The Upset Sports

A DFW-centric sports subscription site.

Main navigation

STARS MAILBAG: Gurianov vs. Nichushkin, defensive prospects, AHL odds and ends

by Leave a Comment

Last week I signed a book deal with Triumph Publishing to write “100 Things Stars Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.”

The book is scheduled to come out in October 2018, and it’s going to be a collection of essential stories and memories for Stars fans.

Most of the writing will be done this summer (a benefit of what will be an unfortunately long off-season in Dallas), and I already have a preliminary list of chapters and ideas for book.

That preliminary list can always change, and likely will at least a dozen times. I also want the book to best serve readers.

Do you have a favorite unique Stars memory or oddity? I’d love to hear about it. You can always reach me through Twitter or email.

Let’s get started with the mailbag:

Denis Gurianov and Valeri Nichushkin may share a nationality, but they are very different players and people.

Nichushkin came over to the NHL with the understanding he’d never play in the AHL. Gurianov pushed to get out of his KHL contract and made the family decision to play in the AHL this season.

I wouldn’t worry about Gurianov pulling a similar move to Nichushkin and going back to Russia. He’s worked hard to get comfortable with the Stars organization, and has committed to working his way up in North America.

(You can read more about that here)

Devin Shore, Adam Cracknell, Curtis McKenzie.

It really depends on who the coach is. However, if I were making the decision Greg Pateryn is your ideal seventh defensemen.

He has a low cap-hit ($800,000) for next season and he plays a simple enough game where he could step in and play 20 to 25 games.

Ideally my three right-handed defensemen in the lineup every night are John Klingberg, Stephen Johns, and Julius Honka.

Hypothetically Jason Dickinson could be used as part of a trade package for a goalie or defensemen.

However, classifying him as a center and seeing that as a roster road block is a bit short-sighted. The Stars have a history of turning traditional centers into full-time wingers (Jamie Benn), while other traditional centers have spent most of this season on the wing (Devin Shore, Tyler Seguin).

If Dickinson makes the NHL roster next season, he’ll likely be used in a similar role to Devin Shore and play both center and wing.

That’s a fair assessment.

I’ve yet to watch Gavin Bayreuther in person, but I’ve watched video from his three AHL games so far and I’d be confident labeling him as the Stars second-best defensive prospect behind Julius Honka.

The next issue of Dallas Stars Prospect Insider comes out next week, and I’m still working out the updated top-10 rankings.

(If you are interested in subscribing for the prospect insider you can do so here. You also get access to weekly stories that publish on Monday’s for subscribers only.)

Let’s just take a look at the NHL-contracted players in the AHL right now.

Restricted free agents:
Ludwig Bystrom – Likely qualified and back in Cedar Park.
Mattias Backman – Was assigned to the Hershey Bears at AHl movement deadline. Likely qualified, but I don’t expect him to play for the Stars next season.
Nick Ebert – Qualified and back in Cedar Park.
Gemel Smith – Qualified and back in Cedar Park.
Justin Hache – Qualified and back in Cedar Park.
Mark McNeill – Qualified and back in Cedar Park.
Maxime Lagace – Qualified and back in Cedar Park.
Matej Stransky – Qualified and back in Cedar Park.

Unrestricted free agents:
Justin Dowling – Will have a contract offer from Stars.
Justin Peters – Likely not back with Stars next season.
Dustin Stevenson – Likely not back with Stars next season.
Travis Morin – Likely back with Stars next season.

Just went over this a bit with pending free agents in Cedar Park. To expand a bit, Morin is probably back with the Texas Stars as the captain next season.

Brandon DeFazio, who is on an AHL contract, will also likely be back next season in Texas. The Stars will also likely sign another AHL veteran to help the Texas Stars next season.

Patrik Nemeth is a restricted free agent and the Stars will extend him a qualifying offer.

The center depth will depend on how the coach uses his players, so hard to judge at this moment without a clear picture of who the new coach will be.

I’m fine with a set bracket, it allows the NHL to run a bracket contest — which can attract casual fans.

However, I would prefer the old first-through-eighth playoff system with the divisional winners getting the top seeds and using that to set the bracket.

Read Hockey Abstract by Rob Vollman.

I wrote this story a couple weeks ago on the AHL and why the Texas Stars don’t have a goalie coach.

Teams can send a player to the AHL on a 14-game conditioning stint, which doesn’t require waivers. Dallas did this twice this season already with Jamie Oleksiak and Patrik Nemeth.

When it comes to veteran players coming off injury, like Ales Hemsky, it typically requires player approval.

However, it makes sense to utilize conditioning stints as a tool when you have that option.

I’m sure Jamie Benn would be an option to captain Team Canada at the World Championships if he went.

Vegas technically isn’t allowed to make any “drawer deals,” which would be classified as agreeing to a deal but waiting to sign until after expansion draft to get an extra player.

However, nothing is stopping the Golden Knights from having discussions and then signing that player after said player looks at other options on the market.

Thank you for making it all the way through this week’s podcast.

If you’re interested in a Frozen Four pool, go to pickemhockey.com and join the group I made. The group name is “WSOTRLPickEm” and the password is “DallasStars”

In my bracket I have Denver, Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, and Western Michigan in the Frozen Four.

I’ve known I wanted to be a journalist since I was in seventh grade at George Washington Middle School in Wayne, New Jersey.

One of the english teachers put together a school newspaper that came out each month, and the first story I wrote was a preview for the 2001-02 NHL season.

A copy of that “newspaper” — essentially 20 sheets of printer paper stapled together — is somewhere in a box in my parents’ basement.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply