Stars Stuff: Reflections on the Dallas Stars prospect pool, how the 2025 NHL Draft can help, and Jamie Benn's return

Why aren't you hyped? It's draft day!

The 2025 NHL Draft has me all kinds of fascinated. Though considered “weak” I quite like the top 32. Yes, I’ve written my own personal rankings at the other place. But looking at the forwards and defensemen available from where Dallas will be picking, I just like these players. Stop looking like a bunch of neghead downers just because Dallas isn’t picking until late in the third round.

I get that the point of drafting any player is to hope that they graduate and become NHLers. But I can’t imagine watching hockey with such a binary view. Consider the Texas Stars. Curtis McKenzie, Antonio Stranges, Kole Lind, and Matěj Blümel — all late (or later) round picks, and all key players for their NHL’s farm team. This is what I personally see in the 2025 class with players like Mads Kongsbak Klyvø, Filip Ekberg, Matouš Kucharčík, Lasse Boelius, Maxim Agafanov, and David Bedkowski. Value is not just where you find it, but what you make of it. And there’s real value in this draft, whether it’s NHL level or not.

This is important because the draft is kind of how Dallas got here in the first place. The 2017 draft single-handedly made Dallas more than a contender, but a consistent favorite. More homeruns followed. Thomas Harley in 2019. Mavrik Bourque in 2020. Wyatt Johnston, Logan Stankoven, and Artyom Grushnikov in 2021. Two of these players were leveraged for deep playoff runs and veteran help with the trades for Mikko Rantanen and Chris Tanev. Lian Bichsel in 2022. Despite being longshots, Tristan Bertucci, Aram Minnetian (2023), and Emil Hemming (2024) are all playing major roles for their respective teams.

This is where I’m curious about what Dallas’ direction looks like from here on out. This is the first draft in the Jim Nill era that the Stars will be without Mark Leach, previously part of their amateur scouting department, and now Toronto’s Director of Amateur Scouting. It was interesting reading Joshua Kloke’s article about Leach, and the value they expect him to add to Toronto’s drafting table. From the sound of it, Leach really had to campaign for Dallas to draft Bourque. Will the Stars lose a little of that special luster they’ve had since 2017? Will they be fine?

Dallas’ amateur scouting has really been the backbone of this team’s success. If this part of the organizations falters even a little, I have to suspect the ripple effect will be felt in time. Hopefully this doesn’t sound too reactionary. I don’t know the extent of Leach’s influence. But I do know the amateur scouting department has never had less to work with, so I’m curious if this alters their philosophy a bit.

The Texas Stars

One of the storylines to watch is whether or not some of the Texas Stars can earn playing time depending on their camp. Texas was not just a playoff team. They went toe-to-toe with the eventual Calder champs. This was a very good team, and two players stood out to me: Justin Hryckowian and Matěj Blümel.

Blümel is perfect as an even cheaper Colin Blackwell replacement. This is a winger who was largely known as a goal-scoring puck carrier, and not much else. And then, as young players tend to do, he developed new dimensions this season, becoming a two-way force at both ends of the ice. While he’s currently a UFA, he would make for a solid gamble; somebody in the bottom six with potential to play up the lineup. I will admit: I was never fond of Blümel’s game. There was just no texture beyond his quickness in open lanes. But he pleasantly surprised me in the second half when he decided to go super saiyan, and never let up, scoring 16 points in 14 playoff games.

Blümel’s placement is easy to envision even if the cap to do so is not¹. Hryckowian is harder to envision for less obvious reasons. 18 points in 14 playoff games is obviously great. But production translating into the pro level is very different. That is not meant to be condescendingly obvious. I don’t think fans are necessarily under the impression that Hryckowian is the next Bourque or Stankoven or something. But I would imagine that Nill’s priority is to find some cheap NHL veterans first — at least after he makes some cap room. Hryckowian’s game doesn’t look translatable to me. I could be wrong, of course. I said the same things about Oskar Bäck. But for now, as good as Texas was, I don’t see anyone forcing Nill to make a lane.

One last thing I want to note is that Kole Lind and Trey Taylor were excellent. Lind was a player who had equal amounts ups and downs, while Taylor was mostly just an x-factor picked out a stack of x-factors. When things got down to the marrow, both were fantastic, Taylor in particular given his youth and the jungle he was dropped in. Having seen a lot of Clarkson games following Stars prospect Ayrton Martino, it was refreshing to see him deliver on the lowkey promise he showed in college as their team’s leading blueline scorer.

