D Thomas Harley - Mississauga Steelheads, OHL (2019, 18th, DAL)

[Dominance]

He looked pretty good in his two pre-season games so far. Much further along the development curve than i expected. He's not going to make the team or anything ( i would think ) but yesterday for example he was clearly the best 2019 defenseman in the Stars game against the Avs ( since Dallas ice pretty much an AHL lineupe he was the Stars best D overall and played almost 24 minutes as well ) . I'm personally not the biggest fan of the Stars third pairing as its currently constructed so i wouldn't mind giving Harley a 9 game tryout but thats probably way way too early.

One things for sure because Mississauga played him 30 minutes he seems used to bigger minutes and doesn't seem to get tired .

I can really see him taking a path similar to Chabot and becoming a legitimate star in the NHL. Will be fun to watch.

 

[S E P H]

He was pretty unbelievable last night - you could say he was the best player on the ice and that was against Avs A-/B+ team.

 

[Kcb12345]

The play he makes around 3:43 in this video to setup a scoring chance is just beautiful. He's really not too far off from the NHL. Coming in next season is certainly not off the table if he can clean up some of his play away from the puck in the defensive zone

Avs announcers spent more time talking about him than they did for any Avs player it felt like

 

[Tralfamadore]

He was fantastic last night. Looked much better than Byram.

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

If he keeps playing like this it’s going to be really hard not to give him 9 games. He’s looked great and Dallas has pretty crappy defence depth. Either way every Stars fan is excited about this kid.

 

[serp]

If he keeps playing like this it’s going to be really hard not to give him 9 games. He’s looked great and Dallas has pretty crappy defence depth. Either way every Stars fan is excited about this kid.

I mean depth isn't the problem. More like the Stars are missing quality after the three big guns. Stars have a ton of guys who have proven they can play 10-15 ish minutes in a sheltered third pairing role. Just not at a particular high level especially not when it comes to well doing things with the puck. Thatswhy Harley seems intriuging . I just don't know if its too early. The prospects of an Oleksiak-Polak third pairing though makes me shudder .

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

I mean depth isn't the problem. More like the Stars are missing quality after the three big guns. Stars have a ton of guys who have proven they can play 10-15 ish minutes in a sheltered third pairing role. Just not at a particular high level especially not when it comes to well doing things with the puck. Thatswhy Harley seems intriuging . I just don't know if its too early. The prospects of an Oleksiak-Polak third pairing though makes me shudder .

Yeah that third pairing is going to get hemmed in their own zone like crazy. I bet we make a move for a 2nd pairing guy in not to long and go with Sekera/Polak on the third pair with Oleksiak coming in once and awhile.

 

[serp]

Playing in his third pre-season game tonight . Stars mostly ice an NHL lineup and he's playing second pairing with Heiskanen. Thats going to be very interesting . Sadly the game is not broadcasted anywhere .

I still don't think he can actually make the team but if he survives the next round of cuts ( which supposedly cuts to about 30 players ) i may have to adjust that opinion. Monty seem to be a fan of Harleys play.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

This boy pushing hard to make the team.

This boy got sexy moves.





"He's earned the right to be here," Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "You get to the point now where you're not given games anymore, you have to earn them. He's earned his games. It's valuable experience with him being here at camp. We're going to keep going game by game here to see where he fits in and go from there. Still got three games to go, and see where he fits in."

"He just continues to impress with his ability to make plays," Montgomery said. "There's certain things without the puck because he's not used to the way we play that he's made some mistakes with. Love his brain, love his plays with the puck."

"When you draft somebody, you're going off what you saw as a junior player, a college player or a European player, you think of a certain path," Nill said. "When they come into situations, they can change that. It might have been a situation where [Harley] came in the first week of camp or Traverse City and might have struggled and we probably would have sent him back. But we haven't seen that with him, so we're happy where he's at and the thing is he's still only 18 so we'll monitor that."

"Yeah, well you know what, he's earned the right," Nill said. "He's still young, you've got to be realistic, he's still 18 years old and it's a big step yet. Let's kind of go game by game here and let's see where he fits in. So far, the coaches when we're putting lineups together, his name comes up and he deserves a chance. So that's how we view it and that's important. I think he's earned that right.
"We've got three more games to go here. Does he continue to hold up? Does he start to fall off? Does he hit a wall? You never know. We're just going to keep taking it day by day here."

 

[serp]

1 of 9 defenseman left on the Stars roster and one of those nine , Joel Hanley , is 100% not going to make the team and a #8-9 the coach knows and trusts . All the other Stars prospect defenseman have been send to juniors or the AHL at this point.

Could this actually happen ? We'll see i guess.

