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Miro Heiskanen Out Indefinitely With Mononucleosis

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The Dallas Stars will be without young defenseman Miro Heiskanen indefinitely after he was diagnosed with mononucleosis. Heiskanen has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to his last game played on March 2, meaning he will be able to be activated whenever he is ready to return.

Just 22, Heiskanen has taken over as arguably the most important player on the Stars roster, averaging nearly 25 minutes a night while playing in all situations. Without him, the Stars played last night with almost just four defenders, giving Joel Hanley and Thomas Harley fewer than ten minutes each. The top four of Ryan Suter (28:51), Jani Hakanpaa (25:32), John Klingberg (23:36), and Esa Lindell (22:56) all played huge minutes in a losing effort against the Nashville Predators in one of the most important games of the year.

It’s Klingberg’s status that is so interesting now that Heiskanen is out. The pending free agent defenseman had been expected to be traded before the deadline, but over the last three games his ice time has exploded with the team desperately needing his offensive ability. If Dallas remains in the playoff run, it’s hard to justify trading Klingberg away until they have a more definite timeline on Heiskanen’s return.

Dallas now sits fifth in the Central Division, one point behind the Predators but still holds the second wild card spot in the west. The Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, and Anaheim Ducks are hot on their heels, and without Heiskanen in the lineup, it will be all the more difficult to stay in that spot.

AHL Shuffle: 03/08/22

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It’s an extremely busy Tuesday in the NHL, with 11 games on the docket. That includes a big eastern matchup between the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins, and an incredibly important match between the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators. Those two central teams are neck and neck in the playoff race, meaning any head-to-head action is a huge opportunity to gain ground. As those teams and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have reassigned Dillon Heatherington to the AHL, after he failed to get into any games on this most recent recall. The veteran minor league defenseman last played for Ottawa in December but continues to be a depth piece that’s recalled as injury insurance. He has zero points in nine NHL games this season.
  • The Florida Panthers have sent Spencer Knight back to the AHL, after he stopped 29 of 30 shots yesterday against the Buffalo Sabres for his tenth win of the season. Knight continues to bounce up and down in order to get the most playing time possible, while the Panthers rely on Sergei Bobrovsky for the vast majority of the NHL action. Jonas Johansson, technically the NHL backup, has seen just a single game since being acquired in December.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs returned Mac Hollowell to the minor leagues today, as they welcomed Rasmus Sandin back to the ice after dealing with an illness. It’s unlikely Sandin plays tonight, though with him at least a possibility the team no longer needed Hollowell on the NHL roster.

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Alec Regula to the NHL once again, and he was skating on the third pairing at practice according to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago. The 21-year-old defenseman has played in four games for the Blackhawks this season and is still looking for his first NHL point.
  • The Dallas Stars have sent Marian Studenic to the AHL on a conditioning assignment, something that’s understandable given he hasn’t played since the Stars claimed him off waivers last month. Studenic has appeared in 17 games this season, all with the New Jersey Devils, and has one goal.
  • Per The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford, the St. Louis Blues have recalled forward Alexey Toropchenko from the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds (tweet). The forward has zero points in five games in the NHL this season, but does have a solid 20 points in 42 games at the AHL level.

Pacific Division

  • The San Jose Sharks have reassigned Jasper Weatherby and Santeri Hatakka to the AHL, suggesting that some players–particularly Erik Karlsson—could be available to play in the coming days. Weatherby, meanwhile, has spent most of the season with the Sharks, playing in 45 games so far and racking up ten points. The 24-year-old forward is still waiver-exempt, meaning he can move up and down without issue whenever the team needs him again.
  • Earlier today, the Edmonton Oilers sent defenseman Markus Niemelainen down to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. The 23-year-old has split time between the NHL and AHL this season, tallying 7 points in 23 games at the AHL level and just one assist in 20 games at the NHL level.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Stars Notes: Seguin, Heiskanen, Holtby

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Dallas Stars’ forward Tyler Seguin was back on the ice for practice today in Minnesota, according to The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks (link to Tweet). Not only has Seguin returned to practice, but afterwards Stars’ head coach Rick Bowness said that Seguin “should be fine” for Sunday’s game in Minnesota against the Wild, adds DeFranks.

Seguin missed last night’s game in Winnipeg due to a non-COVID illness. The forward has 17 goals and 13 assists in 53 games this season, but will need to be a key factor in the Stars’ push to the playoffs. The Stars currently sit in a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, sitting on 65 points in 54 games, just a point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers and Sunday’s opponent, the Minnesota Wild.

