(TFTC) How Does it Affect the Stars? Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque keep killing it

So what next?

I haven’t thought too hard about how these prospect reports intersect with the Dallas Stars, but Saturday night made it easy. Dallas had five power plays versus Montreal, who is 30th on the PK. Not only did Dallas not score on any of them, but the final penalty, a four-minute major in the waning minutes of the game that could have sealed the game, borderline allowed the Canadiens back in the game. That’s how bad Dallas was in those four minutes. Their goaltender, on the power play, for four minutes, had to bail them out.

This is a separate topic for another day but you might be surprised to learn that Dallas actually ranks lower in expected goals than actual goals. The good news is that they ranked higher last year. The bad news is that we haven’t seen anything from DeBoer or Spott to change it up. Jamie Benn is still on the top unit, and they waffle over which defender they want on which unit, suggesting they won’t do the most important thing, which — again — should be getting Benn off that unit. There’s an unlikely fix: bring up Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque!

Obviously, that won’t happen. It should. But it won’t. However, it’s not the most out-there possibility. Should injuries hit Dallas, once we’re past the deadline it’s open season.

The Texas Stars are in worse shape. Unlike Dallas, who keeps winning one-goal games, Texas can’t stop losing one-goal games. But you know who’s not in worse shape? The two AHL league leaders (Stankoven with 53, Bourque with 51).

Friday Night Lights

One thing you can count on any time you watch Texas is the passing of Stankoven and Bourque giving teams all kinds of fits. Especially on the rush. This is good work by Curtis McKenzie, by the way.

But it’s the route (and pass) by Bourque that stands out.

Bourque is a player who was dinged for his skating, which is why he nearly fell out of the first round despite his profile was a point-producing, playmaking center. However, he continues to be a shining example of how playing fast is more important than simply being fast. As a result, he tends to attack with more speed than you’d expect.

This is the kind of man advantage zone entries Dallas could use. This entry in particular deserves emphasis because Texas scored, compliments of Bourque and Stankoven, just a few seconds later.

However, even when players close in on Bourque, the dude just never quits on a play.

As I said: he’s got that dawg. He reminds me in some ways of Jason Robertson. While Stars fans lament Robertson’s production — and for good enough reason — one thing that has not left Robertson is his ability to extend a possession. It bodes well for Bourque as an NHL everydayer, since he’ll never be mistaken for lacking effort.

Switching gears to the blueline, I had three players in my untouchable tier the other day, and I think some fans were surprised by the choice: Lian Bichsel. While I hate lazy points of correlation, I don’t think it’s a complete coincidence that in Bichsel’s absence, Texas’ blueline has looked naked and afraid.

Derrick Pouliot and Christian Kyrou in particular keep giving Texas heart attacks.

These aren’t mistakes. These are full blown sequences of inefficiency. The read, Kyrou’s shortcut to knock the puck down instead of building speed backward (not to mention !slowing down! as his man gets to the crease), Pouliot barely attempting a sweep or a pokecheck from his man in the corner…

And they keep…doing it.

Opponents routinely get behind them on attacks. To be fair to Kyrou he had a really good overtime shift on the Riley Damiani goal that ended the game with four seconds left.

But here’s the thing. Bichsel wasn’t just Texas’ most promising defensemen. He was their best defensemen; their number one; and by a yardstick. Not only was he playing like a modern shutdown hybrid defender, but he was even getting power play minutes, which tells you everything you need to know about what his presence meant to the team. The Southern Stars will get him back eventually — Rogle BK’s season ends in March — but obviously not soon enough to make a difference.

Saturday Night Lights

On Saturday versus the Milwaukee Admirals, who else did you expect to open up the scoring?

That was some drop pass filth from Bourque. It’s a good shot from Stankoven, but this is the kind of work we see from frequently from Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson; that high level movement and spatial awareness that you just don’t see except among elite players.

It would be the only goal on the night, but it’s not like Stankoven and Bourque didn’t keep trying. Here was a lowkey sick little drifter that Stankoven nearly turned into something far dangerous.

Thanks to the AHL finding ways to ruin 3-on-3 just like the NHL, the game went to the shootout where to got to see their skills. (Although in fairness, Texas taking a penalty and a stoppage of play basically never happening once it was killed kept OT basically four on four.)

“Don’t be stupid. This is the shootout.”

Reference: ‘In Bruges’ has a lot of great lines, but this one is my favorite.

I’m a big fan proponent of players using speed in these situations. I’m almost positive that somebody did a breakdown several years back and found that breakaways had a higher shooting percentage than shots in a shootout. Granted, if true, there are all kinds of reasons why, and they probably can’t be reduced to any one factor.

But I recall Tyler Seguin being a phenom in the shootout, and my working theory is that it had to do with him recreating that breakaway scenario. Nonetheless, I say all that to say this: Stankoven starts out with the right idea, but then kind of abandons his approach.

It’s still fun to watch. If he had positioned more for the top shelf instead of five-hole, he might have had it, but hindsight, 20/20, and all that. It’s easy to see how Stankoven’s shooting will translate though. There are so many elements working in unison when he shoots: legs, hands, tempo changes, deceptive movement, strength, backhand selections, etc. I don’t know what his ceiling is, but he’s so much fun to watch.

Bourque, as you would expect, approached his shootout attempt more methodically — to a fault. But not to the extent you’d expect.

I love that Bourque starts the delay early — in this case, at the top of the right dot — which puts Admiral goalie Troy Grosenick on notice. He runs himself out of real estate, but he had the the schematic drawn up just fine, as he got Grosenick to bite on his feint. It’s pretty well played by Grosenick too, who doesn’t bite until the end.

Yaroslav Askarov is Milwaukee’s hot shot goaltender, and former first round pick, but Grosenick has a .919 save percentage, so it’s not like he isn’t capable. Still, nobody cares about a skills competition.

Stankoven and Bourque to Dallas, por favor?

No. But theoretical knowledge (Bourque centering Benn and Pavelski or Stankoven flanking Steel and Dellandrea, for example) is so much more fun than practical knowledge (given the contract situation—Benn with Johnston and Dadonov or Benn with Steel and Pavelski—will be the third line going into the postseason).

As we discussed, adding a forward wouldn’t be crazy. Mainly because Dallas is experiencing Benn’s freefall, and Pavelski’s less dramatic but still-noticeable decline. Their depth remains the envy of the league, but where once it was basically four lines deep, now it’s basically two elite lines and something of a talent goulash. It’s not bad, and I don’t think it’ll sink them, but it’s hard not to consider the possibility of Stankoven/Bourque (B-Oven?) reinforcements.

Nill may not say it out loud, or even to himself, but it’s worth asking whether Dallas is playing their best roster without either one of them? Sure they don’t have NHL experience, but these aren’t just any NHL prospects. They’re Correlian puck hounds. They eat rush defenders for breakfast, and right now they’re really hungry.

Besides, who is untouchable in that bottom six? Smith, Dellandrea, and Faksa continue to eat healthy scratches. Why waste any more time on them when you have two forwards who will be playing in the NHL next season? Again, I know. It won’t happen, and we know why. But they’re a blast to watch and I can’t wait to see them in the NHL.