 

[serp]

 

[Hostile Offer]

Pretty crazy. I was really high on him towards the end of last year but even then I for sure thought he was at least two years away from the NHL. Never expected him to actually push for a spot this year.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Signed sealed delivered.

 

[wetcoast]

I mean depth isn't the problem. More like the Stars are missing quality after the three big guns. Stars have a ton of guys who have proven they can play 10-15 ish minutes in a sheltered third pairing role. Just not at a particular high level especially not when it comes to well doing things with the puck. Thatswhy Harley seems intriuging . I just don't know if its too early. The prospects of an Oleksiak-Polak third pairing though makes me shudder .

It's too early for prime time and he will get sent down.

Maybe he plays a game or 2 but I doubt it as the stars have their big 3 and Sekera/Polak/Oleksiak/Honka (if they keep him) can be slotted in with the big 3 and they will be alright.

Heatherington is under rated(he is like Karl Alzner in that he will never be a point producer) and can excel as a #5 or 6 NHL Dman as well .

 

[LT]

It's too early for prime time and he will get sent down.

Maybe he plays a game or 2 but I doubt it as the stars have their big 3 and Sekera/Polak/Oleksiak/Honka (if they keep him) can be slotted in with the big 3 and they will be alright.

Heatherington is under rated(he is like Karl Alzner in that he will never be a point producer) and can excel as a #5 or 6 NHL Dman as well .

Honka has played his last game as a Star. He shouldn't even be on the depth chart anymore. He isn't going to get a contract from us for a minimum of a year, assuming he even sticks around.

Heatherington is pretty fairly rated. IIRC, he was a train wreck in his last NHL stint. Hanley is clearly above him currently, likely along with Bayreuther and Gleason. At best he is #11 on the depth chart. Considering our need for a puck-mover as well, Gleason and Bayreuther absolutely should be getting chances ahead of Heatherington.

 

[wetcoast]

Honka has played his last game as a Star. He shouldn't even be on the depth chart anymore. He isn't going to get a contract from us for a minimum of a year, assuming he even sticks around.

Heatherington is pretty fairly rated. IIRC, he was a train wreck in his last NHL stint. Hanley is clearly above him currently, likely along with Bayreuther and Gleason. At best he is #11 on the depth chart. Considering our need for a puck-mover as well, Gleason and Bayreuther absolutely should be getting chances ahead of Heatherington.

I agree that Heatherington isn't a puck mover at all and that will hurt his chances but if he is paired with the right Dman he could get a Marc Methot type of career going.

I think some of the guys you mention above are better puck movers and maybe Dmen in isolation but Heatherington could fit a need/chemistry position but maybe not for Dallas.

And you are probably right as Honka has requested a trade but I really wonder what they could get back for him as his future success in the NHL might take a perfect storm type of situation as well.

At the end of the day maybe Honka is writing his ticket to a KHL career.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Survives another round of cuts.

Lindell - Klingberg
Harley - Heiskanen

My body is ready.

 

[LT]

There will likely only be one more round of cuts. Harley has been one of our best pre-season players so far, and survived this cut despite our other top prospect competing for a spot (Dellandrea) being sent back to the OHL.

 

[serp]

Didn't really expect him to stay around longer than Dellandrea ( who was the other junior player still with the Stars ) but here we are.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Nill will cut him 100% because he is old school and scared. Shame too because he is the only guy that can actually move the puck unlike Oleksiak Polak Fedun.

 

[kabidjan18]

Ideally for me something like

Lindell - Klingberg
Harley - Heiskanen
Oleksiak - Polak
Fedun

 

[serp]

Ideally for me something like

Lindell - Klingberg
Harley - Heiskanen
Oleksiak - Polak
Fedun

Sekera is a better player than Oleksiak , Fedun and Polak. He's also a major injury risk but while he's healthy he has a spot on the lineup i would think.

If Harley stays one of Fedun or Oleksiak has to go at some point. Polak has his use as a PK specialist . The other two don't really have a niche role like that.

 

[LT]

Lindell - Klingberg
Harley - Heiskanen
Sekera - Oleksiak/Polak/Fedun
Oleksiak/Polak/Fedun

 

[Dominance]

I was telling y’all before the draft, this guy is the second best defenseman in the draft class. Should have been a top-10 pick, but Dallas will take him and run, and I’m happy that he’s in pretty much an ideal spot for his development.

Hopefully he doesn’t impress too much so he can be sent down after 9 games and be a key part of the WJC team. There’s already so many similarities to Chabot, let’s see that WJC MVP!

 

[Merrrlin]

Lindell - Klingberg
Harley - Heiskanen
Sekera - Oleksiak/Polak/Fedun
Oleksiak/Polak/Fedun

That's fantastic. I put that up there with Boston, Carolina and St. Louis.