallas Stars look like they might be this year’s team of destiny

Although the Stars have boasted a strong lineup all season long, the one major knock against them entering these playoffs was that they didn’t have a center to match up against the Western Conference’s other contenders. Edmonton has Connor McDavid; Colorado has Nathan MacKinnon; Vancouver has Elias Pettersson. Who does Dallas have?

As unusual as it may seem to list a guy coming off a 65-point season next to those great players, Johnston fully deserves that recognition right now. He’s at a level of dominance typically reserved only for guys going on career-defining runs, like Danny Briere in 2010, Marian Gaborik in 2014, or, more recently, Jonathan Marchessault last spring.

Each of those guys looked like a man possessed during those playoff years — and, right now, so does Johnston. But unlike the others, Johnston is only just beginning his career. Again, we have yet to see him play a single game over the age of 20. This could be a player just beginning his ascent into superstardom.

In Game 4 against the Avalanche on Monday, Johnston was practically undeniable. He scored the game’s first two goals, added an assist on Sam Steel‘s empty-netter, and took a game-high eight shots. Via Natural Stat Trick, the Stars doubled Colorado in scoring chances with Johnston on the ice at 5-on-5.

There hasn’t been a single more dominant Star in these playoffs than Johnston, who has seven goals; Miro Heiskanen is the only one of his teammates with more than three. The Stars have been crushing their competition during Johnston’s shifts, which has only emboldened head coach Peter DeBoer to play him more: His average ice time is up from 17:00 in the regular season to 20:08 in 11 playoff contests.

Johnston leads everyone in the playoffs with 68 shot attempts at 5-on-5, a full 10 more than second-place David Pastrnak (who has played in one extra game). Johnston also leads the league by a wide margin in individual expected goals and scoring chances. This isn’t just a case of someone getting lucky. He’s this good.

With Johnston and the Stars playing this well, it’s becoming more difficult to imagine who could feasibly prevent them from securing the Stanley Cup. They’re one win away from eliminating the Avs, which would set them up for a date with the Vancouver Canucks or Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final.

It’s been a back-and-forth affair between the Canucks and Oilers, who are guaranteed to play at least six games and could make it all the way to a seventh. Both teams have their strengths, but neither is as well-rounded as the Stars at each position — at least, not on paper. They’d both enter a series against Dallas as the underdogs.

The four teams still alive in the Eastern Conference would also present their own different challenges. The Florida Panthers are probably the favorite to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive year and, in theory, would match up well against the Stars.

Of course, this year’s Avalanche team isn’t dead quite yet, but it’d take a Herculean effort for them to merely get back on even footing with the Stars after losing Valeri Nichushkin midway through a playoff series for the second year in a row. The Avs looked flat-out stunned in Game 4; now, they’ll have to win three in a row to get past Dallas.

The Stars have already won three consecutive games in this series and will go for a fourth when they return to action for Game 5 on home ice on Wednesday evening. If they win, they’ll be halfway to clinching their first championship in 25 years — and so far, Johnston is the clear-cut playoff MVP.