Dallas Stars Prospect Update

The Dallas Stars have a prospect pool that is rooted with strong defensive and goaltending prospects. Dallas also possess some very promising forwards including Jason Dickinson and Remi Elie.

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Brett Ritchie had a big impact on the Texas Stars Calder Cup Championship last season, and he gave examples of his how he helped during his current stint in the NHL with the big club. In his 8 games with the Stars, Ritchie had 3 quick goals and an assist. Unfortunately, Ritchie was put on IR after suffering an injury that was remained rather quiet by head coach Lindy Ruff. Ruff told media “One guy’s mid [body]. One guy’s lower and one guy can be anyplace.” Ruff was referring to three players that were injured in the same game, which included Ritchie. Ritchie is a big bodied guy with a lot of upside. I don’t see this injury slowing him down very much.

There was many named to Team Canada’s World Junior preliminary roster that did not make the final cut. Among them were Stars prospects Jason Dickinson and Remi Elie. Dickinson was part of the 2013 U18 team that won gold, where he played 3 games and had an assist. This season he was named the captain of his OHL team, the Guelph Storm. Jason is tied for 2nd on the Storm in scoring behind Detroit Red Wings prospect Tyler Bertuzzi. Dickinson may be producing for the Storm, but when it comes to even strength goals for percentage, he sits at the middle of the pack. This goes for relative goals for percentage as well, relative meaning goals for percentage subtracted from his goals against percentage. Dickinson has a 49% ESGF and a -6% rel ESGF.

Remi Elie is on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to that particular stat. Elie leads the Erie Otters, and his former OHL team the Belleville Bulls, in both categories. In fact, his 90% ESGF and 43% rel ESGF are in the top three in the entire OHL. Elie was available for trade at the OHL deadline, and the Otters were able to acquire him from the Bulls. What is interesting about Elie is that he is a somewhat big forward at 6’1″, but is putting up big time numbers in juniors. This is difficult to find sometimes in the juniors, a lot of the players that produce at the level are usually smaller and when they make it to the NHL level, they seemed to get pushed around often. Elie’s size and skill can make him a successful NHL’er.

With their first round pick in 2014, the Dallas Stars chose defenseman Julius Honka. The Finland native has been playing in the AHL this year and also played for Finland during the 2015 World Junior Championships. Honka is a very big offensive threat at the blue-line, but has been showing much more to those that follow the Stars. His defensive game has very much improved since his time in the WHL with the Swift Current Broncos. Honka is an undersized defenseman, but he has still been very good in his own end for the Texas Stars.

As for goaltending, former first round pick (2010) Jack Campbell is playing his forth year with the Texas Stars this year. Campbell has a 3.25 GAA and a .895 save percentage. Although this hasn’t been his best year, Jack Campbell is still a very good goalie. He is very mobile and is making truly great saves. He has been splitting time with Jussi Rynnas. Another goalie to look out for is Brent Moran. Moran is with the Niagara IceDogs of the OHL this year and had been doing very well. He is one of the bigger goalies in the league at 6’4″ and uses it to his advantage wisely. Moran is splitting time with Brandon Hope and has even shut down the all mighty Connor McDavid in a 5-2 victory over the Erie Otters.

The Dallas Stars may have a lot of defensive prospects, but they still have a couple of players in the AHL and juniors who are producing offensively. The NHL club should expect a nice future boost of talent coming from their prospects.