The Dallas Stars prospect team is off and running in the 2018 Traverse City Tournament. Here’s an update on all that has already gone down and what is to come over the final few days of the tourney.
Miro Heiskanen is really good at hockey. But that’s not all that we’ve learned from the Dallas Stars prospect team over the last few days as the 2018 Traverse City Tournament enters full swing.
On Friday afternoon, the prospect tournament (hosted by the Detroit Red Wings) got underway. It’s the annual tourney that gives eight lucky NHL teams the chance to send their brightest prospects to Michigan for four days of competition against fellow bright prospects from around the league.
And as you probably already know, the Dallas Stars are one of those eight teams. The tournament is an opportunity for GM Jim Nill and the rest of the Stars’ management and coaching staff to take an in-depth look at the majority of their prospect pool and use the four days of action to assess how their organization should shape out this year.
The Stars have had mixed results in this tournament over the past few seasons, though. But it’s not always about the results. Seeing how the prospects do when going toe-to-toe with other NHL-caliber young guns is one of the most important parts of the tournament. The visibility of development and skill level always reign supreme.
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Through the first few days, we’ve seen some good areas and some areas needing improvement in the Stars’ play. On top of that, we’ve also seen plenty of promise.
Today is an off day for the tournament, which gives us a chance to catch up on what has happened and prepare for what is ahead. Let’s take a moment to recap the Stars’ action from Friday night to now.
Friday: Stars defeat Rangers, 7-5
The Dallas Stars kicked off the tournament with a matchup against the New York Rangers to start up divisional play. Nick Caamano, Roope Hintz, and Tony Calderone made up the team’s first line, while 2017 first-round pick Miro Heiskanen and John Nyberg formed the top defensive pair. Colton Point got the start in goal for his first time wearing a Stars uniform.
It was a game filled with errors and penalties, including four power play goals against for the Stars. But it also included an impressive comeback. Dallas found themselves behind 5-3 as they entered the third period and in need of a resurgence. They found it in the final 12 minutes of the game, scoring four goals, with two of them coming from 2018 fourth-round pick Adam Mascherin.
The big story of the evening, however, wasn’t the comeback. Instead, it was the debut of Miro Heiskanen in a Dallas Stars jersey that grabbed everyone’s attention.
Heiskanen was nearly perfect in his time on the ice. He read the game well, made crisp passes, made the smart plays in both zones, had great vision and communication, and looked like an NHL-caliber defender. All in all, he lived up to his hype.
His crowning moment of the game came when he scored the Stars’ third goal of the game to tie the score in the third. He covered just about every square inch of the ice on his way to the goal. It’s hard to describe, so that’s why we have the power of video.
Miro goal. @seanshapiro @StarsInsideEdge #Stars pic.twitter.com/JKUq3SIZ7O
— Gavin Wilkinson (@Gwilkers96) September 8, 2018
That right there is something special. Only 25 more days until we see no. 4 in action at the AAC.
Curtis Douglas, Nick Caamano, Niklas Hansson, and Jakob Stenqvist tallied the other goals for Dallas while Jason Robertson put up four assists and 2018 first-round pick Ty Dellandrea tallied three assists of his own. Point also stopped 21 of 26 shots.
Dallas started the tournament on an ultimately impressive note with the win.
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Saturday: Stars lose to Red Wings, 3-1
As exciting and motivating as Friday night was for the Stars, Saturday night didn’t bring the same success with it.
Dallas lost to the Detroit Red Wings prospect squad, dropping a 3-1 decision. Tony Calderone scored the lone goal for Dallas, while they gave up two power play goals to put the game out of reach.
But the blame can’t be shifted to the goaltending in this contest. Colton Point played well in his second game with Dallas, turning aside 24 of 26 shots in the loss. So, even in a loss, there were still positives to take from it.
The Dallas Stars have one more round-robin game scheduled on Monday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild. Every team in their division is 1-1 so far in the tourney, so if Dallas can secure a win and the Rangers beat the Red Wings, the Stars will advance to the championship game in an attempt to claim first place overall. To see the Stars’ schedule for the final two days of the tournament, click here.
Keep an eye out for the action in these final two days. With the lineup the Stars are fronting, it should be an exciting finish.