With few roster spots open, discussion looked pretty moot just a couple of weeks ago when we spoke of competition and prospects looking to make their mark. But as they always do in the NHL, injuries created opportunities for young men to show what they could do. It is as they say, a young mans game.

Jamie Benn was the talk of the camp coming in, and after his performance at the Traverse City Tournament, I personally thought that the hype was a little much. Boy was I wrong. Meanwhile Scott Glennie got hurt and couldn't participate, and eyes that weren't turned Benn's way were watching Ivan Vishnevskiy. Unfortunately the young Russians name didn't make the list today, so allow me to comment on him here: He is going to get here. He is almost ready. I thought he looked ready in the scrimmages in Frisco, playing with Stephane Robidas, but he failed to show that composure in his preseason contests. In one game he tallied a -4. Ouch. Some time as the top dog in Cedar Park will do him good, and we'll be seeing him. Not to worry.

I was blessed with the opportunity to watch these guys at many practices, scrimmages and games in the last two weeks, and here are my quick hits on those that remain after the roster was cut down yesterday:

Forwards:

13 - Krys Barch - A wholly unremarkable camp and pre-season. I think we've seen who Krys Barch is and I think that's who he'll continue to be. Someone who won't necessarily kill you on a 4th line and will go pick a fight if it needs picking.

14 - Jamie Benn - The talk of the camp. We've seen him excel with Modano in the scrimamges, and due to lack of Modano in the games, excel with Ribeiro and Morrow. After a quiet Traverse City tournament he showed up big time in the pre-season and you'll undoubtedly see him in a Stars uniform sometime soon we think.

96 - Fabian Brunnstrom - People are talking about him for different reasons. He seems to have played himself out of top 6 status. He looked to me in the games I saw and the practices I watched to be lacking in confidence. He still shies from the hard places on the ice a little. He improved this last week in the pre-season and could have scored a couple of goals if not for the brilliance of Clemmensen the other night, but it seems too little too late.

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After the jump, my preseason observations on Eriksson, Modano, Ott, Turco, Neal...everyone!

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More photos » Tony Gutierrez - AP

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The Dallas Stars have unofficially cut the roster down to the opening day maximum of 23, assigning 12 players elsewhere and releasing defenseman Andrew Hutchinson.

[Update]: It's official. From the Dallas Stars press release:

FRISCO, Tex. -- The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has assigned 10 players to the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). The club also announced that it has placed center Warren Peters on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone.

ASSIGNED TO AHL TEXAS STARS:
Right Wing Mathieu Beaudoin
Goaltender Matt Climie
Defenseman Maxime Fortunus
Center Aaron Gagnon
Defenseman Dan Jancevski
Goaltender Brent Krahn
Defenseman Garrett Stafford
Right Wing Raymond Sawada
Defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy
Left Wing Francis Wathier

PLACED ON INJURED RESERVE:
Center Warren Peters (fractured orbital bone)

Luke Gazdic and Andrew Hutchinson are still technically on the roster, hence the "25 players" number above. Gazdic may have to go on the IR as well, and Hutchinson is being placed on waivers and therefore is technically not a cut.

Before training camp began there was a pretty good idea of what the roster would like when the season started, with one and perhaps two spots up for grabs in the preseason. Jamie Benn, with perhaps the best training camp of any Dallas Stars player, has earned the right along with Tom Wandell to fight one more week for the chance to make the opening roster.

Don't get all excited about getting the chance to see Benn make his NHL debut on October 3 just yet. Marc Crawford and the Stars have stated several times the past few weeks that there is a good chance that the team keeps just 22 players on the roster: one extra forward and defensemen with the extra spot vacant to allow a prospect to get valuable time in the AHL, instead of being an healthy scratch two out three nights.

Continued after the jump.

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More photos » Mark Avery - AP

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[UPDATE] No official announcement just yet, but the Stars are down to 23 players. Jamie Benn and Tom Wandell are still on the NHL roster, with Andrew Hutchinson being placed on waivers. More to come. [END UPDATE]

According to Mark Stepneski, Dallas Stars defenseman Andrew Hutchinson will be placed on waivers and sent to the AHL if he clears. Hutchinson was solid last season for the Stars in a fill-in role, but has had a rough preseason adjusting to Crawford's new system.

The Stars had eight defenseman under NHL contract and there was bound to be a move at some point to get that number down, especially if the Stars decide to go with two extra forwards. Before training camp began Hutchinson and Jeff Woywitka were on the short list of who might get the axe; Hutchinson struggled and Woywitka has been solid.

There are still 35 players on the roster, and we're expecting to see a full round of cuts later today. I'll be updating this post as news comes down.

By the way, the news on Hutchinson wasn't much of a surprise when he wasn't at practice this morning. Jamie Benn and Tom Wandell were on the ice however. Things that make you go 'hmm.....'.

More photos » Wilfredo Lee - AP

Oh darn.

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The Dallas Stars are set to take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight at home, after two extremely unimpressive performances against the Florida Panthers. As we get ready to move forward to tonight and the game Saturday, I'm left with some random thoughts tumbling around in my head about where this team is and where it might be headed. Here are my quick observations about what we've seen so far.

