Dallas Stars Fans, Be Happy: Jamie Oleksiak Giving Boost To Penguins

We need to recognize the impressive success of an old friend of ours, Jamie Oleksiak. Life after the Dallas Stars has treated the Big Rig well, as he settles into a role with Pittsburgh.

Jamie Oleksiak needed to go. With the Dallas Stars, he couldn’t shake that lack of confidence that led to turnovers, various skating blunders, and a poor sense of situational awareness.

Not only did his departure free up space for the Stars to use Julius Honka, a far superior skater, it opens the door for Miro Heiskanen and the Texas Stars crop to succeed on the left side of the Dallas defense.

It was a necessary transaction to send Oleksiak to Pittsburgh, a trade from which Dallas received a conditional fourth rounder in 2019’s Draft. He never lived up to the expectations of being the 14th overall selection in the 2011 Draft.

Heralded as the next Zdeno Chara, Oleksiak was just a tall, stocky Rob Scuderi. Oleksiak needed a fresh start, and after basically running him out of town, Stars fans should be giddy that he’s contributing elsewhere.

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Because, well, he certainly has been.

As a Penguin, the 6’7″ lefty has been a sturdy, reliable defender with an added touch of possession and offense. In black and gold, he’s exactly what Ken Hitchcock gushed over at training camp in September.

Maybe it’s confidence, maybe it’s the offense-oriented Mike Sullivan system in the Steel City, or maybe Jamie Oleksiak is just more relaxed. It seems he’s settled into a role of “just play to play, not to impress,” and flourished mightily under it.

With Pittsburgh, he has tallied two goals and two assists, one of those goals coming as part of the man-advantage that the Big Rig has impressed in. His numbers check out as well as his eye test does, posting a career-high 53.8 Corsi For percentage in his 11 games with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs.

Oleksiak is starting his shifts in the defensive zone 56.6% of the time, and his PDO (sum of his team’s shooting percentage and save percentage while he’s on the ice) of 98.2 don’t suggest that Jamie is getting lucky here: he’s just been good.

He’s playing power play (0:46 5v4 TOI per game), penalty kill (1:19 per game), and his Goals For Per 60 Minutes (GF/60) is at 2.9, close to leading scorers Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel at 3.0. All alongside a noted turnover machine in Matt Hunwick on the Penguins’ bottom pair.

Clearly, Oleksiak has not only had fun playing in Pittsburgh, but he’s been about as effective as defender on the team as of late. We should want this, right? Not as though it’s our civic duty to root for the guy, but a product of our system mired in mediocrity for so long finally becoming valuable for a Cup contender.

He’s a great guy, and a humble player quickly transforming into a fan favorite in Pittsburgh. Even if his unbelievably frustrating defensive blunders of his time in green are impossible to forget, it’s possible to forgive. It’s better for Jamie, and better for us as Dallas Stars fans, to see him playing well elsewhere than sitting in the press box.

Next: Road Trip Going Well For Stars, Who Are Building Confidence

We’ve all been Jamie Oleksiak at one point or another: the person with too much pressure on their shoulders, crumpling up under elephant-sized expectations. Some of us never find a way out of those situations – Jamie was lucky, and although we were infuriated by his play with the Stars, let’s be happy for his success with the Penguins.