Dallas Stars media day was this morning, and it was good to see players back on the ice and doing fun activities today. The media even got to grill Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill and Head Coach Glen Gulutzan this morning. There were some juicy soundbites from them this morning that stood out. One of the points raised was the fact that the Texas Stars will have some injured players to start the season this year.
The Texas Stars are looking to get back to the Western Conference Finals in the Calder Cup Playoffs. After falling to the eventual Calder Cup Champions, the Texas Stars boast that most of their core will be back this upcoming season under new head coach Toby Petersen, following Neil Graham's promotion to the Dallas Stars. Here's more on the injuries the development team has coming into the season.
Texas Stars Injuries: Which players will miss some time to begin the season?
Luke Krys, Cameron Hughes, Kyle McDonald, and Chase Wheatcroft will miss the beginning of the season with injuries. It's unfortunate because they would have brought some experience to the Prospect Tournament this past weekend, which was a success. However, that's a part of hockey, and teams have to adapt all the time to them. The only thing the Texas Stars can do is prepare for the beginning of their season as scheduled.
Texas Stars Injuries: Which players will return the quickest?
There are only a couple of players who will be back next month. Hughes and Wheatcroft will be the quickest players back from their injury. It's stated that they will be out until the middle of October, according to 100 Degrees Hockey. Luckily, those two players can bring some scoring depth to the lineup when they return. It's just unfortunate they won't get to ease into things with the preseason and the prospect tournament that was this past weekend. It feels like how Mavrik Bourque started slow due to his injury.
Texas Stars Injuries: Will these injuries hurt the start of their season?
It's too early to tell if having these four players out of the lineup will do any long-term damage to the Texas Stars' season. I'm sure Toby Petersen will tinker with the lineup in the first couple of games of the season to see if they can generate any offense until they get back on track. You never know what the players taking their spots in the lineup will do and could ultimately fill their spot offensively until they get back. I hope the Texas Stars' fans will understand a rough start to the season coming up.