Dallas Stars make all the right moves picking Heiskanen and Oettinger in first round

CHICAGO — The Dallas Stars made all the right moves in the first-round of the NHL Entry Draft on Friday at the United Center.

With the No. 3 pick the Stars selected Miro Heiskanen and got the best player on their draft board. Later in the first round they made a minor move with the Chicago Blackhawks and snagged the top goalie in the draft, Jake Oettinger, with the No. 26 pick.

Stars director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell, who runs the Dallas draft each year, said that Heiskanen was ranked higher than any other player on the Stars draft board. In fact if Dallas had the No. 1 pick they would have taken the Finn, who McDonnell called a “poor man’s Nick Lidstrom right now.”

“So we’re leaving today sky high,” McDonnell said. “I don’t want to make a habit of this, but when you are picking that high you are beating everybody to the punch. So we got lucky and we were able to do that.”

Picking Heiskanen was a relatively easy task after Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick went No. 1 and 2 to New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Picking Oettinger was a bit more difficult, especially with an increasing chance that the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators would have picked the goalie before the Stars picked at No. 29.

“When he started to drop and you project what teams might be after him, we knew we had to get ahead of a couple,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. “We thought it was worth the extra pick to make that move.”

Nill said Stars had Oettinger as the clear cut top goalie in this draft. After the Boston University freshman there was a group of four or five goalies Dallas would be interested in, but Oettinger was the top prize.

“I talked to them a couple times, but you never know who is going to pick you until you hear your named called,” Oettinger said. “Whenever a team trades up to get you it just shows how well they want you. I couldn’t be more excited to be part of an organization that really wants me to be there.”

For both players patience will be a virtue.

Oettinger will spend at least one more season at Boston University. Heiskanen is still only 17 and will play another season in Finland before coming over to North America.

In the short term the Stars focus shifts to the second round, where Dallas will pick at No. 39 on Saturday morning.

McDonnell and his staff are having a meeting this evening to discuss the strategy, and the Stars believe they can still get a first-round talent that early in the second round.