FRISCO, Texas — Back-to-back preseason games are going to act as a live audition for the 32 remaining players in Dallas Stars training camp.
Ken Hitchcock said all of the players remaining, other than Martin Hanzal, will participate in the back-to-back preseason games on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche and Tuesday vs. the Minnesota Wild.
The coaches will make further evaluations on Wednesday and get closer to the final team.
“I think we want to go on Saturday (in the final preseason game) with a group of 23,” Hitchcock said. “We’re at 30 or 31 right now, we want to be at 23. So we want to take hard look at the duplicating guys in the next games. So if you see a guy playing in both games, it’s because we want to see if he’s gonna cut the grade in the group of 23.”
Who fits with Hanzal?
Hanzal has returned from an injured ankle and has resumed skating with the team this week. The plan is for him to play in the final preseason game, giving the Stars limited time to figure out which players best fit with the Czech center on a line.
“We don’t know how this is going to work, and that’s the guess for us,” Hitchcock said. “We feel good about the some of the other stuff, but we don’t know because he’s such a unique player and needs a certain type of player to play with him.
And what type of player is that?
“He’s going to need two sturdy players on that line because he’s going to be matched up against top players a lot,” Hitchcock said. “We have to see who can play that role. I think we have an idea, but we haven’t even practiced yet.”
What about Radek Faksa? Hitchcock has mentioned before potentially playing with Faksa and Hanzal on the same line, but recent developments — including the potential for a line of Antoine Roussel, Faksa, and Tyler Pitlick — have changed those plans.
“I don’t think it’s going to work. I think it’s too big of a risk, Faksa can play wing but he doesn’t, he plays center,” Hitchcock said. “And I think the emergence of guys like (Jason) Dickinson and (Devin) Shore allowed us to look in other areas.”
Hitchcock said he’s relied heavily on management in his evaluation of Dickinson and Shore, who have both impressed and played well against the Blues on Saturday.
“We think we know where our four centers are at,” Hitchcock said. “We know the four (centers) so it opens up a lot of positions on the wing.”
Dickinson and Shore appear to be in a competition alongside Roope Hintz, Curtis McKenzie, and Adam Cracknell for the two open spots in the opening-night lineup.
Shore seems to have a stranglehold on one of the spot, meaning that group of Dickinson, Hintz, McKenzie, and Cracknell may be battling for one open spot on opening night. The others will likely be sent to the AHL or healthy scratches.
Defensive developments
Jamie Oleksiak has continued to impress the coaching staff and had another strong game in a 4-0 win against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
After a couple years of inconsistent play and less-than-ideal situations, Oleksiak seems to have found a new level of consistency in training camp.
“He’s a big man, doesn’t lose many board battles comes up with pucks,” Hithcock said. “Plays under pressure. He’s exactly what we need right now. The addition of him and (Marc) Methot, they made good plays under pressure. It’s allowed us to have way more sturdiness than people realized we could have back there.”
“I think people have known we have the potential to be decent back there, but that only gets you so far,” Hitchcock added. “What he’s doing is showing us a sturdiness we need back there.”
And what about Julius Honka? Just a week ago Hitchcock was singing his praises. Is he still in the mix?
“He’s a really competitive wild card player,” Hitchcock said. “If we’re going to play a player like that, it’s more of the top four have to be sound so we can allow him to grow and play the way he does. He’s best when he plays as an active offensive players, but in order to have a guy like that you have to have four other guys that can carry different minutes than he can. He’s definitely a guy who’s put himself in the mix, but it’s up to those top four to see how we play him.”
If Honka isn’t in the top-six defenders he could be sent to the AHL and play another season with the Texas Stars.
In theory he would still be the seventh defender on the depth chart, but in a move to keep added depth Greg Pateryn or Patrik Nemeth could be the place-holder healthy scratch while Honka would be called up in case of an injury.
Roussel busy
Antoine Roussel has played all three preseason games. He’s going to make the team, so why was the winger been so busy in the preseason?
“I wanted to see how far up the ladder I can play him,” Hitchcock said. “He looks like a third-line player, so that’s a good sign. More than just a role player, he looks like a player that can really impact the game.”
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