Martin Hanzal is ready to play for a winner.
The 30-year-old center thought he was in that position after the NHL Trade Deadline when he was traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Minnesota Wild. But his first playoff experience in five years came to an end in five quick games with the Wild.
“I am hungry to win,” Hanzal said on Saturday.
So when Hanzal approached free agency this summer he was looking for a winner, and the Dallas Stars, even with their struggles last season, fit the bill.
“Dallas is an underrated team, and this is a great team and an organization,” Hanzal said in a conference call from the Czech Republic. “I always loved to play against them because they were working really hard. They had some skill players. And I believe this is a winning team. That was the reason I chose Dallas.”
Hanzal, who signed a three-year, $14.25 million contract, is familiar with the Stars from his time in Arizona and Minnesota. He knows fellow Czech center Radek Faksa well and he said it’ll be a treat to play with the likes of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Jason Spezza instead of playing against them.
Hanzal should help the Stars in a couple areas. The Stars did lose a reliable face-off asset when Cody Eakin was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, and Hanzal is a reliable penalty killer that should help what was the NHL’s worst PK unit last season.
“Martin is a very detailed player who competes at high level,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said in a press release. “He is one of the League’s best centermen in the faceoff circle and his complete set of abilities will improve us in several facets of the game.”
Hanzal spoke to Stars coach Ken Hitchcock about his role after signing on Saturday, and added that he expects to play big minutes against the other team’s top forwards. Hitchcock also plans to use Hanzal, who is 6-foot-6 and 226 pounds, as a net-front presence on the power play.
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