Marc Methot – McKeen's Hockey

Pioneer Trail – Dallas Stars 2018-19 Season Preview

Tom Dorsa — Sat, 15 Sep 2018 19:05:38 +0000

Review/State of Play - When you close your eyes and think of the Dallas Stars, you imagine this fast, creative, and dynamic team running the wheels off of their competition with high-end talent and energy all throughout the lineup. This was their identity as the team with the best record in the Western Conference in the 2015-16 regular season, a run that took them to game seven of the Stanley Cup Playoffs' second round before eventually falling to St. Louis.

After former head coach Lindy Ruff lost the locker room and was dismissed following a disappointing 2016-17 campaign, the hiring of Ken Hitchcock completely reversed this identity. Hitchcock, an older, more conservative coach, committed to an outdated approach that changed the Stars from a speedy, risk vs reward team to a classic, old-school, defense-first club.

The results were, well, as expected. The hiring of Hitchcock turned the squad upside down and way behind the times, culminating in Dallas' second consecutive season outside of the postseason. In fact, within their so-called competitive window, the Stars have qualified for the playoffs just twice, and winning only one series, a first-round bout against Minnesota. So what can this club do?

Jamie Benn

New coach, new approach - With former Art Ross Trophy winner Jamie Benn, 40-goal scorer Tyler Seguin, skilled 70-point winger Alexander Radulov, and two-way All-Star defenseman John Klingberg, the Stars have a team with as much top-end talent as nearly any other club in the league. As they exist in the prime years of their respective careers, there is no time to waste for anyone involved.

Enter Jim Nill. Throughout his tenure as Dallas Stars general manager, Nill has been touted as the official champion of the offseason. From fleecing his fellow GMs in lopsided trades, to making shrewd free agent signings that immediately upgrade his team's depth chart at all positions, Nill is never afraid to make headlines. It was clear the king of the summer in the NHL had some work to do, and at this point in his career, it's put up or shut up for Nill.

The first big splash he made this offseason was the hiring of University of Denver's Jim Montgomery, a first-time NHL bench boss, to man the job as head coach. Montgomery vows to reignite the energetic, speedy Stars clubs that were successful in the earlier parts of the decade, starting from the top to the bottom and arranging lines based almost solely on generating scoring chances. The former Stars player did such so effectively at Denver that the transition to the NHL should be a breeze for the 2017 NCAA Division I coach of the year.

Depth built to support high end talent - Nill also addressed perhaps the biggest hole the team had entering the free agent period: depth scoring. In bringing former first-round pick Valeri Nichushkin back from the KHL, Nill gets a physical, skilled right winger for a depth chart light on such, and also inked speedy third-liner Blake Comeau to a three-year contract. Depth scoring was a glaring statistical issue for last season's Stars; after Benn (79), Seguin (78), Radulov (72), and Klingberg (67), otherwise referred to as the big four, the next-highest scorer on the squad was 34-point wing Mattias Janmark.

With depth scoring being shored up, the team looks much more competitive, especially given the ultra stout defensive core. For the first time in ages, the Stars' defense looks like more of a strongsuit than a weakness, with Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Julius Honka, and super prospect Miro Heiskanen -- all defensemen capable of being a number-one d-man -- competing for top-four spots on the blueline.

Outlook - The Stars franchise was on an international spotlight when they hosted the NHL Draft at American Airlines Center in June. Now, they hope to gain attention from success, and have people flocking to AAC again, this time for playoff hockey.

2017 NHL Team Draft Grades: Central Division – Dallas Stars

Ryan Wagman — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 15:16:32 +0000

Shortly after 1:00pm CST, on Saturday, June 24, 2017, the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins selected William Reilly, a defenseman from RPI as the 217^th player selected, bringing the 2017 Entry Draft to an end. With a few days of hindsight between me and the bowels of the United Center, the urge to spew out hot takes flushed away, it is time to analyze the strategies and selections employed by the league’s 31 teams.

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 23: A general view of the floor prior to the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft on June 23, 2017, at the United Center, in Chicago, IL. (Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire)

The analysis will focus on the first five rounds, as it is clear to most long-time observers that the final two rounds are often taken up with long-shots, favours to regional scouts, or a myriad of reasons. I will, of course, call out some astute late picks, but will not judge a team for the names called in the final hour. The apocryphal story of Pekka Rinne, drafted as an eighth round after-thought in 2004 based mostly on his play in game warm-ups. Few other scouts would have seen him at all, and he has had a very good career, which is not yet over. For the most part, though, those picks have little statistical likelihood of having NHL careers and teams should not be judged there.

Finally, all grades are incomplete. Actual winners and losers in this draft class will not be known until 2023 at the earliest, after those who will have “made it” will have played out their entry-level contracts. What I am looking at here is whether, knowing what we know now, the drafting team got good value.

