Dallas Stars get one step closer to opening-night roster with flurry of moves

The Dallas Stars made some roster moves Sunday following their final game of the preseason to get one step closer to setting their opening-night roster.

The Stars loaned Justin Hryckowian, Cameron Hughes, Arttu Hyry and Vladislav Kolyachonok to Texas.

Typically, that would mean those players would begin the season in the AHL, but given the Stars’ circumstances, that may not be the case.

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The Stars have one available forward spot on their roster after captain Jamie Benn underwent surgery for a collapsed lung. He’s expected to miss at least a month for recovery.

Hryckowian, Hyry and Adam Erne, who is in Dallas on a professional tryout, are the three competing for that spot. Sunday’s moves to loan the two young forwards could indicate that Erne has secured the spot.

But they could also be moves to navigate the cap.

The Stars have not yet placed Jamie Benn on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). A player can be placed on LTIR if they will miss at least 10 games and 24 days of the season. Doing so frees up their roster spot and allows the team to exceed the cap by that player’s cap hit minus their available cap space.

For that reason, most teams try to get as close to the cap as possible before placing a player on LTIR. Benn’s cap hit is $1 million on his new contract. To maximize that amount, Dallas would need to get as close as possible to the $95.5 million cap. Hyry and Hryckowian have cap hits of $870,000 apiece. Harrison Scott, Emil Hemming and Trey Taylor down in Texas all exceed $940,000.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Stars called up one of those players Monday before placing Benn on LTIR and later making the switch for Hryckowian or Hyry.

Based on the five preseason games, Hryckowian became an early favorite to win Benn’s spot. He turned heads just minutes into the first preseason game of the year when he dropped the gloves with Blues player Nathan Walker. He also scored a goal and two assists in five games.

The 24-year-old was the AHL’s rookie of the year last season, recording 60 points in 67 games.

Hyry has also been knocking on the door. The Finnish forward had 49 points in 67 games in his first season in the AHL last year — and also played five in Dallas.

Both could be ready for a spot on an NHL roster, even if it’s just to start the season.

The 30-year-old Erne has already proven he can contribute at the NHL level.

He has played in 379 career NHL regular-season games and recorded 91 points (41 goals and 50 assists). He most recently played 24 games for Edmonton while new Stars coach Glen Gulutzan was there.

Sunday’s moves may indicate he earned a spot back on an NHL roster.

The team will announce its final roster Monday and settle any confusion.

Sunday’s moves also indicate that Alexander Petrovic has made the Stars’ roster as its seventh defenseman.

He and Kolyachonok were competing for that spot, but the 33-year-old Petrovic had the heavy advantage.

Kolyachonok was brought in as a part of the trade for Matt Dumba. The 24-year-old has 74 games of NHL experience.

Meanwhile, Petrovic has joined Dallas on its last two playoff runs, appearing in 24 postseason games (and just six regular season) in the last two years.

He proved to be a reliable depth defenseman and earned his spot.

Petrovic and Kolyachonok have the same cap hit ($775,000), so there are no cap implications there.

Twitter: @lassimak

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