- The Dallas Stars had both Jani Hakanpaa and Fredrik Karlstrom leave last night’s game with injuries, but head coach Rick Bowness tells team reporter Mike Heika that the former will be just day-to-day. Karlstrom meanwhile will be out “longer” than that, though it’s not clear exactly what that means. The 23-year-old forward has spent the last several seasons in the SHL but is in camp competing for a spot on the NHL roster as his entry-level deal approaches its expiry. Karlstrom is only under contract through the end of this season and has to this point not played a professional game in North America.
Stars Rumors
Stars Notes: Bishop, Offseason Targets, L’Esperance
Dallas goaltender Ben Bishop is participating in training camp but don’t expect him to be ready for the season opener. Instead, his goal is much simpler as he told Mike Heika of the Stars’ team website is that he’s hoping to simply be able to play at some point during the year. The 34-year-old has dealt with lingering knee issues that have seen him undergo two surgeries and the uncertainty surrounding his availability for the season led them to sign Braden Holtby to join holdovers Anton Khudobin and Jake Oettinger. As Heika notes, the Stars will need to free up cap space in order to have Bishop on the active roster so it wouldn’t be surprising to see them be very cautious in bringing Bishop back to the point where he maybe starts on LTIR for a few weeks to buy them some more time to evaluate him.
More from Dallas:
- In a separate piece from Heika, he reports that the Stars showed interest in trading for defenseman Seth Jones and signing winger Blake Coleman this summer. However, those discussions didn’t last too long as the price tag got too high for their liking. Dallas was still able to add to their back end this summer, inking veteran Ryan Suter to take Jamie Oleksiak’s spot on the roster. They weren’t able to make a big splash up front – veteran center Luke Glendening was their biggest UFA forward signing but the returns to health of Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov effectively give them two significant additions compared to what they had for most of last season.
- Winger Joel L’Esperance confirmed to Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News that he has not been vaccinated nor does he intend to be. The 26-year-old scored twice in a dozen games for the Stars last season but is likely ticketed to play in the AHL for most of the season. Dallas’ affiliate in Texas has six games in Canada this season and under new protocols for 2021-22, the team will be able to suspend L’Esperance without pay for those missed games while it may affect his chances of getting recalled knowing there may be a seven-day quarantine to be served following any promotion from the minors.
Training Camp Notes: Kane, Toews, Senators
Today marked the first day of training camp for the majority of teams across the league. With the first preseason tilt just two days away now, teams are getting fired up and ready to go see at what level players in their organization are able to perform. One team whose offseason led to much fanfare was the Chicago Blackhawks, and the health status of both of their stars were hot topics of discussion today. NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis reports that a nagging injury to star winger Patrick Kane, an undisclosed matter that had appeared before the start of the Edmonton bubble in 2020, hasn’t healed completely. However, neither Kane nor others in the organization are concerned about his ability to play through the matter, as Kane himself remarked today that he’s “optimistic with where [he’s] going.” A great sense of mysteriousness still veils whatever the nagging issue is, as the nature of the injury has yet to be reported.
More notes from today’s opening of training camps:
- After missing the entirety of 2020-21 due to Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, it was reported earlier in the offseason that Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews was expected to return to play this year. Roumeliotis reports that after summer workouts, Toews rejoined the team today for his first formal practice since 2020. It would be a huge add for Chicago to get their captain back into the fold after an offseason that saw them forge a deeper team throughout. While Toews’ practice today went well, he hopes for but won’t guarantee an opening night appearance when their season opens in Colorado on Wednesday, October 13.
- The contract negotiation saga of Brady Tkachuk has largely been an arduous, open-to-the-public process that continues to plant nervousness in Senators fans. It’s come to a head in recent days, as training camp has now begun without Ottawa’s best forward in the fold. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that in his absence, they’ve kept the other two-thirds of his line together in Josh Norris and Drake Batherson. While it’s anybody’s guess on who could fill that role during play if Tkachuk misses the start of the season, head coach D.J. Smith used forward Nick Paul in that first-line left-wing role today. Potentially a sign of things to come, it’s still anything but a guarantee.
Dallas Stars Hire Al Montoya
- The Dallas Stars have hired former NHL goaltender Al Montoya as the club’s new director of community outreach, a position created to focus on helping grow the game among underrepresented fans. Montoya, 36, last played in the NHL during the 2017-18 season with the Edmonton Oilers and totaled 168 games over his full career. Originally selected by the New York Rangers with the sixth overall pick in 2004, he finished his NHL career with a 67-49-24 record and .908 save percentage.
Tyler Seguin Back To Full Strength After Battle With COVID
- According to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic, Tyler Seguin is almost back to full strength after a bout with COVID-19 this summer that kept him off the ice for two weeks. When he returned to training, his nose and lungs were “on fire” and he was dealing with constant cramping. Those issues have subsided, and though there are still a few noticeable limitations on certain exercises, the star forward feels “pretty much back to normal.” Seguin of course missed almost the entire 2020-21 season, playing just three games for the Stars. The 29-year-old is a key part of a team that hopes to get back to the postseason and once again push for a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals. In 2018-19, the last time Seguin played a full uninterrupted season, he recorded 33 goals and 80 points in 82 games.
Seguin, Hintz, Radulov, And Hanley All Will Be Ready For Training Camp
- Stars head coach Rick Bowness told Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News that forwards Tyler Seguin (hip and knee), Roope Hintz (groin), Alexander Radulov (core), and defenseman Joel Hanley (core) have all recovered from their respective injuries and surgeries and will be ready for training camp. Seguin, in particular, will be a welcome return as he was only able to suit up in three games last season, managing a pair of goals in those contests. They’re still not fully healthy, however, as there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding goalie Ben Bishop’s future which is why Braden Holtby was surprisingly signed in free agency this summer.
Negotiations For Klingberg Extension Likely To Be Tricky
- With Miro Heiskanen’s deal now done, Dallas has shifted their focus towards an extension for fellow blueliner John Klingberg. Mike Heika of the Stars’ team website notes that the negotiations could be tricky with Klingberg’s offensive production (only eight blueliners have more total points than Klingberg over his seven-year career) potentially allowing him to command a sizable raise on his current $4.25MM AAV. He’ll be 30 when his next deal kicks in which makes it difficult to command a max-term contract and the team already has nearly $18MM tied up in their other three top-four defenders for next season and beyond; adding another big-ticket contract could put them among the highest-spending teams on the back end.
OHL Will See Influx Of 2021 NHL Draft Selections For 2021-22
After a year that saw a straight-up canceled season, one of the most prestigious junior programs in the world will see an influx of talent for the 2021-22 campaign. The Canadian Hockey League as a whole has received some welcome news over the past few days, as high-end prospects from the 2021 NHL Draft have signed on to play with various teams in the CHL next season. Today, Stanislav Svozil, a third-round pick of Columbus, added himself to that list. We’ll dive into a list of notable first-rounders from the 2021 Draft who are expected to be returning to the OHL or coming there for the first time after stints elsewhere last season.
F Mason McTavish (Anaheim Ducks, 3rd overall) – A somewhat surprising selection, the 6′ 2″, 207-pound power forward will be among the OHL’s biggest stars when the league resumes play after a lost 2020-21 season. McTavish played last season on loan with EHC Olten in the second-tier Swiss League, and impressed with 11 points in 13 regular-season games and seven points in just four playoff games. With an impressive 11 points in seven games for Canada’s U18 squad, serving as their captain during the U18 World Championships, McTavish comes back to his Peterborough Petes as the team’s best and most dynamic forward. He’ll look to improve on his rookie season with the team in 2019-20, in which he scored 29 goals and 42 points in 57 games.
D Brandt Clarke (Los Angeles Kings, 8th overall) – One of the most dynamic defensemen in the draft, Clarke fell all the way to Los Angeles at eighth overall, a lucky break for an already stacked prospect pool. Clarke, property of the OHL’s Barrie Colts, spent the 2020-21 campaign on loan with HC Nove Zamky in Slovakia’s Tipos Extraliga. Posting 15 points in 26 games, the two-way defender flaunted his skating ability on a professional stage. The immense growth in his game overseas will surely be on full display this year in Barrie.
F Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers, 16th overall) – A teammate of McTavish’s with EHC Olten in 2020-21, Othmann looks to bring his elite shot back to the OHL for 2021-22 with the Flint Firebirds. Othmann was able to score some decent playing time in Switzerland, posting 16 points in 34 regular-season games. Those numbers in a professional setting lead many to believe that Othmann will improve on his 17 goals and 33 points that Othmann put up in 55 games with Flint in 2019-20.
F Oskar Olausson (Colorado Avalanche, 28th overall) – Joining Clarke with the Barrie Colts, Olausson is somewhat of a surprise addition to this list. The newly-minted Avalanche prospect has spent the entirety of his career in his native Sweden, yet his decision to move to North America signals a desire to join the Avalanche organization professionally as soon as possible. Picked up by Barrie in the OHL’s Import Draft, Olausson will find more opportunity there than he would have overseas, especially after his HV71 team was relegated to the second-tier Allsvenskan for the upcoming season. His offense should help create an extremely strong attack in Barrie, who’ll have one of the deeper teams in the league next season.
Stars Sign Curtis McKenzie To Two-Year AHL Deal
- The Stars are reuniting with Curtis McKenzie as their AHL affiliate in Texas announced a two-year deal for the winger. The 30-year-old played in 99 games with Dallas over parts of four different seasons but spent last season on a two-way deal with St. Louis, posting 13 points in 26 games with AHL Utica.
Dallas Stars Sign Joseph Cecconi
The Dallas Stars have inked Joseph Cecconi to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2021-22 season. The young defenseman was eligible for arbitration this summer but decided not to file. PuckPedia reports that the deal will pay Cecconi $750K in the NHL and $85K in the AHL.
Cecconi, 24, was originally a fifth-round pick of the Stars in 2015, but quickly rose up the prospect charts with his performances at the World Juniors and the University of Michigan. He was part of the U.S. team that won gold in 2017, and developed a little bit of an offensive game to go along with his defensive acumen. The 6’4″ defenseman played 37 games with the Texas Stars last season, recording eight points, and is likely headed back to the minor leagues for 2021-22.
In fact, with other minor league signings like Alexander Petrovic and Andreas Borgman in the fold, the chances Cecconi plays meaningful minutes in the NHL this year seem low. With that in mind, he’s a lock to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent next summer, given he hasn’t played even a single game with Dallas to this point.