Yesterday, the Dallas Stars announced that Ben Bishop and Tyler Seguin had undergone surgery and will be out for approximately five months from their respective dates of surgery:
We have issued the following updates on offseason surgeries for Ben Bishop and Tyler Seguin
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— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 3, 2020
Those estimates put Bishop at a March 21st return and Seguin at April 2nd — should the 2020-21 season begin on its target date of January 1st, that would be 11 weeks and 13 weeks into the season respectively.
While it will be hard to fill the void left by both players, it also creates opportunity for some of the Stars’ younger players to shine. While playoff star Anton Khudobin will become the unquestioned #1 goaltender, rookie Jake Oettinger should earn a fair share of starts in what will no doubt be a condensed schedule. Meanwhile Seguin’s absence opens the door for a center like Ty Dellandrea to make the roster, or perhaps a Top 6 scoring forward like Jason Robertson.
Time will tell exactly how many games Bishop and Seguin miss, but the Stars should be well equipped to deal with their absence.
Stars Stories
Saad Yousuf takes a crack at projecting the lineup in light of these injuries:
What Bishop & Seguin surgery updates mean for the Stars’ 2021 plans https://t.co/DoYvvTxVVn
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) November 4, 2020
How can the Stars could keep John Klingberg beyond the 2021-22 season? Matthew DeFranks answers that and more in his recent mailbag:
Matt’s mail: On keeping John Klingberg, the new jersey and the Seattle expansion draft https://t.co/cz2qsbjP5Y
— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) November 3, 2020
Around the League
Dom Lumzczyszyn offers up his annual list of the best and worst contracts in the NHL:
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The 10 worst contracts in hockey, from Drew Doughty to Josh Morrissey: https://t.co/TUmUF8qv4i
— dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) November 4, 2020
Mark Scheifele essentially missed the 2020 NHL Playoffs, but he should be good as new for the 2020-21 season:
After suffering a painful Achilles injury in the Qualifying Round, @NHLJets star Mark Scheifele says he’ll be ready for the start of next season.https://t.co/S8zFpE9FL9
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 4, 2020
It’s never too early to look ahead to the upcoming draft:
From a wide range of high-quality defensemen to European pros, there’s no clear top prospect for the 2021 NHL draft just yet.https://t.co/LsjR8ygJ21
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) November 4, 2020
Finally, here’s a breakdown of everything we know about current plans for the new season:
From me and @wyshynski, here’s comprehensive look at where the NHL stands with planning for the 2020-21 seasonhttps://t.co/T9BDT6Ae4B
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) November 2, 2020