{"id":33809,"date":"2018-08-03T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-08-03T12:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=33809"},"modified":"2018-08-03T08:53:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-03T12:53:44","slug":"dallas-stars-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/08\/03\/dallas-stars-prospects\/","title":{"rendered":"TSP: Top Dallas Stars Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the 2018 Top Shelf Prospects series.\u00a0 As we go through the Summer of 2018 LWOH will be featuring a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. We will be following the order of the first round of the NHL draft (as if there were no traded draft picks) and\u00a0you can find all the articles here<\/a>.\u00a0 Since we had an\u00a0extensive NHL Draft preview<\/a>, we will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2018 draft, as there have been no games since then, and our reports on them will not have changed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"What we will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year\u2019s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2018-19 roster of the NHL team in question. We will also bring you one sleeper pick \u2013 a player who was either drafted in the 4th-round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who we pick as our dark horse to make the NHL. For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn\u2019t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played (including playoff games) or is 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and we may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Dallas Stars Prospects<\/h1>\n

The Dallas Stars<\/a>\u00a0were one of the busiest teams of the 2017 off-season. The team signed Alexander Radulov<\/a><\/strong>, Ben Bishop<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Martin Hanzal<\/a><\/strong>, while also trading for Marc Methot<\/a><\/strong>. Unfortunately, the off-season additions didn’t translate into team success. The Stars once again missed the playoffs, leading to another off-season of change.<\/p>\n

The Stars first move was to hire Jim Montgomery<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>as their new head coach<\/a>. He makes the jump from a highly successful collegiate career with the University of Denver up to the NHL with the Stars. The team added Anton Khudobin<\/a><\/strong> in free agency to be their backup goalie. They also picked up depth forwards\u00a0Blake Comeau<\/a><\/strong>, Erik Condra<\/a><\/strong>, and Michael Mersch<\/a><\/strong>. On defence, they added Roman Polak<\/a><\/strong>. The acquisitions aren’t as high profile as last year but the Stars are hoping for better results. Perhaps their most important move was getting Valeri Nichushkin<\/a><\/strong> to agree to return from Russia.<\/p>\n

2018 NHL Draft\u00a0Picks:\u00a0Ty Dellandrea<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Alban Eriksson<\/strong>,\u00a0Oskar Back<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Adam Mascherin<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Curtis Douglas<\/strong>,\u00a0Riley Damiani<\/strong>,\u00a0Dawson Barteaux<\/strong>,\u00a0Jermaine Loewen
\n<\/strong>Graduations: Julius Honka<\/a><\/strong>, Remi Elie<\/a><\/strong>, Gemel Smith<\/a><\/strong>,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top Prospect: Miro Heiskanen<\/h1>\n

Defence — shoots Left
\nBorn July\u00a018th, 1999 —\u00a0Espoo, Finland
\nHeight 5’11” — Weight 182 lbs [180 cm \/ 83 kg]
\nDrafted by the Dallas Stars in the 1st round, #3\u00a0overall at the 2017 NHL Draft<\/p>\n