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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Will Contract Status Set the Stars’ Blueline?

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

Monday night in Denver, NHL.com’s Dallas Stars beat writer, Sean Shapiro, shared this message regarding the performance of one of the team’s bluest blue-chip prospects:

But will Julius Honka end up back in Cedar Park regardless? It’s strictly business, says Ken Hitchcock, and players on one-way deals have to take precedence. In the end, will his two-way contract be all that stands between Honka and his first full NHL season?

“You got to respect contracts, if the guys are than obviously the one-way stays and the two-way goes down,” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. “That’s just the economics of the game. I think we’ve got to pay respect to that.”

Hitchcock did add that the younger guys have made it a more difficult job for general manager Jim Nill, who needs to sort out the contract situation.

You can read more, including yesterday’s injury update, at Sean’s website – this story isn’t behind the paywall. [Wrong Side of the Red Line]

More Stars!

You’ve probably read Taylor’s postgame item about the Stars’ 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild last night – and here are the Five Takeaways from Stars digital correspondent Scott Burnside.

Mark Stepneski posted yesterday’s roster adjustments that assigned Brian Flynn, Brent Regner and Denis Gurianov to Cedar Park.

Stars radio broadcaster Bruce LeVine couldn’t let this go by without a comment.

Around the league(s)

New York New York Hotel and Casino, the next-door Strip neighbor of T-Mobile Arena, is taking this hockey thing seriously. Check out the letter that went to all guests before last night’s Vegas Golden Knights preseason home opener, and ponder the prospect of $5 blackjack to go with your live entertainment and food and drink specials.

Speaking of that game between the Golden Knights and the Los Angeles Kings, holy cats, the former Stars action. Between Jack Campbell in goal for L.A….

…and Cody Eakin scoring the first home NHL goal ever in TMA, it was a pretty big night in alumni news.

In the end, the Kings won in overtime 3-2 – but the sell-out crowd for a preseason game has to be a good sign for Sin City. Here’s the VGK highlight video:

Kings Insider Jon Rosen has postgame quotes from Jack, John Stephens and Brooks Laich, who came away with the GWG in OT. [L.A. Kings Insider]

Celebrate the birthday of Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin with seven fun facts about the NHL’s favorite Swedish twins.

Is it time to forget the Edmonton Oilers’ image as perennial Western Conference sadsack? With Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl under long-term contracts and a reliable goalie in Cam Talbot, they may be ready to contend again. [CBC]

San Jose Sharks RW Joel Ward, who was born in Canada, has not ruled out taking a knee during the anthem at some point. He could be the first NHL player to do so.

Researchers are studying woodpeckers and bighorn sheep in an attempt to learn more about preventing concussions. Ryan Kennedy writes about some new developments, and how they might impact the hockey community.

Meanwhile, TSN has posting an almost casually chilling promo for “Surfacing,” a new interview with incipient Hall of Famer Paul Kariya delving into the concussions that plagued his career.

And Stephen Whyno examines the slashing crackdown: the injuries to Johnny Gaudreau and Marc Methot that helped spark it, and what the NHL hopes it will achieve.

Dear goodness: Kevin Allen of USA Today has brought news. I’ll just leave this here, where you will find it, presumably.

Texas Stars action

With training-camp cuts nearing their final stages, the T-Stars have posted their updated roster. [Texas Stars]

They’ve also updated their schedule – the Feb. 19 road game against the Iowa Wild will be held in the evening instead of the afternoon.

Finally

In this preseason of tough decisions, how does a player deal with getting cut? The On the Bench crew has a clip for that. Enjoy.

Talking Points