I think Cedar Park is going to miss Neil Graham after this past season. He led the Texas Stars to the Western Conference Finals in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Teams were getting ready to poach him away from the Stars' organization; however, he will be an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars next season under Glen Gulutzan. However, Toby Petersen is a great coach and will do great things with the Texas Stars next season. However, teams are going to hate tha he's getting such a good team to coach.
It all starts with Curtis McKenzie, who's returning to lead the team back to the Western Conference Finals again. McKenzie is a solid veteran captain who does a lot for the Cedar Park Community. He was the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award winner last season and plans to continue doing charitable things for the community. A captain with the experience that McKenzie brings will be a godsend for Petersen. However, that's not all that Petersen will have on the roster this upcoming season.
Petersen will have two solid scoring prospects in Arttu Hyry and Justin Hryckowian, who did extraordinary things with the Texas Stars last season. Justin was named the AHL's top rookie after the regular season and could have a shot at making the Dallas Stars opening night roster this upcoming season. However, with Justin Bastian getting signed this past weekend, Hryckowian has a long shot to make the opening night roster.
Hyry is another talented scorer who willl be returning to Cedar Park this upcoming season. One of the babies of the Finnish Mafia is looking to build momentum on his success last year. He's nicknamed after the Star Wars Astronomical droid will give Petersen another player who he can count on to score the puck. Hyry could be sent up to the Dallas Stars in case an injury wave that could happen over the course of next season. That's how good of a player he is.
I could go on and on about the experience and depth of the Texas Stars that Petersen is inheriting from Graham. The Texas Stars are built to be a playoff contender once again this year. Don't be surprised if the Dallas Stars have both of their development teams in the playoffs this upcoming season. However, Petersen is inheriting one of the best rosters in the AHL. That's something every AHL coach is going to be envious about next season.