CEDAR PARK, Texas — Ken Hitchcock said he was happy with the second day of Dallas Stars training camp.
“The kids that were pushing for work weren’t nervous today,” Hitchcock said. “They were way more comfortable, both sessions. The young guys that are ready now, or are going to be ready, all those guys had great days today.”
It sets up well heading into Day 3, where Hitchcock plans to split the group between the likely NHL players and those with more work to do.
“We split the group after two days,” Hitchcock said. “There is a group that’s being identified as the veteran players, they get the first kick and get to practice tomorrow. Then there is a group that’s scrimmaging, then whoever emerges from that scrimmage as a good player gets to go with the big boys.”
Defensive battle
There is still time, but the expected top-six defenders appear to be emerging during training camp.
Based on both their play and Hitchcock’s comments, it appears that Stephen Johns and Julius Honka have both established themselves alongside Marc Methot, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell and Dan Hamuis. Greg Pateryn and Jamie Oleksiak seem to battling more for the final roster spot, while Patrik Nemeth is on thin ice.
Of course, this could all be turned upside down Sunday morning when Hitchcock announces which players are in the scrimmage and which ones are in the veteran practice.
Odds and ends
Some other notes and observations from the first two days of training camp:
-Roope Hintz has looked very good at training camp. His movement and skating are already at an NHL level, and he’s done a nice job creating chances. He’s already building nice chemistry with Denis Gurianov, which could lead to an explosive offensive pairing for the Texas Stars.
-Samuel Laberge has had a nice training camp. The 20-year-old has an AHL contract with the Texas Stars and could be earning himself a full-time role with the AHL team. Laberge works hard, plays a fast and simple game, and he showed off some unexpected offensive skills today during drills.
-The AHL goalie goalie competition is still wide open. While Mike McKenna is going to be one of the goalies in Cedar Park, neither Landon Bow or Philippe Desrosiers have separated themselves and proven they should be on the AHL roster.
-R.J. Umberger continues to keep pace. The second day was going to be a test for a 35-year-old that didn’t play last season, but he’s done a nice job of keeping up with the younger players. He by no means has made the team at this point, but the comeback is still a reality.
-Mattias Janmark has looked good in training camp. That’s a good sign and it appears he is on track after missing a full season. We’ll have a much better idea on his progress after he plays in a couple NHL preseason games.
Saturday’s lines and defensive pairs:
The lines and defensive pairs remained the same, the one change was Kari Lehtonen switching groups.
Group 1
Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Alexander Radulov
Remi Elie – Jason Dickinson – RJ Umberger
Samuel Laberge – Sheldon Dries – Greg Rallo
Curtis McKenzie – Radek Faksa – Adam Cracknell
Nick Caamano – Roope Hintz – Denis Gurianov
Jason Robertson – Austin Fyten – Colin Markinson
Dan Hamhuis – John Klingberg
Dillon Heatherington – Brent Regner
Ludwig Bystrom – Patrick Nemeth
Andrew Bodnarchuk – Niklas Hansson/Shane Hanna
Philippe Desrosiers
Mike McKenna
Landon Bow
Group 2
Mattias Janmark – Tyler Seguin – Tyler Pitlick
Antoine Roussel – Devin Shore – Brett Ritchie
Cole Ully – Justin Dowling – Brian Flynn
Travis Morin – Gemel Smith – Mark McNeill
Brett Davis – Max French – Zachary Roberts
Shaw Boomhower – Tomas Soustal – Cole Tymkin
Marc Methot – Julius Honka
Esa Lindell – Stephen Johns
Jamie Oleksiak – Greg Pateryn
Gavin Bayreuther – Matt Mangene/Ondrej Vala
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
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