Dallas Stars Daily Links: Breaking Down Traverse City Performances

The Stars prospects locked up 5th place in the Traverse City tournament yesterday, beating the Hurricanes young guns 7-3 to finish the tournament with a 2-1-1 record. The record in these kind of tournaments aren’t what’s important; rather, you want to see the guys you will be counting on for the next several years to showcase their game and see where they are in their development. Mark Stepneski broke down the top prospects, with a few notables that stood out. First and foremost, The Future, Miro Heiskanen:

He’s a great skater, makes sharp passes, creates offensively, and defends well. There’s a belief he will thrive once he gets to play with NHL players because of the way he thinks the game.

I’m weary of Stars’ fans expectations getting too high for Heiskanen, but it’s really hard to keep them in check. Another one I found encouraging was Stars’ #1 pick this year, Ty Dellandrea. The pick seemed a touch underwhelming when it was made, but maybe a high floor, low-to-medium ceiling pick isn’t the worst thing:

He plays well in all three zones. He doesn’t shy away from the physical stuff, wins his share of puck battles and competes every shift. He is not flashy, but there is some good skill there. He is just a good player. A good, consistent player.

There’s much, much more at Mark’s usual spot. [NHL]

Stars Stuff

Darren Dreger reports contract talks between Tyler Seguin and the Stars are at a “pivotal spot”

Sean Shapiro has some thoughts on the Stars’ prospects as well:

I love the fact that Vern Fidler is running informal workouts for the Stars before training camp. [NHL]

I totally get what he’s saying, but I don’t mind a goalie that has just a little bit of flair:

For some reason I find this kind of stuff fascinating:

Esa Lindell gave a little tour of his hometown, Helsinki, Finland. Full disclosure: I thought Helsinki was called Helinski until I was like 16. [NHL]

Around the League

Steve Yzerman is stepping down as the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning and handing the reins over to the fantastically named Julien BriseBois. [The Hockey News].

“We got ourselves a trade”: Adam McQuaid is headed from Boston to New York in exchange for Steven Kampfer and two draft picks. [SportsNet]

Down Goes Brown video breakdowns are probably the apex of internet hockey writing (besides DBD of course). This video was absolutely wild by the way:

Here’s a look at some of the young studs from other teams at Traverse City:

Feels like there has been a lot of marijuana/hockey articles out lately. Also, I’m a huge fan of wordplay, but this headline is not doing it for me: