Stars Recall Lian Bichsel, Place Jamie Benn On LTIR
Oct. 7: Bichsel is back up from AHL Texas while Scott and Taylor have been reassigned, according to the NHL’s media site. While it reverses yesterday’s transactions, it’s not the end of the moves Dallas will make before they open their season against the Jets on Thursday. Demoting Scott leaves them with only 11 forwards on the active roster. They’ll need to move Benn to long-term injured reserve to open up the space to recall a 12th forward from Texas, which the club subsequently announced has happened. Dallas will have $1.88MM remaining in their LTIR pool – meaning they could actually recall two forwards, potentially Justin Hryckowian and Arttu Hyry, if they so choose.
Oct. 6: Like the Edmonton Oilers, the Dallas Stars have made several somewhat unexpected roster moves to make their opening night roster cap compliant. Earlier today, the team announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Lian Bichsel, while recalling forward Harrison Scott and defenseman Trey Taylor from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars.
The team also shared that captain Jamie Benn and forward Oskar Back have been placed on injured reserve at the start of the season. Additionally, Luke Krys, Kyle McDonald, and Chase Wheatcroft have been placed on the non-rostered injured reserve. All of these injury designations were anticipated.
According to PuckPedia, the Stars sit approximately $150K underneath the upper limit of the salary cap to start the season. Given this, Scott and Taylor’s inclusion on Dallas’ opening night roster is merely for cap compliance, and there’s no indication they’ll play a game for the Stars. On the flip side, Bichsel should be back on the roster after they place Benn on LTIR.
In fact, neither Scott nor Taylor appeared in a preseason game for Dallas, as both were cut relatively early from the team’s training camp roster. Scott, who was signed out of the University of Maine last season, went scoreless in six games for the AHL Stars to end the 2024-25 season. Meanwhile, Taylor was signed out of Clarkson University, tallying one assist in 10 games with Texas.
Stars Loan Chase Wheatcroft To Minors
The Stars activated forward prospect Chase Wheatcroft from season-opening injured reserve and loaned him to AHL Texas on Tuesday, per a team announcement.
The 21-year-old Wheatcroft stayed in junior hockey for an over-age season with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars last season, a choice that made him one of the most dominant scorers in the league. Aside from Connor Bedard, Wheatcroft was the only player in the WHL to crack the 100-point mark in 2022-23, scoring 47 goals and adding 60 assists for 107 points in 68 contests. After going undrafted, Wheatcroft signed a three-year ELC with the Stars as a free agent in March, keeping him in Dallas’ organization through 2026.
An undisclosed injury sustained late in training camp prevented the Stars from assigning him to the minors before opening-night rosters were due, meaning he started the season on season-opening injured reserve – a special designation for players on a two-way contract that are injured to begin the campaign. Now healthy, he can be assigned to the AHL without needing waivers.
The 6-foot-2, 176-pound winger will now get his first taste of pro hockey in Cedar Park. He joins a Texas team off to a solid 3-2-0 start, led in scoring by a pair of future Dallas cornerstones in Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven.
Stars Sign Chase Wheatcroft
The Stars have dipped their toes into the undrafted free agent waters to add to their prospect pool as they announced the signing of forward Chase Wheatcroft to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but the contract will begin in the 2023-24 season.
The 20-year-old has had a breakout campaign in the WHL this season, to put it lightly. Over his first three seasons at the major junior level, Wheatcroft had 82 points in 137 games, numbers that weren’t bad but not really at the level to attract NHL attention which played a role in him getting passed over at the draft.
However, in 2022-23, following an offseason trade to Prince George, Wheatcroft has dominated to the tune of 47 goals and 57 assists in 65 games. His 104 points put him second in the league, only behind a certain player who’s projected to go first overall in June. Wheatcroft was named the WHL’s top player in February when he recorded 28 points in just a dozen games.
Dallas has drafted fewer than seven players (every team’s original allotment of selections) in three of the last four seasons which has resulted in a prospect pool that isn’t the deepest. Accordingly, Wheatcroft’s addition makes plenty of sense for Dallas who will now get to see if his breakout is a sign of things to come.
EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro was the first to report Wheatcroft had signed with Dallas.