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Dallas Stars Sign Defenseman Ben Gleason to ELC

Posted on by Micah Turman

After turning heads at this years 2018 NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse city, Ben Gleason has earned a three-year entry-level contract. Per a report from Stars writer Mark Stepneski, Dallas has signed 20-year-old defenseman and free agent tryout Ben Gleason to an ELC.

His OHL career started in 2014 and consists of 236 games played with 125 total points, 22 goals, and 103 assists, for both the London Knights and the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Gleason has spent his previous three years with the Hamilton Bulldogs and is coming off of a career-high season registering 48 points, 9 goals and 39 assists. Not only was the defensemen’s play rock-solid in the regular season, but in the OHL playoffs Gleason played in 21 games and tallied 15 assists and 3 goals en route to winning the OHL Championship.

One of Gleason’s teammates out in Hamilton should ring a bell for you Stars fans, Nicholas Camaano. Both had stellar play for the Bulldogs to help hold the trophy up at the end of the season and then both brought that play over to the prospect tournament having a hell of a weekend. While Camaano is looking to make the Stars roster in camp, Gleason did what he had to do after coming in from a tryout to earn himself a contract with the organization.

The 20-year-old’s performance at Traverse City was most notable in the final two games of play for Dallas. While Gleason had solid defensive play through the tournament, it was his offensive abilities that stood out the most. He showed great vision in the team’s loss to the Minnesota Wild as the defenseman tallied three assists, including a great read on a bad pass for the interception and then dishing the puck to Jason Robertson for the breakaway.

Gleason then went on to show that he can be a scoring threat as well by notching two goals the following night against Carolina in the 5th place game. He proved that the Stars were right in giving him a shot and that he has a high potential to possibly be a solid defenseman down the road for the Dallas organization.

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