I caught up with Idaho Steelheads coach Neil Graham on Thursday afternoon about a pair of prospects playing for the Stars ECHL affiliate.
Defensive prospect Chris Martenet missed all of NHL and AHL training camp with mononucleosis, a diagnosis that Stars general manger Jim Nill said could cost the prospect upwards of two months.
Surprisingly Martenet was ready for opening night with the Steelheads and has played four of the first five games with the ECHL team.
“He’s alright, it’s early yet,” Graham said. “He’s a big kid. I think the big thing is patience whenever you’re dealing with a young prospect. The first thing that jumps off the page is his frame at 6-foot-7, he’s growing his body well. I’ve seen him the last couple years at Traverse City, and he did a terrific job putting on some muscle this summer.”
“Obviously a little bit of setback with the illness that kept him out of Texas and Dallas camp,” Graham added. “But he’s up and running now and getting his timing and rhythm back and making sure he re-engages himself physically. It’s not untypical to lose a few pounds or sit on the sidelines after an illness like that, but he’s working to get physical again, put on some good weight and obviously develop the right way. As bad as guys want to go straight from junior to the NHL, it’s often unrealistic. You want that mindset, but in the same breath it’s about getting minutes and improving and making sure when you do get that opportunity, you’re ready.”
Graham also had an update on Stars goalie prospect Philippe Desrosiers, who is making his fourth start of the season tonight. In his first three starts Desrosiers has a 2-1 record with a .920 save percentage and 2.28 goals against average.
“Phil is a guy I know really well, this is his third stint in Idaho and I had the pleasure of working with him since he was a first-year pro, three years ago,” Graham said. “It’s been interesting to see his development and see him mature not only as a player, but as a person. It’s been a good start for Phil, I’m excited for him, I think the big thing for him is to maintain that levelness — as the cliche goes, one game at a time — but I think that’s even more critical for a goaltender. He had two great starts early, probably wasn’t thrilled with his most recent start. And that’s going to happen over a body of work of a 72-game season. He’s back at it here tomorrow and it’ll be important for him to stay calm and get settled in early.”
The Steelheads are of to a 2-2-1 start and play this season a pair of games this weekend against the Quad City Mallards.
Housekeeping Notes
— The mailbag comes out later, should be posted a little bit before lunch time.
— The October prospect insider comes out this weekend. All of the Stars prospects are roughly a month into the season, and will included updates on how each player in the system has started their 2017-18 campaign.
Catch-up links
Jason Dickinson is dominating the AHL. He discussed his season-opening performance with me yesterday
Ryan Pennington grabs a quick recap from each Dallas Stars game. Here is last night’s offering.
Today’s schedule
The Stars play the Calgary Flames tonight to complete a back-to-back in Alberta.
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