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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Top Line Blues

Although they’ve looked good in practice, the Seguin-Hintz-Gurianov line has been rather subpar in scrimmage. Plus, more observations from yesterday’s camp, what to look out for this postseason, and more.

Yesterday, I broke down the Dallas Stars’ lineup that they’ve been using throughout training camp. One of the decisions I praised was the the top line pairing of Tyler Seguin with Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov, stating that it had the potential to be lethal if they could develop the right chemistry.

Well, it appears though that “if” is a big one, as the line has looked rather lackluster in scrimmages thus far:

In theory, that trio should make opponents nervous and it should be a dynamic force. In practice, as we saw in Wednesday’s scrimmage, it might not work... the Stars start to lose the most effective version of Seguin when trying to create offense in the zone with Hintz and Gurianov.

So what’s the issue? Sean Shapiro believes it’s because Hintz and Gurianov are not possession players, and instead generate their offense off the rush. Seguin, meanwhile, is at his best when he’s allowed to set up in the offensive zone, much like Joe Pavelski. So maybe it’s not so much an issue of chemistry, but rather conflicting playing styles:

Get Gurianov and Hintz on a line, and they’ll create for each other. But they really don’t create for the third member of the trio. Maybe that’s something they’ll develop later in their careers, but at this point, it’s just a reality of who the two forwards are.

You can read more about this conundrum from Shapiro here.

Stars Stories

Here are some of Matthew DeFranks’s observations from the scrimmage yesterday:

Here’s a brief interview with Andrej Sekera and the importance of the Olympics to NHL players and hockey in general:

Around the League

By the time you’re reading this, the Seattle Sockeyes might have already had their name reveal. But just in case, here’s the teaser trailer for the Seattle Kraken:

Which years have had the best start to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs? Down Goes Brown investigates:

It’s not just “OGWACs” worth cheering for — here are some potential “feel good” stories this postseason:

Are the Stars a contender or a pretender? Craig Custance put together a panel to assign tiers to this year’s playoff crowd:

Finally, should Nathan MacKinnon win the Hart Trophy? The answer is yes, but don’t take my word for it:

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