Comments / New

Dallas Stars Daily Links: The Draft’s Not Near, It’s Here

It’s here, y’all: The 2015 NHL Draft gets underway tonight at 6 p.m. CST. Hopefully everyone is coming out to the Dallas Stars Draft Party—you get to hang out with your DBD brethren, relish in all the high drama of the draft, and kick it in the Owners Box.

To prepare for tonight, TSN’s Scott Cullen looks at what sort of value a team can expect to get out of a pick. Using the 1990 draft through the 2010 draft, he breaks down who the best and worst selections have been at each spot.

Dallas fans will recognize a few names at No. 8. Derian Hatcher and Richard Matvichuk were both drafted by the North Stars in that spot in 1990 and 1991, respectively, while Scott Glennie was the team’s first-round pick in 2009.

No. 8
Average Rating: 4.74
Best: Derian Hatcher, Richard Matvichuk, Braydon Coburn, Sergei Samsonov
Worst: Scott Glennie, Terry Ryan, Jonathan Aitken, Zach Hamill, Alexandre Picard
Ranked 7 or better: 23.8%
Ranked 5 or worse: 47.6%
At least 100 NHL games (or extremely likely): 66.7%

And regardless of what happens tonight, be thankful the Stars don’t have the No. 15 pick (sorry, Calgary).

The 15th pick has been some inexplicable wasteland, the lowest-rated pick of the first 29 and that includes having Erik Karlsson taken there by the Ottawa Senators in 2008. Only 38.1% of 15th picks played 100 games in the NHL, though Detroit nabbed Dylan Larkin in that spot last year.

So get any last 2015 draft speculation off your chest. Soon enough, you’ll be talking about 2016 prospects. (And remember these guys when that starts.) [TSN]

Another Dallas sports team got its draft out of the way last night, so congrats to Mavericks first-round pick Justin Anderson.

But back to hockey. The Stars 2015-16 season schedule was released yesterday, and Mike Heika helpfully points out a few highlights. [DMN]

ESPN’s Katie Strang also has a few games to keep circled on your calendar. Feel free to ignore the ones that mention the Blackhawks, though. [ESPN]

To help you get ready for tonight, here’s Josh Bogorad checking in with Joe McDonnell, the team’s director of amateur scouting.

NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman and Mike Morreale took one last stab at predicting tonight’s events. Their mock drafts have the Stars tabbing either Mathew Barzal or Kyle Connor. [NHL]

If you want a way to see who’s ending up where, the NHL has got you covered with this handy trade tracker. Go ahead, bookmark it now. [NHL]

The Boston Bruins traded Carl Soderberg’s rights to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 2016 sixth-round pick. [Boston Globe]

The Canucks should be one goalie lighter by the end of the day.

Also out of Vancouver, there’s been interest in veteran Kevin Bieksa, although the team has yet to ask the defenseman to waive his no trade clause. [Sportsnet]

Senators winger Mark Stone might have lost out on the Calder Trophy, but he has a shiny new contract to cheer him up. The Senators inked both Stone and Mika Zibanejad to new deals. [Ottawa Sun]

Michael Frolik, a UFA with the Winnipeg Jets, might be heading to a new home.

Any parties interested in Anaheim’s Matt Beleskey should hold their horses, says TSN’s Travis Yost. [TSN]

Washington’s Mike Green and Eric Fehr are both preparing to test the waters of free agency. [CSN Washington]

We should know more about Brenden Morrow’s future in the NHL soon.

News of 3-on-3 OT has brought a lot of discussion about who would be on the ice for the Stars (Benn-Seguin-Klingberg is pretty appealing, no?). But what does the change mean for goalies? [In Goal Magazine]

In the wake of news that the Los Angeles Kings suspended Slava Voynov, Jarrett Stoll’s felony charge was dismissed. [Sporting News]

More and more players are playing in the NCAA before making it to the NHL. [Washington Post]

Teemu Selanne is making the most of retirement by taking part in a Finnish stunt show. Yes, really. [Sports Illustrated]

And finally, you can’t watch Tyler Seguin play hockey until October, but you can see him play baseball tomorrow night. (Last year’s game brought us this gem of a video.) It’s not quite as fun, but it’s for a good cause. And, you know, Dirk.

Talking Points