  • The Stars may still be without another key piece, writes DeFranks, as Miro Heiskanen did not practice today and is currently questionable for the game against the Wild (link). Like Seguin, Heiskanen missed last night’s game in Winnipeg with a non-COVID illness.  This was only the second game Heiskanen has missed this season, after he missed a game in December with a non-COVID illness as well. The Stars have had to rely heavily on Heiskanen this year, as the young defenseman has posted 29 points in 52 games and leads the team in average time-on-ice at 24:46. With Dallas just holding onto a playoff spot, even one extra game without a player like Heiskanen could be a big loss.
  • Shifting gears on the Stars,, should the organization decide to sell any pieces at the deadline, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan believes that goaltender Braden Holtby is definitely in play (link). Holtby is having himself a solid bounce-back season after struggling greatly the last two seasons. Holtby’s .913 save percentage and 2.78 goals against average are the best he has had since the 2018-19 season with the Washington Capitals. While he is no longer the elite goalie he once was, Holtby may still carry some value to a team looking for a quality backup, or even someone to split time in net, especially given Holtby’s pedigree as a Stanley Cup winning goaltender. Holtby only carries a $2MM cap hit that expires after this season, so acquiring him should not be a strain for interested teams.

Dallas Stars Sign Antonio Stranges

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The Dallas Stars have gotten in on the entry-level signing parade, this time with an interesting prospect from the London Knights. Antonio Stranges has inked his three-year, entry-level contract that will begin in the 2022-23 season.

Stranges, 20, was picked 123rd overall in 2020, but quickly showed he was more than just a regular fourth-round pick. In 2020-21 when the OHL season was canceled due to COVID restrictions, he ended up signing an amateur tryout with the Texas Stars, where he played in nine games. Already it looked like Stranges might be able to handle himself at the minor league level, so when he went back to London this season it wasn’t much of a surprise to see him immediately dominate the competition.

In 39 games, the winger has 18 goals and 51 points, routinely setting up OHL goal leader (and Nashville Predators prospect) Luke Evangelista. Stranges is second in points on a team loaded with talent that has gone 30-13-2 on the year, and now joins an organization where there should be some opportunity in the next few years. While he’ll stay in London for the rest of this season and chase down an OHL championship, Stranges will likely join Texas for the 2022-23 season and begin his professional climb.

Dallas Stars Claim Marian Studenic; Waive Tanner Kero

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Feb 25: Kero has cleared waivers, and can now be assigned to the AHL’s Texas Stars per Chris Johnston of TSN. It is the second time this season that Kero has cleared waivers. Kero has two assists in three total games with the AHL’s Stars so far this season.

Feb 24: The Dallas Stars have made a forward swap, claiming Marian Studenic from the New Jersey Devils and placing Tanner Kero on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

The swap is one depth forward without a ton of offensive upside for another, as Studenic and Kero have combined for one goal and four points in 40 games this season. The difference for the Stars is the six-year age difference in Studenic’s favor, along with the fact that Kero will likely clear waivers and remain with the organization.

Now 29, Kero is in the first season of a two-year contract he signed last spring that comes with a huge minor league guarantee, and given his lack of success in the NHL, it seems likely that he’ll be reporting to the Texas Stars in the next few days.

For Studenic, he joins a team much closer to the playoffs and avoids returning to the minor leagues, where he has spent the majority of the last few seasons. If he can find a way into the Dallas lineup, he’ll also set himself up for a much better negotiation this offseason, when he’s an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent.

In addition to those two moves, the Stars have recalled Riley Tufte from the AHL and placed Andrej Sekera on long-term injured reserve due to a non-COVID-related viral infection, retroactive to January 28.

Latest On Braden Holtby's Future In Dallas

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Two of the four new names on Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff’s trade targets ranking are goaltenders, namely Braden Holtby of the Dallas Stars and Anton Forsberg of the Ottawa Senators. Holtby has had a nice bounce-back campaign in Dallas after being bought out by the Canucks last summer. In his 21 starts this season Holtby has a .912 save percentage and a 2.78 goals against average, strong improvement from his .889/3.67 marks in Vancouver. But his future in Dallas is clouded by the emergence of 23-year-old first-round-pick Jake Oettinger. (As well as the looming presence of Anton Khudobin, the goalie who led the Stars to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, in the AHL.) In an interview with Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic, Stars General Manager Jim Nill noted that Oettinger has “settled in” with the Stars, and LeBrun also ponders the possibility of Dallas dealing a goaltender.

