See this is where i disagree . First Hamhuis and Pateryn weren't actually very good last year outside of a stretch earlier in the year. Especially during the end of March and in April that pairing got smoked pretty much every game. I was at times very angry Pateryn wasn't scratched .
Also about Heiskanen. He's a absolute highend prospect. The type of player the Stars didn't get to draft since Modano. I mean people expect Rasmus Dahlin to come in and contribute for the Sabres in a meaningful way and Heiskanen at this point is at least on that level . Hell right now with all the experience Heiskanen got by playing for Finland pretty much every single tournament there was he probably is the better player. I mean he was one of the best players in the Finish league last year and played the highest minutes of any player with 25:06 at 18 year of age for gods sake . Sure its not the NHL but thats not something a normal prospect does . Will he still struggle at times ? Sure he's still a rookie who will make mistakes but beeing better than Hamhuis and Pateryn last season is not exactly a high bar.
I'm by the way fairly certain Heiskanen would've made the Stars last year if he didn't get hurt prior to camp . So the Stars said well lets not risk anything and gave him another year at home . A year in which he dominated at 18 years of age in a pro-league among men.
This is the one time a prospect isn't overrated . Winning that lottery last year gave the Stars something they haven't had. The chance to draft an all-world elite prospect .
Since beeing in Dallas the Stars never had a pick this high so its normal to be sceptical since the prospects the Stars got to draft usually aren't that well developed this early in their careers because prospects that good were allways gone when Dallas was drafting.
I don't think we're overrating Heiskanen at all. Like I said, he is special, but we should temper our expectations a bit if we expect him to be the difference between playing golf or winning playoff rounds. The team just has too many holes up front.
I think odds are he'll attribute more than either Hamhuis or Pateryn somewhere further in the season. The difference won't be big enough to get us over the hump. Heiskanen won't provide the offense we need so much. Karlsson's 70-ish points would compete with Benn and Seguin for the team's lead.
I also think the experience lost on the back end is not something to underestimate, and this is crucial when you play with so many youngsters. With Methot more out of the line-up than in, our entire blueline has an experience of 26 playoff games combined. Not counting scraps such as Polak, ofcourse.
Not saying the Stars are “just fine” but they are heading in the right direction. Seguin, Benn, Klingberg and Heiskanen (ELC) is going to look better than Thornton, Pavelski, Burns and maybe only one year of Karlsson soon. San Jose is in “Win Now” mode, the Stars aren’t.
Losing a mix of Janmark, Hintz, Dellandrea, Lindell, etc as well as a number of 1st/2nd round picks would’ve hurt.
Heading in the right direction? Eh? We
are in a win now mode. You need to go all in when your star players are in the mids of their primes. You want to focus on the near future and load up with quality youngsters for down the line, fine. But Benn and Seguin won't be as effective when they are 32+, especially not Benn, who at 29 is already showing signs of slowing down a bit. Not to mention Radulov and Bishop, two other vital cogs, might already have retired by then.
The Sharks' window is closing a bit sooner, I agree. I bet they would've liked to attract Karlsson a few years ago, when their players were at earlier stages in their careers, but credit to them for going all out. They should finish way above the Stars next season. I like their aggressive management a lot more than the weak ass managing of Nill. They showed balls in getting Kane and it worked wonders for them. Now Karlsson. Nill waits entire seasons before addressing obvious glaring holes and whenever he fails to improve the team he quickly mentions how the team should improve from within and that they're "just fine".
No center ice for me this year.