Biggest Dallas Stars Storylines Going Into Camp!

Biggest Dallas Stars Storylines Going Into Camp!

What’s up everybody? Alongside Craig Ledwig and not alongside Sam Nestler, but he’s here. He’s not here. He’s over there. I’m Owen Newkerk. Let’s talk about the big storylines, the things that we’re tracking ahead of the start of training camp on Thursday as Dallas gets ready for the 2526 NHL season. Luds, the first thing, coaching moves, right? Glenn Gullson is in, Pete D’borah is out. Neil Graham, David Peltier added, and Ela Nazerine maybe gets to do some different things that he perhaps otherwise couldn’t. So to me, looking at the coaching staff, that’s a huge part of going into training camp this year. Yeah. You know, and I I I say this quite a bit. You know, a new coach comes in and there’s players that do get a second chance to make a first impression. And so, and usually those are your, you know, your bottom six forwards that are going to try to prove that they can get a little more time in there. But I think it’s an adjustment for a lot of these guys, you know, coming off of Pete and Pete Dbor and his system the way that he went. And I’m sure that with Gully being there, there’s going to be some things he’s want to change and he talked to us a little bit. Um, we’re hoping we see a little bit more physicality. He talked about 1% from each guy. So, go for it, guys. Um, and some system changes, you know, and for me obviously is how are they going to play in front of their goalenders this year in their own end? But, um, I think you get some excitement and I think what’s important is to get off to a good start and and whatever the coach is going to try to sell, they’re hoping that the teams get off to because now all of a sudden they start to believe in what the little tweaks are and then there’s a a different kind of an excitement. Before I ask Sam a followup, I want to ask you a quick one. How will you see tactical changes? Will it be preseason games or is it going to have to be regular season before you really get a a grasp of what Gully’s trying to do? Yeah, I I don’t think you’re going to see everybody jump on board. Not not that they won’t jump on board, but for it to be able to come and become cohesive until maybe 20, 30 games in the season. It depending it depends on the change. I mean, how are there going to be big changes or little minor ones, but I think for the preseason games, you’re really trying to get a look at some of the younger guys. That’s really what it’s about. So, I don’t think you’re going to change a lot. He’s not going to have a full hour before every game and let’s go over this, let’s do this. there’ll be two or three things that he’ll try to implement and just say, “Let’s work on this. Here’s what we’re looking to, you know, we want to see this out of our the new guys and and you know, for the guys that have been here, you know, we’re going to add a couple little things, but for the most part, there’s not going to be a lot of uh drilling down on each zone and in your DZone and things like that. There’ll be some guidelines and I think they’re just going to see how they fit in.” All right, Sam, on your side, you’ve already seen a little bit of this at the Foundation golf tournament this past week as far as the interaction with the coaching staff. Are you tracking that vibe? Are you looking at the tactics? What What of the coaching staff changes are you looking for in the next couple weeks with training camp and preseason? Yeah, both sides. What Les just said was exactly what I was thinking off the hop here was that last year talk to anyone who was new last year took a lot of time to get used to Pete D’vor system and I’m assuming that’s going to be a similar vibe this year because now you don’t necessarily have a ton of new players but you’re bringing in the new coach and the new systems and as goalie said a million times he’s not trying to change everything here. They’re not going to overhaul all the systems. They’re not going to play a totally different brand of hockey. So that’s really going to make it easier on these guys because the changes will be a little more a little smaller. But the other side of it that I’m super interested to see is the communication. And you mentioned it, the the way the coaches are open about about things, uh, the way that the it’s just a different vibe between player and coach that it feels like. And I’m really curious to see how that can translate because does that mean the team’s a little lighter maybe when they need to be? Does that mean they’re able to be focused a little quicker when it needs to happen? Because, you know, Pete may have been the tough older kind of coach, but the team was still always, we talked about it last year a bunch, they were they were always having a good time. They were always pretty light. They didn’t overreact to things, but when they really needed to bear down and say like that, we need to make this change. It’s urgent. We didn’t see that either. So, I’m curious how Golitin and his staff can do that. And I think you mentioned David Pelchce, Neil Graham, the communication level and the the roles they’re going to have, I think are