Throughout the preseason Ken Hitchcock has said the final preseason game on Saturday will be close to his final roster.
Sure a couple players could still push for a final spot in that game, but tonight’s home game against the Minnesota Wild is likely the final proving ground before another round of roster cuts.
So at this point, who is going to make the team? Let’s go line-by-line with the depth chart.
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
It’s a given this group will be on the roster.
Mattias Janmark — Jason Spezza — Brett Ritchie
Might see a bit of line juggling from time to time, for example Ritchie took some shifts with Benn and Seguin last night, but it’s a trio of players that are locks for the opening-night roster.
Antoine Roussel — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Hitchcock has talked glowingly about this trio and all three players are locks to make the roster. I think you might see some some adjustments on the combos, but for this exercise we’ll keep them as a trio.
Roope Hintz — Martin Hanzal — Devin Shore
This is where it gets interesting. Martin Hanzal has yet to play a preseason game, so we don’t know which players will mesh best with him. Shore and Hintz have started to develop nice chemistry, and even though he’s been playing center in preseason games Hintz seems to have grabbed the proper attention.
If Hintz makes the team, which that would likely leave Adam Cracknell and Curtis McKenzie as the healthy scratches on opening night. Jason Dickinson and Remi Elie could also play their way into this spot as well — essentially it’s boiling down to four players for one lineup spot on Oct. 6.
On defense it’s equally interesting.
Marc Methot — John Klingberg
Despite earlier comments about not playing them together, they seem to be getting enough looks together in training camp. Either way they are locks to make the the team, and we can discuss particular pairs later.
Esa Lindell — Jamie Oleksiak
Hitchcock made it clear after Monday’s game that his evaluation of Oleksiak is complete. Oleksiak is a top-four defender on this team and he’s going to be valuable on the right side.
Dan Hamhuis — Stephen Johns
On the third pair Hitchcock is looking for a pair of specialists that can pick up extra minutes on special teams. Hamhuis and Johns fit that mold as both can be used on the penalty kill, while Johns has a heavy shot that can be used like a roving cannon on the power play. Johns also impressed Hitchcock last night.
This leaves Julius Honka, Patrik Nemeth, and Greg Pateryn on the outside looking in at this moment. If Honka isn’t with the NHL team, which seems more likely, his waiver exempt status means he’ll be sent to the AHL for playing time. Nemeth and Pateryn haven’t had bad camps, in fact Nemeth was quite good on Monday night, but haven’t had the showing or impressed the coaching staff like the others.
The goalies are obvious, it’s going to be Ben Bishop and Kari Lehtonen.
Broadcast
The Stars game tonight will be broadcast on the radio and streamed online with Craig Ludwig and Daryl Reaugh on the call. It’s the only preseason game the Stars will have a broadcast for.
Catch-up link
Postgame notes and video from a 4-2 loss to the Avalanche
Today’s Schedule
The Stars have a morning skate at 11:30 a.m. in Frisco, which is open to the public. The game tonight is at 7:30 and tickets are available on Ticketmaster for as low as $7.
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