The Dallas Stars are a mess right now. They won just three of their first nine games, suffering defensive lapses and poor goaltending along the way.

Blues fans saw that for themselves earlier this month.

The good news: They are about to get Sergei Zubov back from hip surgery, perhaps by Saturday.

The bad news: It will take more than Zubov’s return to straighten things out.

“He’s an elite-level defenseman who will give you 25-plus minutes a game and play in all situations. So, yeah, he can have a positive impact for us,” coach Dave Tippett said told the Dallas Morning News.

“But our problems right now are in a lot of different areas with a lot of different players, and we can’t be looking for saviors. We all have to get better.”

Morning News scribe Mike Heika suggests that Zubov could reunite with young Matt Niskanen, which would allow Trevor Daley to team with veteran Philippe Boucher. Stephane Robidas and Nicklas Grossman has been the top unit this year.

If these six can restore order in the Dallas zone, perhaps goaltender Marty Turco can pull out of his early-season funk. He has a 4.26 goals-against average and an .842 save percentage.

It’s no wonder the team called in goaltending consultant Andy Moog to work with him. The team lacks a Plan B; No. 2 goaltender Tobias Stephan has played just 50 minutes all season.

The Blues, by contrast, got stellar work from youngsters Ben Bishop and Marek Schwarz when Chris Mason (appendectomy), then Manny Legace (hip flexor injury) went down.

OFFENSE TO GET A PALUSHAJ?

Look who was fourth on the Hockey News “Hot List” of top prospects this week:

Aaron Palushaj, RW – Michigan Wolverines (CCHA): When it rains, it pours, eh? Not only is St. Louis piling up offense in the NHL early on, but Blues prospect Palushaj is leading the CCHA with five goals and 10 points in six games. Drafted 44th overall by St. Louis in 2007.

AROUND THE RINKS: Another top Blues prospect, Lars Eller, cooled off for Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League. He has just two goals and three assists in 13 games . . . HockeyBuzz.com speculated that Ottawa could move cornerstone center Jason Spezza to clear salary cap room for goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. But then Spezza led Ottawa to victory in Buffalo, scoring two goals and adding assist. Goaltender Alex Auld, filling in for the injured Martin Gerber, earned the victory – and too a step toward more regular duty . . . Tampa Bay Lightning management is exorcised by something Al Stachan said on “Hockey Night in Canada.” It’s been a fun season for Barry Melrose so far in Tampa . . . Now that Rick DiPietro is proving injury-prone, pundits wonder how the Islanders feel about having him under contract until the 2021 season . . . The Coyotes added some needed experience on defense, claiming Ken Klee from the Ducks on waivers . . . Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey shot down reports that he is interesting in landing Wild winger Marian Gaborik . . . Former career pest Matthew Barnaby is opining on hockey for ESPN these days. Here was his take on Stars agitator Sean Avery: “I loved being Public Enemy No. 1 and I know that Sean Avery loves it too. The only difference between myself and Sean Avery is my teammates, I think, liked me and I can’t say the same thing about Sean .  . . When he concentrates, he’s a very good player. He does a lot of good things on the ice. Very good skater. Very good playmaker and he can help his team win a lot of games. But Sean Avery has to do a lot of the other things, like stay out of the media sometimes and put his team first.”