The Dallas Stars have trimmed their roster down to 23 players and look ready to go for opening night. Among the moves, there were definitely a few surprises.
And then there were 23. Earlier this afternoon, the Dallas Stars made what could very well be their final roster cut before opening night.
Going into the final preseason game on Saturday night, the Stars had 28 left on their roster from training camp. Considering an NHL roster consists of a maximum of 23 players, Dallas had a few housekeeping items to attend to before Wednesday when the season kicks off.
They attended to them this afternoon, assigning three players to the Texas Stars of the AHL and placing two more on waivers.
The Stars sent forwards Remi Elie, Jason Dickinson, and Roope Hintz to the Texas Stars. All three are young pieces of the Stars’ future and have already proven that they are prepared to be big pieces of the franchise moving forward. But it wasn’t a surprise to see these three moved, especially with the numerous additions the Stars made this offseason through free agency/trades.
Dallas Stars
Were there any surprising moves? When you look at the waiver wire for Dallas, the results might catch you slightly off guard.
Dallas placed forward Curtis McKenzie and defenseman Patrik Nemeth on waivers with the intent of sending them to the AHL as well. Both have spent the past few seasons with the Dallas Stars organization, so this move was definitely a surprising one.
The move itself was not unexpected. The Stars stocked up on NHL veterans this offseason on both offense and defense, leaving their roster crammed. They needed breathing room, and the only way to do this was by moving players already on the roster.
The players involved in this move are what make it unexpected.
The less surprising player moved was Nemeth. The Stars had nine defensemen in competition for the 7-8 spots on the roster, and each had a legitimate claim to a spot. But in the end, the Stars needed to move at least one. Nemeth has spent the past four seasons with Dallas and has yet to solidify a starting spot with the team. At this point, he’s been passed up by players like Stephen Johns, Esa Lindell, and Julius Honka.
Nemeth is a quality defenseman with plenty of talents to offer. He’s a decent two-way defender that can use his reach, his size, and his puck handling to stop an offensive attack and efficiently move the puck out of the zone. But his inability to play at a consistent level is what hurts him.
With all of the other defenders chomping at the bit for playing time, Nemeth was the easiest one to move. If he does clear waivers (though another team may come in and claim him), he can provide a valuable top-pairing threat. He’s well known in Cedar Park, so it will be interesting to see if he can prove himself enough to earn a spot back in Dallas.
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On the other hand, Curtis McKenzie is a bit of a surprise. Though he’s been one of the “bubble” forwards for Dallas over the past few years, he really made a name for himself last year.
In a year filled with a lot of bad for the Dallas Stars, McKenzie was a beam of hope. He found his element last season, scoring six goals and tallying 16 points in 53 games. All three were career highs for no. 11 and gave him a bright outlook for 2017-18.
McKenzie is a valuable depth scorer that provides a physical and gritty presence on the ice. It’s interesting to see him bounce backwards from a semi-regular NHL starter to the AHL.
What will be intriguing to watch (if he clears waivers) is how McKenzie responds. He’ll likely earn a spot in the top six with Texas, giving him a prime opportunity to make his case known to the Dallas front office. There’s always call-ups and send-downs happening through the regular season, and something tells me we haven’t seen the last of McKenzie this year. Stay tuned on that.
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One of the surprise players remaining on the Dallas roster is center Gemel Smith. After an impressive rookie campaign last year that saw Smith score three goals and tally six points in 17 games, he apparently impressed the coaches enough in camp to stick around. He might not start on opening night and will likely serve as the 13th forward, but that doesn’t mean you won’t see him in the lineup soon.
In fact, this could end up being a relatively big year for Smith, depending on if he capitalizes on the opportunity.
So there you have it. There could potentially be more roster moves, but considering the Stars are now at 23 players, it’s probably unlikely.
As of now, here is the Dallas Stars’ 2017-18 opening night roster:
Forwards
Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, Mattias Janmark, Jason Spezza, Brett Ritchie, Antoine Roussel, Martin Hanzal, Tyler Pitlick, Adam Cracknell, Radek Faksa, Devin Shore, Gemel Smith
Defensemen
Marc Methot, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Stephen Johns, Dan Hamhuis, Jamie Oleksiak, Greg Pateryn, Julius Honka
Goaltenders
Ben Bishop and Kari Lehtonen
That’s a quality lineup right there. All that’s left to see is how Dallas uses it and executes.