The Dallas Stars have their most promising goaltending depth in recent years, highlighted by a pair of quality prospects, but where are those prospects going to be playing?
When the Dallas Stars open the season this week, they’ll have made their final roster cuts, meaning all of their goaltending prospects will be settling in to their minor-league teams.
Ben Bishop will be the NHL starter and Anton Khudobin will be his back-up, and that’s settled going into the new year. However, there was a wrench thrown into that plan for preseason, with both goaltenders receiving minor injuries.
That opened the field to allow the other goaltenders in the system to play more in preseason. Landon Bow played the entire game on Friday, and Colton Point was recalled after being sent down earlier in the preseason. Point started this afternoon’s game, but he should be heading back down as early as tomorrow.
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Both Bishop and Khudobin should be ready to go by Thursday, meaning both Bow and Point will be sent to the minors. The goaltending depth chart also includes Philippe Desrosiers and Jake Oettinger.
Oettinger, who is one of the top Stars goaltending prospects, is the easiest to pinpoint exactly where he’ll be, as he will be returning to play another season with Boston University this fall. This is why he wasn’t at the Traverse City tournament or training camp. He was the Stars’ first-round draft pick in 2017 and there’s a lot of hype surrounding his potential with the organization, but staying in college a little longer to develop is a great option for him.
Desrosiers spent the bulk of last season in the ECHL with a few games in Austin. He’s also playing for the Texas Stars in their preseason right now with both Bow and Point up in the NHL. The best fit for him at this point is back with the Steelheads, unless the Stars choose to send Point to the ECHL to give him more starts.
Point is definitely high on the depth chart in potential along with Oettinger, but he also needs some more time to develop. His showing in his preseason start left something to be desired, but that’s understandable at this point from him. He’s probably going to spend the year sharing the starts in the AHL with Bow, but time with the Steelheads wouldn’t be a bad thing to give him more opportunities.
At this point, Bow looks like he’ll be the first call-up if there’s an injury this season. He had an impressive game in his preseason start, despite the team losing. He’s likely going to play in the AHL this season, but with both NHL goalies already nursing injuries, it seems probable that he’ll be at least on the NHL bench at some point this season.