Dallas Stars: Young Defensive Talent Has Provided A Boost

The Dallas Stars have gotten into some injury trouble, in terms of defensemen, but their younger players have been filling in rather nicely.

The Dallas Stars find themselves in a situation no team wants to be in at this point in the season as three of their six defensemen are currently out of play.

Within the first eight days of March, the Stars had lost John Klingberg, Jason Demers and Jordie Benn to injury. Klingberg and Benn are expected to be back in the lineup soon, but Demers’ injury could keep him out until late April, if not the entire season.

With half of the defense gone, the Stars have been relying on their young defensive talent to carry them through the storm. Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak and, most recently, Stephen Johns have filled in the second and third pairings, giving the Stars even more youth.

Nemeth and Oleksiak have been in and out of the lineup throughout the season. Occasionally, one of them has taken the place of a player with a minor injury and sometimes one has simply subbed in for a player that has been scratched. Both players have experience playing in Dallas as they have been with the team at times throughout the past two to three seasons.

The two have made up the third pairing on the team and they are both very physical players that like to initiate contact. With Nemeth checking in at 6’3 and Oleksiak at 6’7, they make up a special pairing full of size and strength.

Stephen Johns, the newest member of the team, just recently played his first game in the NHL. After coming over as a part of the Patrick Sharp trade, Johns had been finding success in Cedar Park with the Texas Stars of the AHL. He was immediately tested as he his first two games featured the loaded defenses of the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues.

Johns has been up to the test so far as he, just like the two defensemen mentioned above, has played a more physical game, using his strength as an advantage on the boards. He was lucky enough to be paired up with veteran Johnny Oduya and that seems to have helped him transition slowly into his current role. If he continues to impress, Johns could make his way to a permanent spot on the roster sooner rather than later.

Since implementing these new pieces into the lineup, the Stars have gone 3-0-2, giving up an average of 2.8 goals per game. There have been obvious holes in the defense, such as Klingberg’s ability to make plays, as he is tied with Jamie Benn for the most assists on the team this season.

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However, the Stars have simply adjusted to what could be season-killers for other teams. Their young defensemen have been instrumental in playing against some of the most talented teams in the league and it has not gone unnoticed as Lindy Ruff mentioned that the young guys have been great at helping out whichever goaltender enters the net.

The bright signs we’ve been seeing from the young guys could just be the beginning according to Mike Heika of SportsDay:

"“…there’s a real chance that six or seven of the guys in Cedar Park get a real chance to play significant NHL minutes next season.”"

Besides the players mentioned above, others like Esa Lindell and Julius Honka could be in the mix for the Stars sometime in the future.

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To sum everything up, it’s great that the franchise has created such a deep system. As players continue to get healthy for the Playoffs, the Dallas Stars will use rising talent to keep their momentum rolling.