going to go a long way. Luds, a big thing for the season this year is a full year with Miko Rantin. for training camp. I guess for me, I’m looking at does he start to own this team like the superstar that we know he is compared to last year when everything was all about just trying to get him comfortable after such a chaotic middle to back half of the season. You know what I think that’s TBD for me and I think for is for him too. Who’s he going to play with? You know, I mean there’s, you know, we’re talking about a top another finding a hole for that a top six spot there. Is Robo gonna be the fixture on there with hints and and him or will there be somebody else that moves up there? Could it be Wyatt? Um I I think the chemistry for for Miko is important. I mean he played a long time with the same guys and and you can see that as he was going along in the what 20 games he got in the regular season here, whatever it was, there was still some indecisions because he I mean again understandable you play with guys like Mar McKinnon, you know, guys like that that are unbelievable players. They know each other so well. So he’s still trying to develop that chemistry. I think last year with Granlin and you know hints they there was there the parts were there. You had a guy that did a lot of work. You had a guy that could back people off with speed and open up some space for Mo to hit guys coming late. So I think that’s going to be a big part of what we see from Ratin early on especially. So, I’m hoping when they get into the preseason games and whoever he’s going to play with, I hope that we see those guys together, whoever it’s going to be, as much as possible, so that you can get in to game one, kind of hit the ground running with a couple guys next year. Sam, the new players, Ratic Fox is back. Nathan Bastion is signed, was on our show. We’ll get our first look really of Vlattis Lav Kolia, acquired in the Matt Dumba trade. There aren’t a ton of new faces and Fox is an old face but back, but there are a couple that have to be integrated into this group. Yeah. And where do they fit? Right. It’s not as obvious as like, okay, we brought back Colin Blackwell. We know where he goes. It’s where do they see let’s just talk about the holes. There’s not there’s not nine forwards that go above the Nathan Bastions and Colin Blackwells. There are there are numbers that are available there. And so I’m curious to see how they’re used and whether or not they, you know, maybe try to take a different type of role or as Led’s talked about in the summer, putting one of those type of guys on every line to kind of even things out a little bit. So that’s the forward group kind of what I’m looking at. Kia Shon, I have no clue what to expect. You know, he’s the he’s the odd man out here. Not a lot of us have seen a ton of him and not a lot of us know what to expect of him. Is he just someone to come in and bring see what he can do in camp and bring a little competition? see maybe where he can go if he’s a AHL, if he’s an NHL, or is he someone they’re really looking at to potentially fill a spot because they don’t necessarily have the depth they had last year. I’m really curious because Luds and I watched a little bit of him playing before we did our show right after they made that trade the over the summer and he’s he’s got some skill. I mean, he’s a very mobile defenseman. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not he’s even in the mix or if it’s more of a bring him into camp and let’s just see what he can do kind of situation. And led along with the new players, there’s also the young players. Can they take a step? Obviously Nils Lungquist, Maverick Bourke, Leon Bishell are top of mind. But I also wrote down Wyatt Johnson taking a step. Sam Steel maybe taking a more elevated role. Thomas Harley going from a big role to a cat, you know, a massive role. And what about Alex Patravvic? Does he stay on the NHL roster for the whole season this time as opposed to the last few years only basically playing in the playoffs? That’s why when we do our little previews from other reporters and things like that and they’re all, man, these guys are going to be back in the PL or, you know, they’re going to be going for the Stanley Cup. I have questions, you know, again, for everything that you said there. I mean, I’m hoping that Pro can can push that because I think that he’s a an eleant element back there with Bishell being that that big strong depenseman that make things difficult on opponents and in front of the net. Niels, we’ll just have to wait and see. I do think he’s going to get a good chance and a good look with Gully. I I I think that there’s going to be like a bit of a weight off his shoulders there because, you know, I think with everything that went with Pete and how he was used and wasn’t used at certain times come playoff time, I think it was hard for him. So, um, but but I’m I’m just curious about the pace of the game and how they’re going to play in their own zone, you know. And again, I I I think that if Pro can get in there, I think you’re a little bit more difficult to play against. And um, you know, the other one, the biggest one is