TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Roughly a year ago Ondrej Vala was waiting to board a flight at the Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport when he got one of the most important calls of his hockey career.
It was his agent. The Dallas Stars were impressed with his play at the 2016 prospects tournament, and they wanted to work out an NHL contract with the undrafted Czech defender.
“I was very very surprised,” Vala said. “After one week management called back and we were ready to sign the contract. It was very exciting.”
While the Stars had taken notice of Vala because of his play with the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL, his performance in Traverse City as a free agent invite led to further contract discussions.
“I just battled like a motherfucker,” Vala said of 2016. “I was happy they gave me an opportunity to wear this jersey here, so I’ll battle for it.”
That’s a common attitude at the five-day tournament here in Northern Michigan. While the top prospects are the main draw, the free agent invites and AHL-contracted players have a key opportunity to impress scouts from all 31 NHL teams.
And halfway through the tournament the lesser-known players on Dallas roster have done well for themselves.
Samuel Larberge, Max French, and Sheldon Dries — all on AHL contracts — have been the Stars most consistent forwards during the tournament. Free agent invites Shaw Boomhower and Cole Tymkin have also impressed the Stars coaching staff with their effort in the tournament.
Dries, a former captain at Western Michigan, may have the highest stock of that group after the first two games and is tied for second on the team in scoring with a goal and an assist.
“For a guy like him we know what we’re getting coming in. He’s a motor, character guy, great leadership guy. From what we saw in development camp we knew he was the type of guy we’d like to have in Texas,” Texas Stars coach Derek Laxdal said. “He’s going to try and take his game and elevate it and hopefully get an NHL contract out of it.
“He comes from a great program where there’s a great culture at Western Michigan,” Laxdal added. “He’s going to be a real good leader in our group. He’s the type of player that could play a lot of years in the American Hockey League and maybe get a chance in the National Hockey League because of what he brings.”
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