The Dallas Stars are preparing for the 2023 NHL Draft which will take place on June 28th-29th in Nashville at Bridgestone arena. We have already gone over some big names which will fall to the Stars when they make their first selection with the 61st pick. Let’s take a look at someone who should be around the 125th pick when they make their selection in the 4th round on Saturday.
Some of you have reached out to the Blackout Dallas Twitter Inbox wanting me to do a profile on him. Let me just say some of you have a good taste in defensive players. Luke Mittelstadt was apart of the Minnesota Golden Gophers run to the NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship game where they eventually lost to the Quinnipiac Bobcats in OT. Let’s take a look at why the Stars might draft him down in the 4th round of the NHL Draft.
Dallas Stars NHL Draft Profile Luke Mittelstadt: Why the Stars will draft him?
Mittelstadt finally has that experience a team looking to draft a defenseman wants. The reason why he was passed over in the 2022 NHL Draft is because of his inexperience and the fact that he would have went to the Golden Gophers for a chance of winning a National Title with his brother Casey who was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres.
The 20-year-old learning under the deepest group of defensemen that Golden Gophers Head Coach Bob Motzko has had really helped his development. He scored five goals and recorded 16 assists as well. Just watch his goal below and how he takes his time from the left circle and sends it past the goaltender. Learning from the other defensemen and his coach make him an intriguing prospect to consider drafting.
No calling that one back, the freshman Luke Mittelstadt with the power play goal snipe to give @GopherHockey a 3-2 lead pic.twitter.com/UW7EY9YKUe
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) April 6, 2023
He has good passing awareness and he’s also improved on reading a play and disrupting opponents. He needs to keep working on it since he will be playing at a higher level when he gets to the AHL or NHL. Staying another year or two to try and win a Championship at Minnesota might just be what the Stars tell him to do. Let him get his college degree and then bring him down to Texas to play hockey in Dallas or Cedar Park.
Dallas Stars NHL Draft Profile Luke Mittelstadt: Why the Stars will draft him low in the draft
I think he’s a fantastic prospect don’t get me wrong, it’s just we got a bunch of other defensemen in front of him. Artem Grushnikov, Christian Kyrou, Lian Bichsel, and Gavin White will probably make the team before him and I don’t know if there would be room for him on the roster down the road.
Another thing that would make the Stars draft him low is due to his size. At 5’11, he is somewhat undersized as a defenseman. Most teams are looking for the 6’0 and above defenseman to add to their rosters so he would be considered a backup option in some teams’ eyes. He also has some more developing to do in his game.
Dallas Stars NHL Draft Profile Luke Mittelstadt: Conclusion
In conclusion he would not be a bad player to draft in the fourth round of the draft. With the low number of draft picks the Stars have this year, they will be very picky on who they draft especially in the second round at pick 61. If he’s still there in the fourth round when the Stars make their selection, I would select him in a heartbeat.