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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Polak’s Role Moving Forward

Polak played top-four minutes last season, but will he continue to do so next year? Plus, Jeff Skinner re-signs in Buffalo, walking down memory road, and more.

When the Dallas Stars re-signed defenseman Roman Polak, perhaps the biggest question that came to mind was, “where in the lineup will Polak to play?”

Polak wasn’t meant to play top-four minutes this season but ended up playing them anyways. This time around, the hope is that he won’t have to:

“He shouldn’t be playing No. 4 minutes, he shouldn’t have to,” [Jim] Montgomery said. “But if we could slot him and have him and Jamie Oleksiak playing against (Patrick) Maroon in the (Blues) series, then I think we’re in a much better place.

Polak gets a lot of heat for his awful possession stats, but that’s also to be expected for defensive defenseman. Besides, he also brings in intangibles, and you can’t put a price on that:

“He’s someone who helps you win,” Montgomery said. “The life and energy he gives to our team is something analytically that you can’t judge. I’m ecstatic to have him back.”

You can read more from Mike Heika here.

Stars Stories

Bob Sturm walks down memory lane to the 1999 Stanley Cup in his latest mailbag:

Sean Shapiro is looking for some Film Room ideas, so fire away!

ICYMI, yesterday was Detroit Red Wings legend Mike Modano’s birthday!

Around the League

Jordan Binnington might win the Stanley Cup as a rookie, but how does he stack up against past first-year goaltenders in the postseason?

Speaking of the Stanley Cup Final, the St. Louis Blues will be down one Ivan Barbashev for Game 6:

There have been some controversies during the playoffs, which is nothing new to the NHL of course:

Down Goes Brown recaps the past week in his typical comedic fashion in this week’s Grab Bag:

Finally, Jeff Skinner is officially off the market. Eight years, $9 million AAV:

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