Editor’s note: This is the eighth part of a series previewing individual players projected to make the Dallas Stars roster heading into the 2017-18 season.
Martin Hanzal was a surprise signing for the Dallas Stars this summer.
While the Stars had a big wish list after a disappointing season, adding another center was far from a key area of concern.
Stars general manager Jim Nill even said in late June that he didn’t need to replace Cody Eakin, and he had “seven or eight centers we like in the organization right now.”
Roughly a week after making those comments Nill signed Hanzal to a three-year, $14.25 million contract with an average cap hit of $4.75 million.
While the signing didn’t align with his prior comments, it did address an area of need for the Stars and Hanzal could be an ideal fit under Ken Hitchcock.
During the 2016-17 season the Stars penalty kill operated at 73.9 percent, worst in the league, and was the NHL’s worst statistical penalty kill since the 1993-94 Ottawa Senators only killed 73.3 percent of their penalties.
Hanzal should improve that effort. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound center is one of the better penalty-killing forwards in the NHL, and has a history of drawing tough assignments during his tenure with the Arizona Coyotes.
“He’s tough to play against, that was one of the first comments from our players after we signed him,” Nill said. “No one likes to play against Martin Hanzal.”
Hanzal’s work on face-offs makes him more frustrating to play against. He does his homework before the games, studies video of opponents, and that hard work leads to positive results, Hanzal won 56.4 percent of his face-offs last season for the Coyotes and Minnesota Wild.
“Win the face-off, get it down, and you gain 30 seconds (on the penalty kill),” Hanzal said. “So it’s part of my job. I think I’ve been doing a good job so far in the circle and hopefully I can do it here in Dallas.”
While Hanzal was brought in more for his defensive prowess, he adds an element of physicality to the offense. With his size he’s a prime candidate to be a net-front presence on the power play, and he has consistently scored 30 to 40 points a season when healthy.
Hanzal’s addition could also benefit Radek Faksa. Faksa and Hanzal are both defensive-minded centers, and there are parts of Hanzal’s game that could help Faksa — who has shown in the past he’s more than willing to learn from veterans — take another step this coming season.
Those are the good things, the potential negatives with Hanzal fall on the coaching staff to smooth over.
Right when he was first signed Hanzal made it clear that he doesn’t play wing. He’s never played wing in the NHL and he signed with the Stars with an expectation that he’d be a top-six center.
So how will that work with Jason Spezza? Spezza is also a top-six center and didn’t respond well at times to playing the wing last season. How are the coaches going to manage the egos and make sure it runs smoothly?
If all goes well, the Stars could use Spezza and Hanzal on the same line. Spezza would accept his role as a winger, but could still take faceoffs from time-to-time, and Hanzal would make up for any defensive deficiencies.
That’s the ideal situation. We’ll just have to wait and see what actually happens.
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