Comments / New

Dallas Stars Daily Links: Stars Prospects Joining Texas For Round 2

Posted on by Tyler Mair

Tonight, the Texas Stars begin their second round series against the Tucson Roadrunners, the Arizona Coyotes’ AHL affiliate. The Roadrunners were the Pacific Division champions and are thus the favored team, but Texas is getting some reinforcements — Dallas Stars prospects John Nyberg and Jason Robertson.

Neither player is expected to slide into the lineup (the Stars will have 29 players on the roster once Robertson joins), but it’ll help the Stars to have some extra bodies in practice as well as some injury insurance. The experience with Texas will also help the Stars’ prospects along in their development:

“Whether they play or not, the AHL playoffs are tough,” Stars general manager Jim Nill told The Athletic. “The travel and schedule is compact, building issues cause a lot of that, and it’s a great level of hockey. Just to have players around that environment and taking it in. It can really pay off and gives a lesson of what it takes to reach the next level.”

Robertson will have to return to the OHL next season (unless he somehow manages to make the NHL roster) due to his age, but the expectation is that Nyberg will be sticking around for good:

“He had a good year and he’s ready to make that jump over to North America,” Nill said. “He played with a good team in Sweden, he played with Rasmus Dahlin who’s going to be the No. 1 pick this year, and he was a big-time player for them.”

You can read more in Sean Shapiro’s piece here.

Other Stars News

ICYMI, SB Nation’s managing editor for college hockey made this observation yesterday:

It’s worth noting, though, that this is just specualtion. It seems that Jim Nill is still in no rush to hire a new head coach:

That doesn’t mean that Montgomery still isn’t a top candidate for the organization, however:

The team did make at least one hiring yesterday, though: longtime beat writer Mike Heika is joining the Stars after 18 years with the Dallas Morning News:

You can read all about the hire here.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs

It almost went to overtime, but an Alexander Ovechkin goal with just over a minute left propelled the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, giving them the series lead. [Japer’s Rink]

Meanwhile, in a game that was closer than the score indicates, the Winnipeg Jets overcame a 3-0 deficit after the first period to beat the Nashville Predators 7-4, taking a 2-1 series lead. [Arctic Ice Hockey]

Two more playoff games are lined up for tonight. First, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins each try to take the series lead. A potential difference maker in Game 3? Brayden  Point:

Later, the San Jose Sharks will hope to tie things up with the Vegas Golden Knights. But if they want to win, they’ll have to get past the brick wall that is Marc-Andre Fleury:

Speaking of the Golden Knights, Down Goes Brown discussed in his Weekend Wrap on Monday the slowly building backlash against the successful expansion team. [Sportsnet]

Also from Down Goes Brown, it’s time once again for the annual OGWAC rankings:

Every team could use a boost at this time of year; Jared Clinton discusses five top players who need to kick it to the next level. [The Hockey News]

Around the League

There’s been yet another front office shift in the NHL. This time it’s Buffalo Sabres president Russ Brandon, who handed in his resignation letter yesterday just days after Buffalo’s lottery win:

Now that Lou Lamoriello has resigned as the Toronto Maple Leafs GM, what should he do next and who should replace him? The ESPN crew discuss: [ESPN]

We have a free agent signing, courtesy of the Edmonton Oilers!

This comes as a surprise to many, but the Ottawa Senators are bringing back their entire coaching staff for next season:

Finally…

I’m just gonna leave this here:

Talking Points