Dallas Stars 2017-18 player previews: Curtis McKenzie

Editor’s note: This is the fourth part of a series previewing individual players projected to make the Dallas Stars roster heading into the 2017-18 season.

Curtis McKenzie has had to fight for every opportunity in his career.

After being named the AHL Rookie of the Year in 2014, and helping the Texas Stars win the Calder Cup, McKenzie made his NHL debut during the 2014-15 season and split that campaign almost 50-50 between the NHL and AHL.

Ideally that would have opened the door for a full-time NHL job. Instead McKenzie spent the majority of the 2015-16 season in the AHL, and only appeared in three NHL games.

This past season McKenzie, 26, was finally able to stick with the NHL club for the full season and appeared in 53 games with the Stars and he would have played more if not for injuries.

He was a plus player on a team with who’s best players struggled and McKenzie had six goals and 16 points in a fourth-line role. He was also occasionally used to kill penalties, and he always injected good energy into the lineup.

Even with all of that work, McKenzie still has to prove he belongs on the NHL roster.

During a busy offseason the Stars loaded up at forward. Alexander Radulov and Martin Hanzal, pushing other players down in the lineup.

The Stars also brought in Tyler Pitlick on a three-year, $3 million contract, and he plays a similar role to McKenzie. Brian Flynn was also signed as a depth forward, and the Stars maintain that if a younger player wins a job in camp they’ll make space.

In short, McKenzie is trying to hold off a group of close to six or seven players that want to take his job in training camp.

While he’ll be looking over his shoulder, McKenzie might have an ally in new Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock.

Hitchcock values hard-working forwards that buy into his defensive system. He also has a soft spot for players that stand up for their teammates. McKenzie isn’t a brawler in any sense, but he’s got a history of dropping the gloves when the proper situation arises.

McKenzie is also an effective player when deployed correctly. In a limited role — say 10 to 12 minutes a game — he can have an impact, and can bring a physical edge to any line. He’s been particularly sharp playing with Adam Cracknell in the past, and that chemistry could also be in McKenzie’s favor.

Defensively McKenzie is positionally sound, which is a bit of a rarity today, and he actually reads the game well. He does a decent job of helping eliminate chances around the Stars net, and if there is any any concern it’s that he sometimes sells out for a bigger hit.

Here are the chances against the Stars with McKenzie on the ice:

Here are they are without him:

Offensively McKenzie is going to get by with hard work. He goes hard to the net, and occasionally he’s going to get rewarded.

And that’s essentially the theme for McKenzie heading into this season. He is always going to work hard, but will he be rewarded?