The Dallas Stars made a trade today — but not the one most expected.
They sent a 3rd rounder and a 6th rounder in the 2024 draft to move into the 3rd round of this year’s draft, taking OHL Center Brad Gardiner. The Stars started this draft with picks in the second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh picks, so it filled a hole in terms of draft capital for this summer.
Dallas Stars trade into this round to select Brad Gardiner at 79
He came into the season without much fanfare but really grew into being a core player with the 67's. Middle 6, all situations kind of center. The growth he made this year is a good sign that he will keep improving
— Derek Neumeier (@Derek_N_NHL) June 29, 2023
Gardiner is the son of Bruce Gardiner, a 6th round pick by the St. Louis Blues in the 1991 draft. He spent seven seasons in the NHL between Ottawa, Tampa, Columbus, and New Jersey.
“Having him in my corner the whole way, my whole life has kind of helped a lot,” Gardiner said. “Me and him kind of had bets to see if I would go higher than him and I won, so I can throw that at him a little later on tonight.”
“You see the run [Dallas] had this year, it’s pretty wild. Even watching the anthem, everything in the playoffs, you get goosebumps,” he said about joining the Stars organization. “It’s pretty exciting. Obviously some OHL players [are there], Wyatt Johnston, seeing him do well. One of my buddies is close with him, so just hearing through him his experience there is pretty cool. Excited to get started.”
Gardiner joined defenseman Tristan Bertucci as the latest draft picks to join the ranks of the Stars organization. Bertucci was drafted in the second round, the first pick the team had in the 2023 draft. Scouting reports from all over seemed to coincide with his ranking on draft lists, in that nobody really seemed to know where to place him. As one of the youngest players in the draft this year, and knowing that defense is a position that often takes a little longer to develop, he could end up being a good steal for the Stars.
He’s described quite often as a silky-smooth skater that uses his hockey IQ to shutdown the opposition. He’s not overly physical but is efficient in the way in which he plays, using his stick and body positioning to shut down passing lanes and close gaps. His Flint Firebirds head coach said, “The strongest asset Tristan has is his mind. He makes good reads, good decisions with the puck, and that’s not something you can really teach. He’s got a big frame and he’s gradually getting stronger.”
Bertucci said that he can’t wait to get to Dallas for development camp, which opens on Saturday July 1st at the team’s training facility in Frisco.
“Honestly a great city, great team, lot of great guys there, Bertucci said. “For me, someone I like to watch a lot is Miro Heiskanen. Just to be close to him and kind of learn from him [in the future] is pretty special.”
Dallas drafted another defenseman in the fourth round, selecting Aram Minnetian who is going to Boston College this fall. (He can have a lot of rivalry with Jake Oettinger if they ever play together, since Oettinger went to Boston University.) Minnetian appears to be a great value pick for the Stars at this point in the draft, as he was ranked consistently higher than a fourth rounder in most publications.
Elite Prospects scouting report on Minnetian said: “Creating advantages for teammates is the core of Minnetian’s game. In the offensive end, those come in the form of well-timed activation, becoming an additional option or drawing defensive attention to create more space on the rink. When the puck arrives, he avoids point shots, preferring to start give-and-goes, connect with teammates in the slot, or working laterally to draw in the defensive structure before passing through it.”
Minnetian told the media that he models his game after Bo Byram and Drew Doughty. But he was practically vibrating when he realized who a potential future teammate could be in Dallas. “Heiskanen’s in Dallas, I’m so excited to meet that guy. He’s an incredible player,” he said.
Heiskanen is going to have an entire stable of future NHLers looking up to him and modeling their own games after him beyond the Stars organization, too.
The organization drafted a goaltender to fill that (minor) pipeline hole in the fifth round, selecting German Arno Tiefensee. He has been playing in the DEL against grown men, putting up solid numbers particularly in the playoffs. Generally, NHL equivalency models that are popular show players from those professional leagues in Europe like the DEL, SHL, and SM-Liiga tend to grade out well in projecting them as future NHL players. Tiefensee was picked because the Stars’ Finnish and Czechia scouts saw him and liked the way he moved for his size.
Dallas rounded out their draft with OHL center Angus MacDonnell in the sixth round and center Sebastian Bradshaw in the seventh round. MacDonnell was described by Stars Director of Amateur Scouting Joe McDonnell as a 5’9″ that plays like a 6’0″. “He’s a bit of a rat, plays a lot like a Brad Marchand.” Bradshaw was a pick by Mike Leech, that is 6’3″ and has some skill but projects as a bit of a developmental project (as is common in later round picks).
Overall, McDonnell was pleased with the work the team did today to add to their depth. “All-in-all, and it seemed for a draft where we thought we didn’t have many picks, it seemed like we had a lot because I think we got kids that we definitely didn’t think were going to be there where we were picking.”