probably Maverick. Yeah, I mean I think, you know, we had a chance to talk to him. I I’m hoping that that he can jump into what he was when he came out of uh you know, coming from the miners and and I think he’s going to get a good look because they could use his speed. Um and and I think the way he talks, he’s okay playing anywhere and there is that hole right now on the left side there in the top six. So, we’ll see if he could gets an opportunity there and he can take advantage of it. Filling the voids. Mason Marshman are gone is gone. Male Granlin is gone. Cody Cece, Kenny Donov, and maybe to a little bit of a lesser extent, but still an NHL veteran, Matt Dumba. And Sam, you hope that between the new players, the young players stepping up, and the healthy players, you fill those voids. Mero Hayeskin, of course, with a knee injury, back after a full summer. Niels Lungquist with the shoulder, and as you guys talked about from the golf tournament, Tyler Sean with a shoulder. Yeah, it’ll be huge to have we when’s the last time Tyler Sean was fully healthy for remember he used to be always playing every year all year and then all of a sudden he had the the hips and the the knees and the shoulders and everything kind of started to to snowball from there but having those guys I mean look at what happened to this team when Mero Hin went down everything went not to hell I’m not going to say like they started losing every game until the end of the year but the everything had to be adjusted around them so for them to to they no one’s going get away without injuries during the season. But Dallas needs to find a way not to have that injury this year, right? Don’t have the big guy go down for four months or the two guys go down in the big time when they’re trying to get some points. Um, so the health’s going to be huge for them and I’m curious to see what it can do because it feels like every year one of their big guys is either injured to start or is coming off an injury. Jake with the surgeries and the the not able to train all summer. Robo with the injury right away. Maverick with the injury right away. just it just doesn’t feel like they’ve ever just gotten into a camp and been like, “Hey, most of our guys are good to go feeling good.” And I’m hoping that’s the case this year and we don’t get some insight in the next couple days here that someone had a surgery we didn’t know about or something like that because I’d really love to see this team come out of the gates and see what they actually are because as of right now, we don’t really know. And to wrap up our segment, Sam just brought up two that I didn’t write down, but he’s absolutely right. Maverick Bourke suffered a preseason before the first exhibition game injury in training camp and he talked about it. He, in fact, he used some colorful Luds language about how it was messed up. And then the Jason Robertson offseason surgery, which he clearly was affected by to start the year. And I know there’s a lot of talk and we’ve addressed a lot about the trade rumors and maybe not being actually on the block, but teams calling a healthy Jason Robertson to start the year would be a huge thing for this team. Well, like I said, for both of those two guys, and Robo’s got a can a carrot dangling there. you know, the Olympics, that’s important. And so I expect him to be contract well the money. Yeah, I think that’s probably going to be wrapped up before he starts. I think we’re hoping, but um I would like to if I’m the Dallas Stars, I’d like to get it out of the way. Um but again, it’s going to come up quick, but I but I think that with the the Olympic thing out there for him and some health, I think that you’ll see him come, you know, shot out of the cannon kind of thing. And I think for Maverick, like I said, it’s motivation for him knowing that there’s a spot there. I’m hoping that they have a conversation with Mav and say we got a spot here. Look, look, it’s right here, you know, and and if you’re willing to play the offside, if if that’s what happens, um he made it sound as if he would be happy playing the offside. I think when you’re you’re a young player and you’re looking for a spot and there’s something there, you’ll play wherever you want, uh wherever the coach is wanting you. So, um I think those two have there there’s carrots dangling right in front of them. And we’ve hardly talked about it in this segment, although we’ve talked about a lot on our show. Jayer first action since getting pulled by Pete Dbor in game five of the conference final. So, lots of things over the next few weeks to get ready to the season to watch during training camp. So, for Sam, for Luds, I’m Owen. Thanks for watching.

2025 Dallas Stars training camp begins on Thursday, September 18 with the first on-ice sessions at Comerica Center in Frisco, TX. There are some major storylines to watch as the team gets ready for their six-game preseason schedule and then the 82-game regular season. Those include a new look coaching staff, including head coach Glen Gulutzan, new players acquired in the offseason, trying to fill the voids left by former players, young players needing to take steps forward and much more.