Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
NHL promotions for AHL MVP Mavrik Bourque, rookie of the year Logan Stankoven and excellent two-way forward Oskar Back were among the many changes that the Texas Stars found themselves facing coming into this season.
But something that has not changed is the Stars’ station in the Central Division, a collection of teams that always put each other through a season-long grind. The new mix is working so far, with Neil Graham’s club off to an 8-4-0-0 start.
Other losses from the 2023-24 roster included goaltender Matt Murray, defenseman Derrick Pouliot, and another handy forward, Fredrik Karlström. Murray landed in Milwaukee, one of the Stars’ chief nemeses; the Admirals have ended Texas’s season in each of the last two Calder Cup Playoffs.
But there was help to come. Dallas management immediately went to work restocking the organization and secured two of the top AHL names on the free-agent market, landing forwards Cameron Hughes and Kole Lind after the pair had made consecutive trips to the Calder Cup Finals with Coachella Valley. Hughes is an excellent two-way player who set career highs with 25 goals, 57 points and a plus-25 rating last season; Lind is an agitator who put up 30 goals and 91 penalty minutes in 2022-23.
Dallas also signed defenseman Kyle Capobianco, who won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenseman last season with Manitoba – another division rival – while leading all AHL defensemen with 42 assists and 54 points. They went out and got established goaltending help in former AHL All-Star Magnus Hellberg.
Dallas’s draftees in Texas include defensemen Lian Bichsel and Christian Kyrou, their top two picks in 2022, but as the organization so often does, they also added overlooked talent, such as undrafted forward Justin Hryckowian on an entry-level deal from Northeastern University. Twice named Hockey East’s top defensive forward, Hryckowian got into the lineup late last season and then dressed for seven playoff games, allowing for a smooth transition this fall that has paid off with 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 12 games to tie for the team scoring lead.
Then there is Arttu Hyry, another one of those well-trained forwards out of Europe’s top pro leagues that Dallas so often seems to find. Much like Back and Karlström, Hyry has come to Texas already possessing high-end experience, including three years in Finland’s top circuit. After a good showing at training camp, he has responded with 10 points (four goals, six assists) through his first 12 AHL games.
Graham has always been a coach to give more weight to process than results, though the club’s strong results can certainly help to reinforce that growth mentality.
“The thing that jumps out to me is we’re all recognizing areas to continually grow in as well,” Graham said. “Where we’ve had some positives in terms of the wins, we have to continue to improve areas of our game, and our group has been really accountable and really coachable in the early going. We all understand it’s a process, and everyone seems really encouraged to grow.”
The Stars went to the Calder Cup Finals in their first season back in 2010, won the Cup in 2014, and then went seven games in the 2018 Finals. Postseason misses are rare in Cedar Park, and Dallas has long stressed the importance of winning with player development. That development program has been productive, too, with Bourque, Stankoven and Back the latest additions to a Dallas roster – one that is a potential Stanley Cup contender – that also features Texas graduates Thomas Harley, Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell, Jake Oettinger and Jason Robertson. Even long-time captain Jamie Benn got his first taste of professional playoff hockey as a 20-year-old by recording 26 points in 24 games during the 2010 AHL postseason.
But it’s one thing to sign talent. It’s something else altogether to take that talent and turn it into a group capable of competing for the Calder Cup. The early-season schedule does not exactly allow the Stars a lot of time to build familiarity, firm up systems and begin the jelling process following an offseason of significant change. A two-game trip to Colorado in early November, during which they were outscored 10-3, has been the main blemish this season. The Stars have won five of six on home ice, and in their most recent outing at Iowa on Saturday, they bounced back from a 5-3 loss the night before and scored five times in the third period to pull out an 8-4 win in the rematch.
Now the teeth of the schedule really take hold for the Stars, who face division foe Rockford three times this week. Then it’s a six-game swing through the Pacific Division, visiting Ontario, Coachella Valley and Henderson. Amid all of the early-season adjustments, there could be a lot more roster change coming. Last season Dallas had salary-cap constraints that made recalls difficult; this season Graham is ready for the possibility of seeing more movement between the two clubs, something that he welcomes.
“It’s good for our guys to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Graham said, “and if we do our job, we’re consistent in our habits, there’s opportunity. Right away I’ve noticed guys pushing each other. They’ve been excited for one another when someone else’s name is called, but it also shows that it could be anyone next, and there’s something to be said for that.
“Guys want to win here. They want to play hard here, but they also know there could be a reward with Dallas.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
