Prospect Info: 2019-2020 Texas Stars Thread

[BigG44]

I couldn't find the exact day for some reason, but the next opportunity to improve Texas is through AHL trades. The deadline for those trades is usually a week or so after the NHL deadline. In the past, Texas has added a good piece here or there. They've already done that once this year with Louis.

The other opportunity is NCAA Free Agents. Conference tournaments start around March 6th and go until around the 22nd (same as CHL regular season). 16 teams will start the NCAA Tournament a week later. You could see some NCAA guys coming in by mid-March. Scott White tends to kill NCAA free agent season, and they'll typically be available sooner than the CHL guys going to the playoffs.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Another Texas loss. They played themselves out of the playoffs the last couple weeks.

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

They are to far out to make it this season which is to bad considering they might have re-enforcements coming soon with Harley and Dellandrea. Probably going to have a pretty big overhaul this offseason.

 

[serp]

They had a pretty big overhaul after last season. Its why the team started so badl.y

 

[MrHeiskanen]

They were a young group and started bad.

 

[BigG44]

Well this sucks. Ho-Sang is coming off an extended injury, but he was playing OK before that. Never great for a team ahead of you to get reinforcements.

 

[BigG44]

FYI ... these are the type of transactions you'll see until the AHL transfer deadline. Texas has used this tool before ... it's technically not a trade, and they desperately need some sort of addition like this.

It's still incredibly unlikely they catch the other teams, but as far as triage goes ... a transfer right now would help bridge the gap to NCAA free agents which could help bridge the gap to CHL additions.

Dallas is 7 points back of 3rd, 5 points back of a tie for 4th, and they are 4 points back of San Antonio in 6th.

Texas has games in hand on everyone they are chasing: 3 on Grand Rapids, 2 on Chicago, 4 on Rockford, and 1 on San Antonio

With games in hand and the fact the vast majority of those remaining games are against these teams ... it's still not impossible. It's just unlikely without reinforcements and luck.

 

[BigG44]

You might recognize his name because he's the guy from Australia. Walker would likely be San Antonio's leading scorer had he not spent some time up with St. Louis (I feel like he played a game against Dallas IIRC).

 

[BigG44]

Some info from the trade/rumor board about potential NCAA free agents:

(their disclaimer, no guarantees somebody would sign as opposed to returning to school)
- They've heard this isn't a deep class of free agents.
- For the sake of the podcast, the two hosts did a "draft" and alternated picks. So the following isn't exactly a ranking, but just for readability:

1. G John Lethemon
2. D Connor Mackey
3. RW Mitchell Chaffee
4. C Patrick Khodorenko
5. F Marc Michaelis -- host noted he knows of teams who like him more than Chaffee
6. F Josh Dunne
7. F Drew O'Connor -- host notes he recently moved to center
8. D Brinson Pasichnuk -- hosts compare him to Troy Stecher
9. D Matt Kiersted -- host says he knows one NHL GM who flew to UND to watch him
10. D Colton Poolman
11. LW Ben Meyers -- host compared him to Blake Lizotte
12. G Cale Morris
13. RW Austin Rueschhoff -- 6'7
14. D Alec Rauhauser
15. C Jared Spooner -- host expects him to return for senior year
16. RW Johnny Walker

 

[BigG44]

 

[BigG44]

It's ridiculous, but Texas is still in the playoff mix with games in hand and head to head games. Going 1-1-1 last week doesn't inspire confidence though.

 

[BigG44]

I've not seen it reported anywhere else, but 100 Degree Hockey is saying Adam Mascherin's injury is now taking him out for the rest of the season. I'm assuming that means he recently had surgery, but to be totally honest, I've not seen a report about what he actually injured.

He's had a pretty terrible sophomore season.

Previewing the Rest of the Year, What Does Texas Need to Get In?

 

[BigG44]

AHL transfer deadline is today. This is the last opportunity to add players from a different AHL team. It could be an AHL trade of players on AHL deals or another NHL team assigning their player to Texas.

 

[Smelling Salt]

Yeah @Satan's boy was having a rough season but he seemed to be coming around at least a little bit before he got hurt.

 

[BigG44]

He had 1 goal and an assist in his last 9 games played. I'm not saying the guy is a bust because I don't think he is. He just had a rough season, but I am not sure though that he was turning it around either though.

Hopefully whatever the injury is ... shutting him down gives him a chance to recover in time for the start of the season to give him the best chance to bounce back.

 

[Smelling Salt]

He had three of his four goals on the season in December bro!

 

[BigG44]

It was a 5 game (2 week) stretch where he scored 3 goals. It was preceded by 6 assists in 16 games and followed by 1 G and an assist in 9 games. That stretch was the anomaly of his season.

I'm not trying to beat the guy up or anything, but I think it's a bit more than just a glass half full perspective to say the guy was bouncing back prior to he injury. Guys sometimes have throwaway seasons. It'll be interesting to hear exactly the nature of the injury since maybe that has had an impact. There was that stretch not long ago where 1 or 2 guys a year were having major hip surgery. Best case scenario is this season was a result of him trying to play through something. It sucks that we get very little coverage in the AHL, especially on lesser prospects. 100 Degree Hockey does a good job with game reports though.

 

[Smelling Salt]

Man I gotta use /s I guess

 

[serp]

Caamano has been injured a ton as well this year and still has a pretty good year in the games he played

 

[BigG44]

He actually just scored, but even watching the replay ... I can't see how that went in.

 

[BigG44]

Caamano has been injured a ton as well this year and still has a pretty good year in the games he played

After Robertson who is just the obvious top forward in Texas (and it's not close), Caamano has done more to improve his stock than any of the other forwards down there. His injury was Kiviranta's gain, otherwise, he likely would have been the top call up option. L'Esperance has taken a step back a bit this year as well.

 

[BigG44]

 

[serp]

Tufte finally started to do some things. So maybe not all is lost there just yet.

 

[BigG44]

5 points (2 goals) in the last 6 games (Including the assist from tonight).

It's nice the offense has picked up. Hopefully he can become a reliable defensive forward in the NHL. I know Gardner is 2 years older so it's not completely fair to compare the 2, but it is disappointing to see Gardner's smooth transition to the pro game as a defensive forward, and then you see Tufte continue to not score at the AHL level and struggle to be more than a Bottom 6 forward for Texas. He's definitely been getting his chances playing up the lineup that last few games though.

Tufte has an uphill battle though. He's behind quite a few guys, and he'll have Dellandrea jump ahead of him next year in terms of potential making the NHL or getting a call up.

What do you think he is right now in terms of a call up? 6th maybe?

1A) Kiviranta
1B) Caamano
1C) Robertson
4) Gardner
5) L'Esperance

It's probably impossible to just straight list those first 3 in any order. Obviously it would be highly dependent on the injury.

 

[BigG44]

Oof .... Texas just blew a 2 goal lead. Games not over yet.