Yesterday, the Dallas Stars officially announced their opening night 23-man roster. They'll kickoff the 2013-2014 regular (in all senses of the word) on Thursday night at home against the Florida Panthers. Before their season launches, here are few final preseason thoughts and observations on this team.
First off, here are the projected lines on opening night:
Forwards
Jamie Benn (C) - Tyler Seguin - Erik Cole
Ray Whitney (A) - Cody Eakin - Alex Chaisson
Shawn Horcoff - Vernon Fiddler - Valeri Nichushkin
Antoine Roussel/Lane MacDermid - Chris Mueller - Ryan Garbutt
*Rich Peverly and Scott Glennie are currently on the IR non roster. Peverly is expected back by Saturday.
Defensive Pairs
Sergei Gonchar - Alex Goligoski
Stephane Robidas (A) - Brenden Dillon
Jordie Benn - Trevor Daley
*Kevin Connauton is currently the seventh defenseman on the the roster.
* Aaron Rome is currently on the IR non roster.
Goalies
Kari Lehtonen
Dan Ellis
Some thoughts:
Forward Colton Sceviour should be on this opening night roster. After co-leading the team in scoring during the preseason, I believe he clearly earned a spot among the 23. He is an all-around solid player with improving vision on the ice and scoring skills. He has been one of the, if not the best player for the Texas Stars over the last couple of years. I think his energy would slide in nicely into Dallas' third or fourth line. He should be the first guy called up from Texas this season, and may even earn some extended ice time with Dallas.
I love the layout of the top two lines. Together those top six forwards could be one of the more explosive and crafty groups in the league. I do think that Horcoff could slide into the number two center spot if needed, based on his veteran presence. When Rich Peverly returns, I'd like to see him anchor the second line, and slide Eakin down to third line. However, I am okay with Eakin on the second line because he has Whitney's veteran guiding hand on his wing. Chaisson's ability to win puck battles and create his own scoring chances should also help to comfort Eakin. Seeing Eakin together with Nichushkin's all-world ability would be really exciting.
Everything else looks pretty good. Like I've said in the past, this club really has added much-needed depth and on-puck skill. With this lineup there is a nice blend of superstar talent and aggressive blue collar workers. Hockey teams need both to be as successful as possible. With all that said, let's get to some Stars' hockey!
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