Dallas Stars Season Grades: Dan Hamhuis

Dan Hamhuis became the 318th player to join the 1,000 games club this year. However, other than reaching that honor, was his season good enough to return to Dallas this coming October?

Hamhuis stayed healthy all season and played in 80 games out of the 82, something Marc Methot was not able to achieve. Hamhuis provided Dallas a solid and steady option on the blue line all season long, as he dabbled between the second and third defensive pairings. That has been the story of his career for each team he has played with since entering the league in 2003. Part of the reason Hamhuis reached the 1,000 game mark was that he has played the majority (more than 40 games) of the season for each season in his career.

He also put up the third most points among defensemen on the roster, behind John Klingber and Esa Lindell. Hamhuis scored three goals and dished out 21 assists for a total of 24 points on the year. He recorded the second most blocked shots in his long career at 113 and had 82 hits on the season. Being a big, aggressive presence was and still is a staple in Hamhuis’ game, as he has stayed true to being the old school defenseman relative to how the role of defense is evolving in the league.

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On the flip side, Hamhuis’ average time on ice has slowly been decreasing since his arrival in Dallas, but just by about a minute or two. This may be due to his staggeringly high goals against within the past two seasons at 60, with just 46 goals for and a -14 plus/minus rating. Hamhuis has either put up the worst plus/minus for the Stars among defensemen (as in the 2017-2018 season), or the second best among the Stars defensemen (the 2016-2017 season). The plus/minus category is still controversial, but when it comes to defensemen, you can often tell a lot about their on-ice imapct by the variation of play with and without them.

Now Dallas has a decision to make with its defense this upcoming year as John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, and Marc Methot’s spots seem pretty secure on the blue line. In addition to this, many are wondering who will come up, with Julius Honka, Dillon Heatherington, and Miro Heiskanen all eyeing on a permanent spot on the roster. While the other decision is who should be re-signed, with Dan Hamhuis, Greg Pateryn, and Stephen Johns looking at what changes could occur and if the youth movement within the blue line will take shape.

With the veteran Hamhuis on his last season of his contract, was his performance this year good enough to return in a Stars sweater? Or will the young defensemen start to take over the blue line for the Stars this upcoming season?

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