Jamie Benn Fined For Unsportsmanlike Conduct

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The Department of Player Safety announced that Stars winger Jamie Benn has been fined $5K for unsportsmanlike conduct in Friday’s game against Chicago.  The incident occurred after Blackhawks winger Mackenzie Entwistle was hit into the stanchion early in the third period and had to head off for concussion protocol.  While skating to the Dallas bench to leave the ice, Benn squirted Entwistle with his water bottle.  The fine is the maximum allowable under the CBA.

Stars Hoping To Re-Sign Pavelski

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  • While the Stars appear to be likely to part ways with pending UFA defenseman John Klingberg, they’re hoping to avoid a similar fate with center Joe Pavelski as Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News notes that Dallas is hoping to re-sign the 37-year-old. The veteran has a $7MM AAV and is on pace for a career high in points as he has 52 in just 47 games so far.  There’s a strong case to be made that he’s worthy of a raise but the length of his next contract will be a big factor.  If he was to go year-to-year, Pavelski could theoretically maximize his earnings but at this stage of his career, a multi-season commitment would certainly be appealing.  With the Stars looking to keep the veteran, that should take him out of trade speculation for the time being.

Latest On Dallas Stars Deadline Plans

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The Dallas Stars are an enigma. On one hand, they are a team with long-term, anchor-like contracts to underperforming stars, and on the other, they are an exciting roster filled with young developing talents and one grizzled veteran having arguably the best season of his career. They are a team that lost five in a row and nine of 14, just before winning four in a row and eight of 11. They are just one point out of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, and yet have a negative goal differential (-1).

So what kind of team are they as the deadline approaches? Are they buyers, sellers, or stay-put-ers? John Klingberg would certainly have you believe they are going to sell at the deadline, at least in his case. The veteran defenseman is on an expiring contract and publicly admitted that the Stars gave his camp license to look for a different fit around the league. There doesn’t appear to be an extension coming in Dallas, meaning the Stars could sell off Klingberg as a top-end rental and get back a number of future assets.

Then there is Joe Pavelski, that grizzled veteran, also in an expiring deal but having the season of his life. At age-37, the versatile forward has 21 goals and 52 points in 47 games. If that pace continues, it would be the first time he has reached the point-per-game mark for a full season, though he has come awfully close previously. Pavelski leads the Stars in scoring and has found a perfect linemate in young Jason Robertson, who appears to be a superstar in the making. If the team decided to sell, Pavelski would be coveted by every contender in the league.

Not so fast, says Sean Shapiro of The Athletic. He tweets that with the Stars in a playoff race, a general manager on the hot seat and an owner “desperate for playoff revenue,” Dallas shouldn’t be considered a seller.

It is true that the Stars are in the playoff race. After their recent stretch of strong play, they are once again within striking distance of the postseason. That of course comes with the caveat that the only spots within their grasp appear–at the moment anyway–to be the wild card positions, as Dallas remains seven points behind the St. Louis Blues for third in the Central Division, with the Nashville Predators in between the two.

As for the GM on the hot seat, Jim Nill has been at the head of the Dallas front office since 2013. The Stars have reached the playoffs just four times in his eight full seasons as GM, and other than the Cinderella-like run in the 2020 bubble playoffs when the Stars made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals have never made it past the second round. Nill is on his fourth coach and is the one who inked those contracts for Jamie Benn–signed through 2024-25 at $9.5MM per season–and Tyler Seguin–signed through 2026-27 at $9.85MM per season–that look so daunting now.

Like many teams around the league, Dallas is currently using long-term injured reserve relief to fit everyone in. Ben Bishop, who isn’t expected to play again is the source of that, meaning they have a little wiggle room to add if they wanted to. But it’s not much and with the team still outside the playoff picture looking in, using futures to add also doesn’t seem like the best strategy. So for now, at least until things are sorted further in the Western Conference postseason picture, the Stars remain an enigma.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Nill: Stars Likely To Hold Onto Khudobin As Injury Insurance

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Earlier this season, Dallas was shopping goaltender Anton Khudobin and after they found no takers, they waived him and sent him to AHL Texas to try to get him back to his form from previous seasons.  Now, while they could certainly benefit from shedding his $3.33MM cap hit that runs through 2022-23, GM Jim Nill indicated in an interview with Mike Heika of the Stars’ team site that they may elect to hold onto the netminder as injury insurance.  If the Stars were willing to take a similarly-priced player back in a swap of bad contracts, it’s quite possible that they’d have been able to find a taker.  Now, it appears that the 35-year-old will stick around and be a high-priced insurance policy in the minors.

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