Recently, the Texas Stars, Dallas’ AHL affiliate team, has been making some pretty significant changes to their rosters. Some of them are good and making room for some of the great-to-be newbies and some are having some fans question whether that was the right or the wrong move.
What sort of changes are the Texas Stars making to their 2023-24 rosters?!
There are tons and tons of different changes being made to the Texas Stars’ roster this year. Let’s take a look at what the early roster predictions could look like and what it might mean for the team.
Forwards
Matěj Blümel
He had some experience playing with 6 games for the Dallas Stars, scoring his very first NHL goal back in November of 2022. Now having some NHL experience he’s ready to go back to his AHL teal, show them what he’s learned, and help them win a championship. Even though he only scored 19 goals last season, I think that putting him back in the AHL will only make him stronger.
Justin Ducharme
He’s only played 3 games with the Texas Stars. He needs much more experience, so keeping him on this year’s roster will help him do just that.
Ben Berard
He just recently joined the Stars after completing his college career at Cornell University. He was initially signed to an amateur tryout agreement. For his college team, he ended up with 28 points in 34 games; he lead his team in scoring and finished second in points. He will be nothing short of a strong asset to the Texas Stars team.
Scott Reedy
He’s already got just a tad bit of NHL experience under his belt for the San Jose Sharks, scoring 7 goals and 2 assists in 35 games. Not great stats, but he needs a great team behind him!
Keaton Mastrodonato
He’s still fresh; he only got to play 2 games with the team last year. He’s got some decent college stats, so let’s hope that those can begin to carry over to the AHL for the Stars.
Nicholas Caamano
Playing in several games with the Dallas Stars in the NHL he’s got some pretty horrible stats; however, that was his first time in the big leagues surrounded by some pretty kick a** players. With some more time down in the AHL, he will become a kick a** player himself in due time.
Riley Damiani
He’s got some pretty decent stats with the Texas Stars from a few of his previous seasons. He was originally drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2018 in the 5th round. It’s about time for his moment to shine comes into play. The Texas Stars are saying goodbye to a few other Riley’s, so why not replace them with another one, who hopefully, will be much better and prove himself to the team!
Fredrik Karlström
He was drafted back in 2016 and he’s 25 years old now, so why not just give him the chance to shine, right? He not only has some experience playing with the Texas Stars, but he’s also got just a bit of experience in the Calder Cup Finals. The Dallas Stars are projected to be super good this year and maybe even make it to the playoffs again. If that’s the case, then Fredrik’s our guy!
Mavrik Bourque
This guy’s still super young at 21 years old, but he’s got some pretty impressive stats from last year. He played in 70 games for a total of 47 points (20 G and 27 A).
Oskar Bäck
Bäck might not have the most impressive stats by any means, but he’s a huge dude, which can always help a team. At 6 foot 3 and 200 pounds, this guy can hopefully play some great offense in the near future for the Dallas Stars.
Antonio Stranges
This guy already knows what he needs to do in order to be NHL-ready. Just by watching this interview alone, I do think that he’s raring and ready to go for next season!
Logan Stankoven
This guy is one hell of a goal-scorer. Looking at his stats over on Elite Prospects, for the Kamloops Blazers “C”, he played in 48 games with a total of 97 points (34G, 63A). Come on over, dude!
Defencemen
Alex Petrovic
Talk about a big guy. He’s 6-foot-4 and 216 pounds. Holy defense, Batman! Starting back in 2012, he actually had some NHL experience playing for the Florida Panthers, until moving to Edmonton in the 2018-19 season. From those several seasons, he only mustered up five goals total, but man can this guy play some good defense. He’s an older player with tons of experience, and right now, that’s exactly who the Dallas Stars could be benefiting from.
Artem Grushnikov
This guy’s still super young at only 20 years old. While he only played in on the Texas Stars game last season, now’s his time to get maybe a season or a half-season in with the NHL team, then move back down to the AHL team and really practice all that he learned for his future hockey career.
Lian Bichsel
The big guys just keep getting bigger. At only 19 years old, Bischel weighs in at 225 pounds and stands 6-foot-5. This is exactly the type of guy that we need to defend our net!
Christian Kyrou
He’s a smaller D-man, but he’s got some pretty great stats. He’s played for several different teams and has never had a problem proving himself as a D-man, but also a D-man that can score! Check out his stats right over here.
Gavin White
He’s also pretty similar in size to Kyrou. While he doesn’t quite have as many goals as he does, he definitely still knows how to score. Dallas needs some big dudes who can also score, and these two men are just the guys to do so! Plus, it’s some great rookie experience for them as well.
Gavin Bayreuther
This guy’s definitely one of the oldest on this list, clocking in at 29 years old. He does have some previous NHL experience, playing both for the Columbus Blue Jackets as well as the Dallas Stars.
Jerad Rosburg
After suffering some recent injuries, Rosburg seems like he’s back and more ready than ever to prove himself to be an asset on the Stars once again. His one-year, two-way contract will extend through the 2023-24 season, but will anything else be brought to fruition beyond that? Thoughts?
Goaltenders
Rémi Poirier
For part of the 2022-23 season, he played for the Idaho Steelheads and had an SV% of .928. This guy would be perfect to get his feet wet with Texas and maybe even come on over to Dallas next year.
Matt Murray
Murray was the starting goaltender last year for the Texas Stars last season so Neil Graham should he happy he’s back in Cedar Park. He should be a good mentor for Remi Poirier who deserves the promotion from Idaho.
That’s a wrap on what the super Early Predictions of rosters look like for the Texas Stars!