With the Dallas Stars having back-to-back days off, I used Saturday as a chance to role the tape on the past two Texas Stars games for a quick catch-up on the AHL team.
Here are a couple observations:
— Jason Dickinson is continuously the Texas Stars best overall player. His goal scoring is grabbing more attention, but his overall play is why he should be in the NHL sooner than later. There aren’t many more things Dickinson can do in the AHL to prove he’s ready for the NHL.
— Denis Gurianov continues to disappear into the background. Even in the games he’s had points, Gurianov tends to be more of a passenger and doesn’t impact the game like you’d like him to at an AHL level. His inconsistency is incredibly frustrating for a top-level prospect, and if that doesn’t improve we should tap the breaks on any talk of him earning an NHL call-up anytime soon.
— Roope Hintz is getting better with each North American game. He’s still probably a year from NHL duty, but there is a lot to like and he’s learning well on the fly.
— A couple of the AHL-contracted players stood out to me as potential future depth players for Dallas. Sheldon Dries in particular has had a nice start to this season and has provided some stability for the Texas Stars depth forwards.
— Cole Ully looks like a much better overall player than past seasons, he’s taking some strides in his game.
— Travis Morin is still an elite playmaker in the AHL. He may not have the speed for the NHL level, but he could score 70 points this season.
I’ll have more on individual prospects in the October Prospect Insider later today.
Housekeeping notes
— The October prospect insider comes out sometime this evening for subscribers. Timing just depends on how other things on schedule shake out.
— I will be a guest on SportsNet 650 tonight in Vancouver around 9 pm PST, 11 pm CT. I will tweet out a link closer to the guest spot.
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