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Dallas Stars Leaving It To Colton Sceviour To Have Big Year

By Josh Clark

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The 2007 NHL Entry Draft was a rather interesting experience for the Dallas Stars organization.

The Stars were put into an interesting scenario due to prior trading and shifting picks and players around. While having a total of seven picks in the draft, only two of them were originally assigned Stars picks, with the other five coming from other organizations through trades. Not only that, but the Stars didn’t have a first or seventh round pick.

Most remember the 2007 draft as the introduction of Jamie Benn to the Dallas Stars hockey club and, more importantly, the NHL. Benn was picked 129th overall in the fifth round of the draft, which was a pick originally owned by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins. Fast forward to the present and it’s clear that the Stars walked away with the steal of the entire draft. Benn is an All-Star forward and an Art Ross Trophy winner who is entering his third year as captain of the team.

What most may neglect to notice is that there was surprisingly enough another player drafted in ’07 by Dallas that is still a member of the organization today. That player is Colton Sceviour.

Yes, it’s true. Colton Sceviour was taken by the Dallas Stars in the fourth round of the 2007 draft, putting him a round before Jamie Benn.

Sceviour is the poster child for the player that is “not quite there yet, but getting there.” After being drafted in 2007, the Stars lent him back to the WHL for two more seasons before calling him up to the minors. He started the 2009-2010 with the Texas Stars in the AHL, and immediately started working himself up the ranks. With a 31 point season through 80 games while almost explicitly playing fourth line, he solidified himself as a valuable player, and the Texas Stars kept him on.

Skiver quickly became one of the team’s best forwards, inching closer and closer to a “point-per-game” player with each passing season. His ratio continued to get better, and he was called up for his first NHL start in February 2011. This would be his only NHL game until 2013, when the Stars would use him for one more game in the lockout season.

But in 2013-2014, Colton Sceviour made it clear that he was ready to take the minor league training wheels off and go pro. He did this by putting up 32 goals and 63 points in 54 AHL games. The Stars called him up for a partial stint in the “New Era” year, and Sceviour did not disappoint. The 26-year old put up eight goals and 12 points in 26 games. This earned him a spot on the roster in the playoffs, where he tallied three points in six total games.

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2014-2015 looked bright for the Dallas Stars offense. While nothing else came out very bright, the offense most definitely made a big splash, finishing the year second overall in most goals scored throughout the NHL. While Sceviour was not a major component of their scheme, he still turned in a nine goal, 26 point year through 71 starts.

While these numbers seem disappointing for a 26-year old, Sceviour only averaged 12:43 of ice time throughout the previous season. He was used primarily as a spot filler on the fourth line, playing a good compliment to Vernon Fiddler and another prospect. It became known that Sceviour and Fiddler had some chemistry, and the Stars will more than likely look to reignite that in the 2015-2016 season that begins in less than a month.

But the fact of the matter is Colton Sceviour needs to turn in a big year with the Dallas Stars, that is if he wants a new contract with the team.

Jim Nill has made it clear since he took over as GM in 2013 that he is looking for prime offensive talent and that if it isn’t on his team, he will go out and find a way to add it into his arsenal. Examples of this include Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky, and Patrick Sharp.

While Sceviour is destined to become an unrestricted free agent in the 2016 offseason, he has plenty of offensive talent to compete with along with multiple prospects knocking on the door in wait of a full-time roster spot.

Sceviour is riding the final year of a two-year extension that he signed back in the middle of the 2013-2014 season. He will make a base salary of $700,000 this coming season, along with a cap hit of $650,000. It’s a difficult scenario to try and predict, considering Jim Nill may be one of the most unpredictable men in all of sports.

But Sceviour is a homegrown talent that knows how to score and can get physical when necessary. It would be great to see him stick around, but only as long as he continues to produce. The fact of the matter is, the Stars continue to add top-grade talent to their offense each year. With Curtis McKenzie, Brett Ritchie, Devin Shore, and others ready to get their NHL legs moving, he has a lot of pressure leaning against him. Let’s see what he does this season to stall and potentially avoid it.

Next: Stars Scenario To Punch Ticket To Traverse City Final

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