News out of Dallas this morning is that Jason Spezza, of the second line center varietal of Jasons, is currently sick with illness. That led the Stars to make an emergency callup of one Jason Dickinson, of the 6th in AHL rookie scoring varietal, in case Spezza cannot go tonight.
It’s fun to have so many varietals of Jason to tap into.
If Dickinson plays against the Colorado Avalanche tonight, this would be his NHL debut. A little pencil and paper work sees lines potentially shaking out in a few ways. Luckily, the Stars can still roll 12 forwards with Spezza out sick, with yesterday’s callup of Curtis McKenzie.
There’s the “Lindy Ruff trusts Radek Faksa in big situations” scenario:
Benn – Eakin – Sharp
Hemsky – Faksa – Nichushkin
Roussel – Fiddler – McKenzie
Moen – Dickinson – Sceviour
With Dickinson more of an offense kind of guy, you could also see him slot into Spezza’s spot on the 2nd line to give him top six wingers to play with, and drop McKenzie down to play with Fiddler and Moen to give the third line some scoring punch. Just know that this second line could be either really good or really bad defensively….
Benn – Eakin – Sharp
Hemsky – Dickinson – Nichushkin
Roussel – Faksa – Sceviour
Moen – Fiddler – McKenzie
We could also see things go real crazy and move Jamie Benn to center, with some of the youth around him to form a scoring line with veteran presence:
Nichushkin – Benn – Sharp
Dickinson – Eakin – Nichushkin
Roussel – Faksa – McKenzie
Moen – Fiddler – Sceviour
I like the blend of scoring and speed that those lines give the Stars, with the fourth line in a more traditional checking line role than the Stars generally have, with their preference being to roll four lines evenly if at all possible.
Regardless of how the lines end up shaking out, one thing is true. With so much roster flux over the past few days the Stars’ coaching staff will have some tough decisions to make before puck drop tonight.
Here’s the official release:
FRISCO, Texas – Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has recalled center Jason Dickinson from the Texas Stars, Dallas’ top development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). Dickinson, 20, has posted 50 points (20-30=50) in 69 games played for Texas this season. In his first full year of professional hockey, his 50 points are sixth among AHL rookies and are third overall on Texas. His three shorthanded goals are tied for fourth in the AHL and his five-game goal streak (5-2=7) from Feb. 17 – 27 is the second-longest streak for an AHL rookie this season. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Georgetown, Ontario was selected by Dallas in the first round (29th overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft. The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars and currently in their seventh season at Cedar Park Center. Full season, 24-game and 12-game ticket packages for the 2016-17 campaign are on sale now. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.