Each draft class will be graded using the 20-80 scale that we use in our player specific scouting reports throughout the site. In this context, a 50 is essentially an average grade in light of the picks the team had on draft day. A 20 would mean the draft is an untimigated disaster while an 80 would be the best draft class of all time. As those things can only be truly seen in retrospect, most classes will trend towards 50 at this point, so pay attention to those we see as outliers.

RD	#	CS	MCK	PLAYER	P	AGE	HT/WT	TEAM
1	3	4-E	3	Miro HEISKANEN	D	18	6-0/170	HIFK Helsinki (Fin)
1	26	1-NG	44	Jake OETTINGER	G	18	6-4/210	Boston University (HE)
2	39	14-N	25	Jason ROBERTSON	LW	18	6-2/195	Kingston (OHL)
4	101	141-N	hm	Liam HAWEL	C	18	6-4/180	SSM-Gue (OHL)
5	132	88-E		Jacob PETERSON	C	18	6-0/165	Frolunda (Swe Jr)
6	163	142-N		Brett DAVIS	RW	18	6-1/180	Let-Ktn (WHL)
7	194	8-NG	hm	Dylan FERGUSON	G	18	6-1/190	Kamloops (WHL)

RD	#	PLAYER	P	TEAM	GP (W)	G (L)	A (T)	PTS (GA)	PIM (Sv%)
1	3	Miro HEISKANEN	D	HIFK Helsinki (Fin)	37	5	5	10	4
1	26	Jake OETTINGER	G	Boston University (HE)	21	11	3	2.11	0.927
2	39	Jason ROBERTSON	LW	Kingston (OHL)	68	42	39	81	29
4	101	Liam HAWEL	C	SSM-Gue (OHL)	66	9	19	28	40
5	132	Jacob PETERSON	C	Frolunda (Swe Jr)	44	15	12	27	8
5	132			Frolunda (Swe Jr 18)	3	3	1	4	6
6	163	Brett DAVIS	RW	Let-Ktn (WHL)	59	18	15	33	18
7	194	Dylan FERGUSON	G	Kamloops (WHL)	16	10	2	2.74	0.922

Dallas Stars - Grade 40

MONTREAL, CANADA - JANUARY 2: Finland's Miro Heiskanen #2 lets a shot go during relegation round action against Latvia at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Even though they had the third pick of the draft, and did the smart thing by selecting Finnish blueliner Miro Heiskanen, whose decision making and skating ability are already NHL-ready, I can only be disappointed with their haul. Of course, assuming Heiskanen lives up to his advance billing, and leads the Dallas defense corps for the next decade, no one will remember. But they could have done more.

BOSTON, MA - MARCH 17: The puck beats Boston University Terriers goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) for the Eagles first goal of the game during a Hockey East semifinal between the Boston University Terriers and the Boston College Eagles (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

First, they broke the cardinal rule against using first round picks on goaltenders. They were likely afraid that Jake Oettinger would be gone by their next pick, but considering that the next goalie off the board was not until pick 54, and we believed that Oettinger was roughly equivalent to at least two other young netminders in the draft, this was a mistake in value.

I expect more from Jim Nill. They partially redeemed themselves with the round two selection of Jason Robertson, a scoring winger from Kingston that we saw as a potential first rounder. His game has warts, but a great cure for warts is goals. He does that.

The only other notable element of their draft class is that they are the first team to have traded away one of their picks since the draft ended, having sent seventh rounder Dylan Ferguson to Vegas as part of the package for defender Marc Methot. They drafted a lot of size, with no one measuring at under 6” tall. They also drafted young, with only the goalies being late birthdates. I will grant them more room for growth than most, but still look at this class with some disappointment.

Best value: Jason Robertson, LW, Kingston (2/39): Needs more commitment off the puck and better burst to his skating, but seems ready to work to round out his game. The offensive side is already very high end.

Biggest head-scratcher: Jake Oettinger, G, Boston University (1/26): Discussed at length above, but it bears repeating. Don’t draft goalies in the first round. Dishonorable mention goes to Liam Hawel, a large center taken in the fourth round. The size is there, but there has been little evidence thus far in his young career of skill.

Vegas Golden Knights unveil their roster with more chips to fall.

McKeen's Hockey — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 16:19:24 +0000

The Vegas Golden Knights unveiled the first generation of a roster that will likely undergo many changes in the next few days. Rumours of pending trades abound as the NHL Draft gets underway in Chicago tomorrow night.

Marc-Andre Fleury becomes the biggest name on the roster, anchoring the team in net. James Neal brings his sniper’s touch and 238 NHL goals to lead the offense. He ranks 14^th in the NHL over the lasts six years with 165. There are other interesting acquisitions, with many likely acquired to be flipped in short order.

GM George McPhee has held all the cards so far, but the state of play remains in motion, with many chips left to fall. It is premature to analyze the Golden Knights today, so in the meantime here is their current roster.

For subscribers we have set up the team page, if you want to link to the player pages via the team page. You can also link from the tags at the bottom of the article.

