Dallas Stars January Prospect Rankings: An Infusion Of Youth Forthcoming?

I’ll have to try a make a lot more Texas games next year.

Campbell, Oleksiak, Nemeth, Austin Smith and maybe even Reilly Smith and Chiasson? Yes, please. This would be a huge boon for Texas. I would argue next year would be the first season that you could really consider Texas a true prospect developing farm team if this happens.

When I read an article about this, but its going to be fascinating to see how the organisation handles this. We will have a lot of young defencemen in Cedar Park next year Olekisak, Nemeth, Dillion, Benn, Coyle, Labrie are all possibilities. It will be interesting to see whether they will try and get at least one or two of those into the NHL because I think they will want an experienced player there to take them under their wing (Both Fortunus and Ludowich contracts are up at the end of this season) Its a pretty good feeling knowing how much our prospect situation has improved. From a few years back where we had barely any defensive prospects to now having quite playing in the AHL.

It will also be pretty good to see how Austin Smith, Alex Chiasson and Reilly Smith handle the AHL.

Much like Larsen and Vincour, his extended time up with the club might have us removing him from this list in the next rankings.

And I think if even 1/2 of those prospects show up in Austin next year, I might be organizing a road trip down there several times through the season.

He’s been on an absolute tear ever since he was snubbed for the WJCs. I still have no idea why CZE didn’t take him.

mentioned several times that they have no idea how this “big clumsy bag of pucks” even made it to the WJC and what Canadian team found in Oleksiak. Their “review” of the guy was very unfavorable.

Like Raycroft once, he just failed. Sometimes things just don’t work. He will need a fresh start, that’s it. No worries there, if you are not fan of Jokerit Helsinki.

Nemeth might be something fun. He is pretty cool dude and fans might learn to love him. He is “fun”. Even if he’s coach doesn’t think that way. He smashed russian “matuska” doll in commercial, without asking his coach. He also sometimes starts skating before national anthem is done, that you might not like.

i love reading stuff like this. seeing prospects come up and out of nowhere is one of my favorite things about the nhl.
and now we have 6 guys taking the next step. I’v gotta go watch them play.

He’s obviously not producing like he should be. But these are some interesting numbers I researched about him.

-In his first 13 games he only had 1 goal and 1 assist
-In his last 17 games he has, 5 goals and 8 assists
-In his last 6 games he has, 3 goals and 3 assists
-He is one of only 5 players with a + on the team (+1)

Like I said, he is not producing near what a top 10 draftee should be. But it is an improvement over what he was doing at the first of the year, and any improvement is good. Hopefully he can continue to get better and be competing for a roster spot in the near future.

Not eligible for the AHL next season?

I saw the WJHC game between Finland and Sweden on TSN. I noticed He didn’t get much ice time in the early goings of the game, when it was tight and they were sticking to defense first hockey. But once Sweden needed an offensive push, he was out almost the entire 3rd period. I’m not sure how horrendous he was as a whole, but didn’t he have 5 assists in 6 games, or something along those lines? I think he’s a guy that I could have in my top 6 someday, without requiring much of him defensively, sort of like the Avs and Sharks used to do with Sandis Ozolinsh. He’s fun to watch, always cycling the puck, actively pinching along the boards and has tremendous patience with the puck. At one point, he was in the slot and deked his way around a forechecking Finnish player from a standstill position, then let a shot go.

Long term, I just don’t see the need for Grossman on this team. Out of Fistric and Grossman, our two defense first guys who often are compared to one another, at least Fistric has intimidation qualities. Grossman is defensive, but he’s not really all that physical a lot of the time. I think he’s replaceable. Especially if we have Nemeth, Dillon, Oleksiak, Larsen and Benn all nipping at the heels of the NHL now and in the not-too-distant future.

Looking at the current D:

Goligoski- will be a mainstay for a few years to come.
Daley- Similar to Goligoski, but it seems many think less of him- could he be traded?
Robidas- Will be replaced in the next year or two.
Souray- I’d re-sign him for less than 2 million on a 1 year deal; a nice contingency plan until reinforcements are ready.
Pardy- Woywitka 2.0 (hope we can let Benn takeover; I believe what was said on another post by either Worley or someone else about Jamie playing better since he’s been in Dallas).
Fistric- intimidating. Maybe our Bryan Marchment? Long term, probably replaced or traded though. Dillon could fill this void perhaps?
Grossman- Maybe we acquire a defenseman at the deadline to replace him next season, or we move him for someone else? Either way, replaced by someone more capable.

So if we had Larsen, would that make Daley expendable? Does Dillon make Grossman expendable? Could someone replace Robidas now or next season? Someone we already have, or someone we’ll sign or trade for?

At 6’1", 183, Reilly’s got an inch and a few pounds on Ribeiro. He’s also only about 15 pounds lighter than Eriksson. Plus he’s not afraid to play a physical game. He’s shown this year that he can handle himself out on the ice.

Curtis MacKenzie was thought to be a win-at-all-costs grinder in the entry draft when we picked him. How does he look on the ice? Do you think he’ll be a good depth player for us, like a Burish, or maybe something more?

of the Stars prospects making the NHL? Could someone come up with a list of the current prospect group, from Europe, AHL, ECHL, collegiate, juniors, etc and the likelihood that they’ll make pro?

ex: Scott Winkler- 4th line NHL forward; Nico Sacchetti- bust, etc…