Dallas Stars News: Stars Recall Joel Hanley, Injured Reserve Moves
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars made a few organizational moves today, sending John Klingberg and Alexander Radulov to injured reserve. In addition, they also recalled defenseman Joel Hanley from the Texas Stars.
On Friday morning, the Dallas Stars announced that the club has placed both defenseman John Klingberg and forward Alexander Radulov on injured reserve.
For Radulov, he last played on Oct. 30 in a 4-1 win over Montreal. He’s only played in seven games this season and has missed the last five contests with the injury. As a result, he was placed on IR retroactive to Oct. 30, meaning he can be activated at any time. He has been working out both on and off the ice in Dallas, which means he may not be far off from a return.
Klingberg endured an upper-body injury in Thursday night’s game after taking a puck off of his torso. He left the game midway through the third period and did not return to the action. In the postgame press conference, Stars head coach Jim Montgomery announced that the defenseman would miss at least three weeks.
As a result, the makeup of the Stars’ defense took another heavy blow. Klingberg along with Stephen Johns, Connor Carrick, and Marc Methot are all dealing with some sort of injury now, leaving Dallas without four regular starters.
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But with the season raging on and some of the best teams in the NHL on tap, there is only time to adapt and adjust.
The Dallas Stars did just that on Friday morning, calling up defenseman Joel Hanley from the Texas Stars of the AHL.
Hanley signed with the Stars organization on July 1, 2018. At 27 years old, the defenseman started his career as an undrafted free agent. After a successful tryout with the Portland Pirates, Hanley played two years at the AHL level before signing with the Montreal Canadiens. He made his NHL debut with Montreal in the 2015-16 season, playing in 10 games and tallying six assists.
He went pointless in seven starts with Montreal in 2016-17 and signed with the Arizona Coyotes in the 2017 offseason. Hanley skated in five games with the Coyotes in the 2017-18 season before entering the 2018 summer as a free agent.
In 11 games with the Texas Stars this season, Hanley is second on the team in points with one goal and five points. He also boasts a +3 rating and is one of the veteran leaders of the Texas blue line.
He brings a total of 22 games of NHL experience to a young Dallas Stars’ defensive lineup. Hanley is an offensive-minded defender and a right-handed shot, similar to Klingberg. At 5’11, 191 lb., he does not bring a lot of size to the lineup, meaning the Dallas defense will have to step up all the more in the defensive end in terms of physicality.
There’s no definitive lineup for the Dallas defense just yet, but there’s a good chance that Hanley starts in the bottom four. Assuming Methot cannot play on Saturday afternoon, Hanley will make his Dallas Stars debut, likely skating next to either Miro Heiskanen or Dillon Heatherington. But that remains to be seen.
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With Klingberg being out at least three weeks, Hanley will likely be in Dallas for at least ten games, depending on when other defenders return from their own respective injuries. It’s a chance for the 27-year-old to prove his NHL legitimacy and help keep a battered Stars defense afloat.
We’ll see what he brings to the table on Saturday afternoon against Nashville.