Depth Chart

LEFT WING	CENTER	RIGHT WING
Jonathan Marchessault	Vadim Shipachyov	James Neal
David Perron	Cody Eakin	Reilly Smith
William Carrier	William Karlsson	Teemu Pulkkinen
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	Oscar Lindberg	Chris Thorburn

Brendan Leipsic	Erik Haula	Alex Tuch
Connor Brickley	Tomas Nosek	Tomas Hyka
Nikita Gusev	Reid Duke	David Clarkson
	Mikhail Grabovski

LEFT DEFENSE	RIGHT DEFENSE
Marc Methot	Colin Miller
Brayden McNabb	David Schlemko
Alexei Emelin	Trevor van Riemsdyk
Jason Garrison	Deryk Engelland

Jon Merrill	Nate Schmidt
Clayton Stoner	Shea Theodore
Griffin Reinhart	Luca Sbisa
Jake Bischoff

GOAL
Marc-Andre Fleury

Calvin Pickard
Jean-Francois Berube

PLAYER	POS	HT/WT	AGE	2016-17 STATS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Reid Duke	C	6-0/195	21	Brandon (WHL)	59	37	34	71	81
Cody Eakin	C	5-11/190	26	Dallas (NHL)	60	3	9	12	49
Mikhail Grabovski	C	5-10/185	33	NY Islanders (NHL) - DNP Inj
Erik Haula	C	5-11/190	26	Minnesota (NHL)	72	15	11	26	28
William Karlsson	C	6-0/190	24	Columbus (NHL)	81	6	19	25	10
Oscar Lindberg	C	6-1/190	25	NY Rangers (NHL)	65	8	12	20	32
Tomas Nosek	C	6-2/210	25	Grand Rapids (AHL)	51	15	26	41	33
Vadim Shipachyov	C	6-0/190	30	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)	50	26	50	76	22
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	LW	6-0/195	32	Philadelphia (NHL)	82	4	4	8	20
Connor Brickley	LW	6-0/205	25	Charlotte (AHL)	69	15	11	26	57
William Carrier	LW	6-1/200	22	Buffalo (NHL)	41	5	3	8	21
Nikita Gusev	LW	5-9/165	25	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)	57	24	47	71	8
Brendan Leipsic	LW	5-9/170	23	Toronto (AHL)	49	18	33	51	30
Jonathan Marchessault	LW	5-9/175	26	Florida (NHL)	75	30	21	51	38
David Perron	LW	6-0/195	29	St. Louis (NHL)	82	18	28	46	54
David Clarkson	RW	6-1/205	33	Columbus (NHL) - DNP Inj
Tomas Hyka	RW	5-11/170	24	Mlada Boleslav (Cze)	48	17	21	38	18
James Neal	RW	6-2/210	30	Nashville (NHL)	70	23	18	41	35
Teemu Pulkkinen	RW	5-11/190	25	Iowa (AHL)	47	18	18	36	36
Reilly Smith	RW	6-0/185	26	Florida (NHL)	80	15	22	37	17
Chris Thorburn	RW	6-3/225	34	Winnipeg (NHL)	64	3	1	4	95
Alex Tuch	RW	6-4/220	21	Iowa (AHL)	57	18	19	37	28
Jake Bischoff	D	6-1/195	23	Minnesota (B1G)	38	5	27	32	16
Alexei Emelin	D	6-1/220	31	Montreal (NHL)	76	2	8	10	71
Deryk Engelland	D	6-2/205	35	Calgary (NHL)	81	4	12	16	85
Jason Garrison	D	6-1/220	32	Tampa Bay (NHL)	70	1	8	9	14
Brayden McNabb	D	6-4/205	26	Los Angeles (NHL)	49	2	2	4	54
Jon Merrill	D	6-3/210	25	New Jersey (NHL)	51	1	5	6	24
Marc Methot	D	6-3/225	32	Ottawa (NHL)	68	0	12	12	24
Colin Miller	D	6-0/195	24	Boston (NHL)	61	6	7	13	55
Griffin Reinhart	D	6-4/215	23	Bakersfield (AHL)	54	7	14	21	42
Luca Sbisa	D	6-2/205	27	Vancouver (NHL)	82	2	11	13	40
David Schlemko	D	6-1/195	30	San Jose (NHL)	62	2	16	18	14
Nate Schmidt	D	6-0/195	26	Washington (NHL)	60	3	14	17	16
Clayton Stoner	D	6-3/225	32	Anaheim (NHL)	14	1	2	3	28
Shea Theodore	D	6-2/185	22	Anaheim (NHL)	34	2	7	9	28
Trevor van Riemsdyk	D	6-2/185	26	Chicago (NHL)	58	5	11	16	29
				2016-17 STATS	GP	W	L	GAA	SV%
Jean-Francois Berube	G	6-1/170	26	NY Islanders (NHL)	14	3	2	3.42	0.889
Marc-Andre Fleury	G	6-2/175	32	Pittsburgh (NHL)	38	18	10	3.02	0.909
Calvin Pickard	G	6-0/195	25	Colorado (NHL)	50	15	31	2.98	0.904