The 2025 NHL Draft

No draft in recent years projects to be wilder than the one today. Teams have been well and truly Pantherpilled, obsessed with player profiles that skew towards “excels in the playoffs” despite many of these teams in question being nonplayoff teams. I’m not gonna rant about this twice, but it’ll be interesting to see if the Stars fall into this same trap. Will they only look at power forwards (except for Matthew Tkachuk, how many Panther forwards profile like this?) and big, physical shutdown types (any mentions of Aaron Ekblad and Nico Mikkola feel like misunderstandings of their on-ice game²)?

I don’t know, but recapping, here are the forward and defensemen names you should be stoked to hear if Dallas drafts them, in (IMO) descending order.

Forwards:

1. Mads Kongsbak Klyvø, LW/RW (J20, Frolunda)

2. Ivan Ryabkin, C (USHL)

3. Matouš Kucharčík, C (Czechia U20)

4. Filip Ekberg, LW (OHL)

5. Jimmy Lombardi, C (OHL)

6. Philippe Veilleux, LW (QMJHL)

7. Gustav Hillström, C (J20 Nationell

8. Shamar Moses, RW (OHL)

9. Tomáš Poletín, LW (U20 SM)

10. Bruno Idžan, LW (USHL)

11. Mateo Nobert, C (QMJHL)

12. Noah Reed, LW (OHL)

Defenders:

1. David Bedkowski, RHD (OHL)

2. Luka Radivojevic, RHD (USHL)

3. Lasse Boelius, LHD (U20 Assat, Liiga)

4. Maxim Agafonov, RHD (MHL)

5. Carlos Händel, RHD (QMJHL)

6. Bryce Pickford, RHD (WHL)

7. Karl Annborn, RHD (J20, SHL)

8. Brady Peddle, LHD (USHL)

9. Noah Laberge, LHD (QMJHL)

10. Anthony Allain-Samake, LHD (USHL)

11. Alex Huang, RHD (QMJHL)

12. Quinn Beauchesne, RHD (OHL)

13. Reese Hamilton, LHD (WHL)

14. Theodor Hallquisth, RHD (J20 Nationell, SHL)

There’s nothing strict about these rankings. Depending on my mood, someone like the elusive carrier, Carlos Händel, I might place near the top. Sometimes it’s the allure of a firecracker like Radivojevic, and sometimes it’s that Stephen Johns nostalgia, which makes me lean Bedkowski. Sometimes I think it would absolutely stupid to pass on Ryabkin if he falls, and sometimes I think “dude’s a bust anyway.” Nothing has me off the Mads Kongsbak Klyvø hypetrain, so that stays. Regardless, I think Dallas would be lucky to have any number of these players in their system.

Jamie Benn, one year, $1M

The way Benn’s bonus structure works, he’s a $3M a year player next year³ if he plays a full season, $3.5M if Dallas becomes Western Conference Finals Champs, and $4M if Dallas becomes the Champ Champs. It’s a solid deal, all things considered.

The important takeaway is that, whatever Benn’s faults (and there are many), this is not a washed player. When you look at players like Milan Lucic and Josh Anderson, that’s theoretically where Benn should be. Instead he’s had three extremely productive years. Yes, there’s some inflation going on thanks to Wyatt Johnston and being on the top power play unit, but he’s still a player that creates consistently in the offensive zone.

The real question mark is where he goes. Does a new coach try to keep Wyatt Johnston with Benn? Does Benn replace Mason Marchment, forming the new Matt Duchene-Tyler Seguin connection? With so many forward spots still open, it’s hard to say. His lack of defense makes any presence in the top or middle six something to approach with skepticism. But with a little more discipline, Benn can still add value to this roster.

I think the real questions come down to the idea of new voices, and new leadership — passing the torch, etc. GM’s don’t have time to be philosophers, of course. The optics of Benn finally leaving would have never allowed it. What Stars fan doesn’t wish they had one of those Men in Black memory swipers for Mike Modano in a Detroit jersey?

Maybe that’s what makes the one year perfect. Time for somebody to truly step up.

1. This is not a player Dallas is bringing back on a two-way contract. Blümel has earned that much at least.

2. Not to mention, they won a Cup with Brandon Montour.

3. Performance bonuses do not use up space during the season. The bonus only count against the cap at the end of the season.