The Dallas Stars don’t get much credit for winning the offseason, and rightly so. That said, the 2021 NHL Draft may have been their best in years, and Logan Stankoven was one of its biggest highlights.
Stankoven’s selection was a particularly important signal to fans that the Stars were more interested in drafting for skill than for size. The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks has done the sums: Only 17 current NHL forwards are 5-9 or under. Seven of those were undrafted, and only Tyler Ennis and Kailer Yamamoto went in the first round.