Having gone to all 3 of the home games thus far (including Tulsa), I've been impressed with both Hintz and Guryanov. Hintz has shown some great skill, and even when Guryanov isn't on a play that results in a goal, he's been aggressive on and off the puck. Both of these guys should be on the 4th line at the very least.
I must admit that I was among those of us worried about Guryanov's progress, especially when it was hard to watch him play, but whatever happened before, he has looked great during the preseason. Same with Hintz. His shot, speed, it all looks great. Gury looks more suited for a physical role on a good third line, with 2nd line power forward potential. Hintz also looks like he could have 2nd line potential.
Given how young they are and where they are in their development curve, I really hope the Stars give them every opportunity to play in the NHL this year. If the preseason is a litmus test to see how younger players fare against some NHL caliber players, both have passed with flying colors. They're starting to look like great picks.
I won't pretend to be some professional scout, and I wasn't taking notes at the games, but they were both extremely noticeable. If there are full game rebroadcasts, I'd be interested to check them out again and I can promise you that there were plenty of good things you could find in each game and very little to be upset about. I'll put it this way: Before the preseason started, if I could have asked for one thing to give me hope about the younger players, it was to see massive improvement from Nichushkin. He's been alright, not bad, but nothing that really grabs your attention for an entire game let alone over these few thus far. Hintz and Guryanov have been good enough that I don't even care about that at this point - I'm just thrilled to see some of our picks developing well. In tonight's game for example, I'd say the three stars were Radulov, Hintz, and Guryanov, and you can put them in whatever order you want. Lindell had pretty good argument there too.
This was one of those games where you hoped that the younger players would shine, and just like in really all of these games so far, they did. Granted, each opponent has kept major players off the ice, but just about everyone has played above expectations so far. As a Stars fan, I'm happy.
I just started getting my wife into watching games, so I figured preseason is a cheap and easy way to see a lot of hockey, have some fun, and teach her about the game. Lucky for me, the Stars have been putting on some pretty good shows so far, and I hope this momentum carries over into the regular season and we see much more of these younger guys. They've absolutely earned a spot. In my 20 years as a fan, I've never bought a player jersey or shirt, but we both ended up getting Radulov shirts tonight. He was my favorite player last year, and is my wife's favorite, so I had to take the plunge. Also finally broke down and bought a couple of hats for us with the new logos and everything. I've always been about the old logo hats and the Cup era jerseys, but I figure it's time to embrace the new era of Stars hockey. Hopefully Hintz and Guryanov are a big part of that!
Anyway, I realize this is all pretty cheesy and probably not full of useful information, but I figured I'd share and at least contribute something from firsthand experience. I have to say, I'm pretty excited and optimistic about this season!
