Dallas Stars Center Depth Poses Bad News For Third Line
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars had a catalyst third line towards the end of the regular season and into the postseason last year. Sadly, they might have to abandon the group this coming season as a result of depth at center.
On March 17, 2016, the Dallas Stars lost Tyler Seguin to an injury after his achilles was cut by a skate at the end of a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The cut required surgery, but turned out to not be as severe as it was originally thought to be. Still, Seguin sat out for the remainder of the season, but was expected to be ready for the playoffs.
But that’s not what happened. Instead, Seguin only played in game two of the first round against the Minnesota Wild. He missed the other 12 games in the Stars playoff run, which ended after a seven-game bout in the second round with the St. Louis Blues.
As the Dallas Stars entered the offseason, many questioned if a healthy Seguin would have made a significant enough difference in the Stars’ fate. That’s a difficult question to answer.
On the one hand, Seguin is one of the most talented and dynamic forwards in the league. But would the presence of one forward have been significant enough considering the Stars’ biggest downfall against the Blues was their goaltending?
Overall, the question will never be answered because you cannot repeat the past (unless you are Jay Gatsby, of course).
But if Tyler Seguin had been healthy enough to participate in the remainder of the regular season and the postseason, the Stars would more than likely have never stumbled across their most successful third line combination of the year. Yes, I am talking about the Fak ‘Em Line.
When going through all of the Dallas Stars’ line combinations from last year (hat tip to Mark Stepneski and his site ruffledlines.com), the line of Antoine Roussel, Radek Faksa, and Ales Hemsky first appeared at number 59 on the list. Stars head coach Lindy Ruff finished the regular season with 71 different line combinations. So it was rather close to the end that the three were paired up.
By process of elimination, this line combination was originally paired just before Seguin’s injury. If Seguin had continued to play throughout the end of the year, chances are these three would have been split up.
But that’s not what happened, and Seguin’s injury was more than likely the reason that this line initially stuck together.
That, and the fact that the Stars’ third line ended up being their most consistent line throughout the remainder of the year. From the game where Seguin was injured to game seven against the Blues, Roussel tallied three goals and four assists, Hemsky tallied three goals and ten assists, and Faksa tallied seven goals and four assists.
“We just clicked, and it was fun,” Hemsky said on exit interview day. “We hit a roll and I think we did pretty good. We just knew what to expect from each other. We didn’t try to do anything too much and just focused on our own stuff and what each one was supposed to do to help the team. That was probably the most fun part.”
And click they did. The mixture of not only rookie and veteran but also skill, speed, and size made the Fak ‘Em line one of the most exciting to watch throughout the playoff race. Roussel mentioned the other day about how he hopes they start the year together again because of how strong they were together.
But they might not get the chance to because of center depth.
One of the Dallas Stars’ biggest advantages could now be a problem. The depth that Dallas has down the middle is nothing short of impressive. And it’s not just at the NHL level. The farm system has plenty of skill as well.
Now Dallas will have to weather the storm with their overstocking, and that could give way to the extinction of the Fak ‘Em line.
As of right now, the four starting centers for the Stars next year will be Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Cody Eakin, and Radek Faksa. But this is not the for sure lineup. Seguin could easily start the year on the wing depending on how he plays the position at the World Cup of Hockey.
That remains to be seen, though. Based on last year’s group, Seguin and Spezza would fill out the first and second line center positions.
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The final two lines are where things get interesting. Who do you put in the dot on the third line? On the one hand, Faksa proved that he can carry the third line and when paired up with Roussel and Hemsky, it’s hard to stop them. He did this while Eakin ran first line center duties in Seguin’s absence.
On the other hand, Eakin is a proven center and has come a long way since joining Dallas in the 2012 offseason. He understands the game and is a reliable player down the middle.
One option could be to shift the Fak ‘Em line to fourth. But is it a smart idea to leave Roussel and Hemsky skating 11-12 minutes a game and trust third line duties to Patrick Eaves and Brett Ritchie/Curtis McKenzie? Tough to say.
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Whatever happens, it’s nice to see that the Dallas Stars have a plethora of strong and capable forwards that can mesh well with each other off the bat. It would be nice to see the Fak ‘Em line wreaking havoc on opponents next year, but just know that whatever the line combinations end up being, they will be for the best. How’s that for security?