Central Moves: Nemeth, Schmaltz
With Jamie Oleksiak expected to miss 3-6 weeks after suffering a hand injury on Tuesday, the Dallas Stars have recalled Patrik Nemeth from his conditioning stint. The defenseman played four games for the Texas Stars, scoring three points.
Nemeth was recently listed as the most likely Stars player to be traded by Mike Heika’s mailbag. The 24-year old has somehow only played 84 games in the NHL in his career, despite being with the team for long stretches. Remember he was the player who lost almost an entire season to a deep laceration in 2014.
It’s still not clear if he will be inserted into the lineup on a regular basis, as Stephen Johns took Oleksiak’s place immediately. The 24-year old Johns may be more valuable in the spot since he is one of two right handed defensemen on the roster (John Klingberg being the other).
In Chicago, the team has decided to call up Nick Schmaltz as insurance for Artem Anisimov‘s illness. The team is carrying only 12 forwards, and if Anisimov couldn’t go would have had to dress seven blueliners.
Schmaltz was signed out of the University of North Dakota this spring after two very successful seasons. The 20th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Schmaltz has played 26 games for the NHL club this season. Just 20-years old, Schmaltz has shown he may be a little raw for the league but has a huge ceiling.
Dallas Will Healthy-Scratch John Klingberg
The Dallas Stars will be without their top defenseman on Monday night versus the Minnesota Wild.
Mark Stepneski, a writer with the Stars website, is reporting that John Klingberg missed the team meeting on Monday morning, and will be a healthy scratch as a result. Julius Honka will take Klingberg’s place in the lineup, according to coach Lindy Ruff.
Klingberg told Stepneksi that he overslept and he’s embarrassed to have let the team down. He said it won’t happen again and he apologized to his teammates.
According to Mike Heika, Klingberg stayed on the ice to skate hard after the practice. Klingberg has just one assist in his last five games, and scored an own-goal in Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to Edmonton when Connor McDavid intentionally banked the puck off Klingberg’s stick.