Dallas Stars Lose Marc Methot Again, Must Call Up Defenseman

Marc Methot had another procedure done on his knee over the bye week and will be out for the next two weeks. In his absence, who will the Dallas Stars call up from the AHL to fill the void?

The Dallas Stars were back on the ice for practice today after a week off, but something was missing. That something happened to be on the blue line.

The Stars only had six defensemen skating in practice, as opposed to their regular seven. Following practice, head coach Ken Hitchcock announced that defenseman Marc Methot had a procedure done on his knee during the bye week and will miss the next two weeks of action.

This is the same knee that has sidelined Methot for 27 of the Stars’ 43 games this season, including 26 in a row. After having arthroscopic surgery on it in early November, Methot missed all of November and December. He has played in one game since November 6, being on January 4 against the Devils just before the break. Methot missed the game against Edmonton two days later, but the reason was said to simply be a “precautionary.”

But now no. 33 is set to miss another two weeks.

Dallas Stars

Luckily, the Dallas Stars seem well prepared to take on this challenge. In Methot’s 26-game absence a few months ago, the Stars turned in a respectable 14-9-3 record. Along the path, Dallas seemed to find an identity on their blue line and even found a stable six-man lineup that produced on a nightly basis.

With that being said, the Stars seem to be in good shape for the next two weeks. They will probably roll with this lineup in most games, barring any defensive meltdowns:

Esa Lindell – John Klingberg

Dan Hamhuis – Greg Pateryn

Stephen Johns – Julius Honka

But Hitchcock also mentioned that the Stars would call up a defender to fill in as the healthy scratch. A seventh defender will give Dallas the opportunity to juggle the lineup if something goes wrong or if another defender goes down with an injury.

The real question has to do with which defender will get called up. The Texas Stars have a few different AHL defenders that could make either their NHL debut or at least their debut with the Stars.

Some of the options include Dillon Heatherington, Andrew Bodnarchuk, and Brent Regner. But which one will they choose?

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Heatherington came to the Stars organization from Columbus via trade at last year’s trade deadline. He was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft and is only 22 years old. Heatherington has yet to play in the NHL, but is having a great season in the AHL with Texas. He’s played in all 38 games for the Stars in Cedar Park, scoring three goals and tallying 13 points.

Considering he is a young and left-handed choice and Dallas only has two lefties on their roster right now, there is a good chance that Heatherington could be the choice.

But if the Dallas Stars are looking for immediate experience, they might want to go for Bodnarchuk. He’s also left-handed and has played in 36 games for Texas this year, tallying three goals and 12 points. But Bodnarchuk is 29 and has 42 NHL games under his belt. He played with Boston, Columbus, and Colorado before signing with the Stars in July 2016.

Regner also has experience at the NHL level. He signed with Dallas this past offseason after two seasons with the Florida Panthers. Regner, 28, has only played in seven NHL games, but still has experience that he can bring to the Stars. He is a right-handed shot, though, and Dallas already has a surplus of those.

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The team will make a choice before tomorrow night’s game against Colorado. Heahterington is a likely bid, but it will all depend on what option Hitchcock wants for his lineup.