Dallas Stars Daily Links: Grading The Stars’ 2019 Draft
Corey Pronman is not impressed, but not alarmed. Plus, the prospects land in Dallas, Wild Bill stays in Sin City, and more.
The Dallas Stars came into the 2019 NHL Draft without much to work with, and arguably they did the best they could with their four picks.
Meanwhile, there are guys like Corey Pronman who have made careers out of ranking drafts. His Stars evaluation is up right now, and he gives the Victory Green gang a solid “C” for Strictly Average.
Pronman projects that this year’s prospect crop will be judged almost entirely on how well No. 18 pick Thomas Harley turns out:
Harley’s development curve spiked this season. One of the youngest players in the draft, Harley progressed from a decent prospect to a 25-30 minutes a night defenseman with impressive tools for the Steelheads. When he was on the ice, his team had control of the puck. He’s big, mobile, skilled and smart. That combination is attractive. Harley skates with the quickest forwards in the OHL due to the strength of his stride and his wingspan....
Defensively he’s a bit of a work in progress. His feet and stick allow him to make stops and close gaps, but he needs to bulk up a lot and be better at times in his own end. Harley makes a lot of plays but tends to get too cute and make costly turnovers. Some scouts argue that was just the byproduct of the massive and arguably excessive minutes he played.
As for the Jamie Benn Round, he expressed only guarded enthusiasm for left wing Nicholas Porco:
Porco is a speedy winger with good skill who competes well at both ends of the ice. The main issue with him is whether he sees the game well enough to make plays when he isn’t going in a straight line with the puck.
Agree? Disagree? Read the whole thing behind the paywall. [The Athletic]
Stars Stuff
First things first: Prospect Development Camp begins today, and Stephen Johns is out there working.
Stephen Johns is skating with the first group at development camp
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) June 25, 2019
In case you missed it, the Stars and the Philadelphia Flyers have swapped Tyler Pitlick and Ryan Hartman – or at least they’ve swapped their rights.
We have acquired right wing Ryan Hartman from the Flyers in exchange for center Tyler Pitlick. https://t.co/yn5Q0kL6eF
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) June 24, 2019
Here’s what Heika makes of the trade:
Hartman could bring youth, upside to Stars after trade https://t.co/1oJqpSho0z via @NHLdotcom
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) June 25, 2019
And Sean Shapiro shows you the money:
Hartman's qualifying offer would have to be $918,750. He's also arbitration eligible. @EvolvingWild has him projected to make $2.5 million on deal. Probably going to see something between those two numbers.
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) June 24, 2019
Stars social media also came up with this cool scrapbook GIF for their four shiny new draft picks.
Our Fantastic 4 👀
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) June 23, 2019
Welcome to the family, guys! #GoStars pic.twitter.com/n7F5klwlXz
Around The League(s)
What’s it like not to be chosen at the NHL Draft? In case you’ve forgotten how that galvanized players like Antoine Roussel, here’s a list of top un-drafted prospects who may have the same fire now.
Over the weekend, 217 players realized their dreams when they were chosen in the NHL draft, but many more looked on with disappointment. @StevenEllisTHN looked at some of the top prospects that missed out on having their name selected this weekend.https://t.co/rJuycYhdpa
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) June 25, 2019
Also at THN: The NHL has a head-injury problem. Here’s what coaches propose to do about it.
Coaches want to keep their players safe, but now it's a matter of keeping on top of those players to make sure they don't try to tough it out on concussions. More from @THNRyanKennedy:https://t.co/Sy4kDjZp2G
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) June 25, 2019
The league has an officiating problem, too. How do they plan to fix it?
VIDEO | Referees in the NHL took a beating in the playoffs this year, and the league is taking steps to avoid it happing in the future https://t.co/C2HzYbbn0o
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) June 24, 2019
Might as well take William Karlsson off your wish list. Wild Bill is staying in Sin City, and the Vegas Golden Knights gave him eight years at $5.9 million per to do it.
.@Mike_P_Johnson weighs in on the extension agreed to by William Karlsson and the @GoldenKnights. #NHLTonight pic.twitter.com/812FdfRdKK
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) June 25, 2019
Finally...
Here’s an offseason challenge most of us can get behind. Enjoy.
Reply to this tweet with the name of the player who made you fall in love with hockey.
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) June 24, 2019