Mike Modano has played all 18 of his NHL seasons with the Stars franchise. At the age of 17, he was selected by the Minnesota North Stars as the first overall draft pick in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, an honor shared by only 5 other Americans: Brian Lawton (1983), Bryan Berard (1995), Rick DiPietro (2000), Erik Johnson (2006) and Patrick Kane (2007). Modano's first career NHL goal was scored against Glenn Healy of the 1New York Islanders.

Modano won the Stanley Cup in 1999 with the Stars, putting together consecutive seasons of over twenty playoff points in 1999 and 2000. He has also played in the 1991 and 2000 Stanley Cup finals. Modano has also been a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy (1990), the Frank J. Selke Trophy (2001), and the Lady Byng Trophy (2003). He controversially lost the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the year's best rookie, to 31-year-old Sergei Makarov, who had already played professionally for the Russian Super League for over 12 years; because of this, the NHL imposed an age barrier for Calder candidates the following year. Modano's best statistical seasons were in 1992-93 and 1993-94, when he had 93 points each. During the 1993-94 season, the franchise's first in Dallas, Modano recorded a personal-best 50 goals. His career high for points in a game is 6 (2-4-6) against the Anaheim Ducks. Modano has 7 career hat tricks. Modano's only career fight was against Rod Brind'Amour. The long-time face of the Dallas franchise, he has recorded over 1,000 NHL points and became the captain of the Stars in 2003. During the 2005 offseason, Modano contemplated signing with the Boston Bruins, but decided to stay with the Dallas Stars after owner Tom Hicks got involved.