Former Stars coach Lindy Ruff summed up defenseman Esa Lindell pretty concisely during his rookie season last year.
"I'll tell you this," Ruff said. "Not a lot of bad things happen when he's on the ice."
That might be even more true this season.
Lindell is the team's quiet anchor in a lot of ways. He is a consistent force of defense and also is expanding his offensively role in a way that has been in line with what the new coaching staff wants. In short, he has done everything asked of him.
"He's been great," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said.