• Training camp is nearing it's end and the regular season is just around the corner, and I feel like I have no clue what kind of team the Dallas Stars will be. Perhaps its the lack of any kind of radio or television coverage of the preseason games but most likely it's due to the underwhelming and inconsistent performance of the team so far. I've already seen this Dallas Stars team before (no power play, bad penalties, inability to take advantage of the opposition's mistakes) and it's not one that I liked. Let's get it together, Marc.
• With all of the talk of Jamie Benn, Fabian Brunnstrom, Brad Richards and the rest of this team's talent at forward, it seems the defense has been ignored somewhat (by us, not the coaches). Other than some issues on the penalty kill, it seems like the defense has not been the big problem we thought it be. Now, Matt Niskanen had some issues last night on the point on the power play but I've yet to read anywhere about massive breakdowns by Mark Fistric, Nicklas Grossman or Niskanen, which is a big step up from last season. If I'm wrong, we'll find out soon enough.

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More photos » Tony Gutierrez - AP

Jamie Benn (right) continues to impress this preseason. Benn scored the lone goal for the Dallas Stars last night while also playing on the top line with Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro.

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A quick disclaimer: the opinions expressed in these articles are purely objective, if for no other reason than I have yet to see Jamie Benn or Fabian Brunnstrom play in a Stars jersey this preseason. Instead all I have to go on are the reports of Mike Heika, Mark Stepneski and our own Brad G, as well as the actions of Marc Crawford.

When camp started ten days ago the predominant theory was that there was just one roster spot available for a young prospect to claim, especially with the Stars apparently set to head into the NHL season with eight defensemen. If the Stars drop one of the blue-liners, that could open up another spot but most likely leads to the Stars just carrying 22 players on the roster with their AHL affiliate just a few hours away.

At the time, I was ready to place either Ray Sawada, Tom Wandell or Warren Peters in that open spot since all three were solid and versatile young "veterans". There had also been talk all summer about WHL sensation and top prospect Jamie Benn and what his chances were to make the NHL roster out of camp. With the Stars insisting he needed time in Austin to adjust to this level of play we've been assuming that would be the case unless Benn left no doubt that he belonged in the NHL after training camp.

And he's close to that level right now.

Currently there are two positions on the Stars that are an unknown at this point, both on the right wing. James Neal, Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson have entrenched themselves as the second line, and Steve Ott seems to be a lock to play on the left wing with Mike Modano. Crawford has repeatedly said that Jere Lehtinen will play on the right of Modano when he returns from injury, so that left others with the belief that Fabian Brunnstrom would just slide up to the right wing on the top line.

Earlier this offseason, we made the argument that the top line is where Brunnstrom could be at his best. Yet so far he has been invisible, both in games and in practices. He hasn't played horribly yet he has not progressed to become the dangerous scoring threat he hinted he could be as the season ended in April. Brunnstrom has seemingly lost confidence in himself and has had trouble adjusting to the new offensive system Marc Crawford is implementing. It took him a few months last season to finally get in a groove, and that was only after the Stars were eliminated from playoff contention. For a player touted to be a great scoring machine, Brunnstrom was disappointing overall. He hasn't shown much this preseason and with a new coaching regime in place, patience could be short.

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More photos » Tom Gannam - AP

Jamie Benn is making it tough for the Stars to deny him a roster spot.

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The Stars are set to enter a brutal stretch of preseason games, playing four games in five days. This includes a home-away-home schedule from tonight to Thursday and with only 36 players on the roster. Marc Crawford will have a tough task ahead, attempting to juggle keeping his players fresh and healthy while also working further to implement his system with the players who will actually be on the roster on opening day.

Even though we won't see the final team altogether on the ice until at least Saturday and possibly not until opening night, the next few games should give us a true sense of exactly what kind of team the Stars can be with Crawford as coach.

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The Dallas Stars have announced the roster has been reduced to 36, with ten players assigned to the AHL or elsewhere. Marc Crawford has stated he wanted to get down to 30 by today, so stay tuned for more news this evening. From the Dallas Stars press release:

ASSIGNED TO AHL TEXAS STARS TRAINING CAMP (which begins this evening at Cedar Park Center):
Goaltender Richard Bachman
Right Wing Sergei Korostin
Defenseman Guillaume Monast
Left Wing Michael Neal
Center Perttu Lindgren
Defenseman Trevor Ludwig
Right Wing Colton Sceviour
Right Wing Tyler Shelast
Defenseman Matt Stephenson

ASSIGNED TO JUNIOR TEAM:
Center Scott Glennie (Brandon Wheat Kings)

No surprises here, although I'm skeptical Bachman will make the AHL team. I assume he'll participate in the Texas Stars camp before being reassigned to the ECHL.

After the jump, the updated Dallas Stars roster.

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After only two pre-season games and one iteration of all the training camp attendees suiting up, we don't have all the information we'd like about this thing. We've seen the pace wax and wane in both games, and we've seen special teams play a very large role in determining the outcomes. The goaltending has been generally good, and the power play has produced a tally in both contests.

It's the 5 on 5 play that has to be a concern to coach Crawford at this point. That may improve with time when the roster gets shaved down to the NHL only guys, or when the refs pocket the whistles, but the Dallas skipper offers some thoughts on installing his system and we'll take a look at those here.

St Louis is the problem at hand tonight, fresh off a 6 goal performance in their pre-season opener. Couple that with their prospects shiny showing in Traverse City and you can see that St. Louis is a team on the rise, not to be taken lightly.

After the jump, tonight's lineup, practice lines from yesterday, coach Crawford's comments, a new Stars on-air personality? And more...

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