Dallas Stars News: Signing Prospects, New Lineup Look Against Panthers

It was another busy day in the Dallas Stars organization. From prospects being recalled and signing new contracts to the Stars building a new lineup ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Florida Panthers, here’s an update on what went down.

The Dallas Stars will welcome the Florida Panthers to the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night to continue their push to the playoffs. And while the focus is on the game and picking up their first win on this five-game homestand, Tuesday morning offered another point of emphasis.

The Stars’ news feed was busy on Tuesday morning both at morning skate and shortly after.

After dropping a 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night and falling into a 0-1-1 slump to start their homestand, Dallas has spent the last two days preparing for Tuesday’s matchup against the Panthers. They received reinforcements with the addition of Ben Bishop back into the lineup as well as an encouraging update on the statuses of forwards Mats Zuccarello and Tyler Pitlick.

Prospect Updates Galore: Gardner, Cecconi, Melnick, Dellandrea

The Dallas Stars farm system was particularly busy today as the Stars signed three prospects to entry-level contracts.

Center Rhett Gardner, a fourth-round pick by the Stars in 2016, was signed to a two-year deal. Gardner, 23, had eight goals and 15 points in his senior season this year while playing at the University of North Dakota. At 6-3, 210 lb., he brings plenty of size and skill at the center position. He finished his college career with 74 points in 149 games played as well as a national championship.

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The Stars also signed defenseman Joseph Cecconi to a two-year deal. Cecconi, 21, finished his senior season at Michigan with 20 points in 36 games. The defenseman served as captain of the Wolverines squad this year and finished his college career with 62 points in 147 games as well as a gold medal from the World Junior Championships. Cecconi was originally selected by the Stars in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Draft.

Josh Melnick also received a one-year deal. After initially going undrafted, the 23-year-old right winger wrapped up his senior season at Miami University this year with 26 points in 32 games. He finishes his college career with 107 points in 140 games.

All three players will report to the Texas Stars (AHL) and play out the remainder of the regular season on amateur tryout contracts, with their new contracts taking effect next season.

In addition, center Ty Dellandrea was assigned to the Texas Stars. The 2018 first-round pick wrapped up his regular season play with the Flint Firebirds (OHL) on Sunday evening and is expected to play with Texas for the rest of the year.

More From Blackout Dallas: Dellandrea Enjoys First Week In Dallas, Excited For Future

The center turned in another impressive season on a struggling Firebirds team, scoring 22 goals and tallying 63 points in 60 games.

New look to the Stars’ lineup tonight

Amidst various injury updates and additions, the Dallas Stars lineup took on a new shape at morning skate on Tuesday morning.

After rolling with the same lines and pairings over the past few games, head coach Jim Montgomery shuffled things up.

As a result, here’s how the Stars are expected to look on Tuesday night against the Panthers.

Mattias Janmark – Tyler Seguin – Alexander Radulov

Jamie Benn – Roope Hintz – Joel L’Esperance

Andrew Cogliano – Radek Faksa – Blake Comeau

Valeri Nichushkin – Jason Dickinson – Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell – John Klingberg

Miro Heiskanen – Roman Polak

Jamie Oleksiak – Ben Lovejoy

Ben Bishop

A few things to note here:

Bishop will make his return after missing the last two games due to an injury. After setting a new record for the franchise shutout streak on Thursday night in Minnesota, the Dallas starter pulled himself out of the game after something didn’t feel right. In his absence, Anton Khudobin managed the crease against the Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks.
Taylor Fedun will miss tonight’s game due to a death in the family. He traveled home to be with his family on Tuesday and is expected to be back in Dallas on Wednesday.
Jason Spezza will serve as the healthy scratch for the Dallas forward group tonight. While some are questioning the decision to keep forwards like Nichushkin and Ritchie in the lineup over Spezza, Montgomery told Sean Shapiro of The Athletic that he is looking for young legs against the Panthers, who are a fast team. In 70 games this season, Spezza has eight goals and 27 points.

Monty on Spezza scratch:

I just told him we’re doing what we think is best for the team tonight.... Florida is a real good skating team and they’re young and they’re on a roll, so we went with young legs.
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) March 19, 2019

As a result, the lineup will have a different jump to it as Dallas prepares for a fast and high-scoring Panthers team doing everything it can to keep its slim playoff hopes alive. Through 72 games, Florida is 32-28-12 with 76 points. They are 4-3-3 in their last ten games and sit eight points out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

It’s the second and final meeting of the regular season between the two teams, with the Stars winning the first contest 3-0 back on Feb. 12 in Sunrise. It wasn’t necessarily a dominant win, but Dallas did what they needed to do for a big two points.

With the Panthers in town this evening, the Stars have yet another critical matchup to focus on in their final sprint to the playoffs. The race is tightening up and every game means more than the one preceding it.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m from the American Airlines Center.