FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill doesn’t have any issue with carrying eight defenders on his roster to open the regular season.
“Good possibility of that,” Nill said Friday.
For now the Stars have nine defenders on the roster and the top-six seem to be set with Marc Methot, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Jamie Oleksiak, Dan Hamhuis, and Stephen Johns. That forces Nill to make a decision on Julius Honka, Greg Pateryn, and Patrik Nemeth.
Honka appears to be the closest to earning a spot in the top-six, but he’s also the only waiver-exempt defender on the roster. Sending Honka to the AHL would allow the Stars to hold onto all nine defenders, while Pateryn and Nemeth could serve as healthy scratches in the NHL.
The Stars could send Nemeth or Pateryn to the AHL, but it would require them to clear waivers. The Stars have been stingy about risking players on waivers in the past, so a trade would be the more ideal situation.
Nill, who rarely tips his hand, said the Stars have several options.
“It’s going to sort itself out,” Nill said. “But I don’t think it’s going to be as big a challenge as everyone is analyzing.”
How about a bit more clarity?
“There is a balance to all of it. We’re going to analyze everybody, but once you get the season going things settle a little bit,” Nill said. “We’ve gone through exhibition games here, is it important? Yes. But regular season now we’ll a better feel where everyone is at and things change quickly in this business, we’ll go game-by-game here. We’ve got lots of flexibility and we have options.”
What does Ken Hitchcock think of the situation? Throughout the process he’s said he would pick his top-six and Nill would be responsible for figuring out what to do with the rest.
“You hate losing guys on waivers, it’s not a good feeling to lose a guy,” Hitchcock said. “You’ve invested all the development money in him and all the time in him, you don’t want to lose him for nothing. Whatever they decide to do we’ll play. We’re going to have a good roster either way.”
“A Team” gets a break
The Stars will not role out their top lineup in the preseason finale against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Ken Hitchcock said that Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, Mattias Janmark, and John Klingberg will not travel with the team. Hitchcock spoke with all four players and said all of them are ready to go for the regular season.
Hitchcock said he wants to give one final look to some of the younger players battling for a roster spot, including Remi Elie, Jason Dickinson, Roope Hintz, and Gemel Smith.
Martin Hanzal will make his Stars debut in the game, while Ben Bishop is expected to start and play the entire game.
Based on recent practice lines, here is the projected lineup:
Remi Elie — Jason Spezza — Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel — Martin Hanzal — Devin Shore
Gemel Smith — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Jason Dickinson — Roope Hintz — Adam Cracknell
Marc Methot — Jamie Oleksiak
Esa Lindell — Julius Honka
Dan Hamhuis — Stephen Johns
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Getting Benn back
Benn skated on his own Friday and will skate with the group of players not traveling on Saturday morning. Hitchcock said the Stars captain will join full practice on Sunday and this should allow him to be at 100 percent.
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