The Other Stars: Aram Minnetian scores his first goal of the year, Lian Bichsel keeps pancaking opponents, and Stranges enchants

The future isn't bright with everyone already in the NHL, but a few candles are burning at least.

If you’re interested in following the Dallas Stars’ prospects, you really only need to watch the Texas Stars, and the Barrie Colts. Between those two teams, you have the top tier prospects like Lian Bichsel and Emil Hemming, and you have a lower tier prospects, like Antonio Stranges and Brad Gardiner.

As always, I begin with the caveat that Dallas doesn’t have a lights out prospect system. One of the reasons why I’m not doing a rundown of each prospect’s respective stats is not because I’m too lazy (although that’s certainly a possibility), but because Dallas’ prospects are not box score players. Except for Hemming, nobody should be expected to maintain some kind of absurd point pace.

That being said, there are still plenty of interesting players. The Stars’ system at this point is mostly just a cadre of hybrid shutdown defenders, and lottery ticket forwards. Don’t be discouraged though. In addition to the higher-end prospects looking steady, some unlikely names are hitting the right end of the development curve, including two Stars Stack favorites. To preface this, I am not interested in the teams themselves.

I apologize if that sounds cold, but this is a Dallas Stars blog, so that’s where I’m coming from. If you don’t know it, you, the Stars fan, are extremely privileged to have someone doing beat writing for your AHL team. So check out 100 Degree Hockey for more. As always, like if you like this article, subscribe if you really like it, and upgrade to paid if you love it.

Lian Bichsel

• 4 GP, 2 assists, 36-point pace

Bichsel is doing what we know he’s capable of doing. He plays stout defense (mostly), has trace amounts of offense, but lately he’s really played up to the stereotype of a skullbreaker.

Like any wannabe savage, I enjoy this part of his game. I really do. But isn’t this kind of stickwork just as good?

He can still be an adventure in the defensive zone. As good as he is at reading the play, his talents don’t necessarily sync with his tactics. He’s simply not an inherently strong puck handler, which makes sense given his height. I do think he recognizes his limitations, which is why his skating is a big part of what drives his puck control, and being able to protect forecheckers with his kaiju frame. But that also means when he’s not careful, he can get caught with his nose open.

Overall though, Bichsel has been a steady presence — unsteady for opponents playing with their head down — and that’s exactly what Dallas is hoping he can be when he makes the jump.

Aram Minnetian

• 3 GP, 1 goal, 2 assists, 40-point pace

I have Minnetian ranked as Dallas’ fourth-best prospect. This weekend, he did not disappoint, scoring his first goal of the year on a beautiful shot from the point.

I wouldn’t read too much into Minnetian’s absurd point pace. For an NCAA defender at his age, 40 points would make him Rasmus Dahlin. It won’t happen. But I can’t remember a non-NHL team so stacked as the one he’s playing for at Boston College. Gabe Perreault (absolutely idiotic he fell to 23rd overall in 2023), James Hagens (this year’s Celebrini), Teddy Stiga, Dean Letourneau, Ryan Leonard. It’s a roster written by Stanislaw Lem.¹

However, he’s clearly taking his push to be a two-way defender seriously, as he told Taylor Baird in July. If he can add offense, that’s just gravy. It’s his defensive play-processing and transition ability that will allow him to earn his keep if he can make the jump. (Minnetian is #17 in white.)

Minnetian has all the makings of your Anton Stralman type: no nonsense, and right to the point in all three zones, fueled largely by pro-ready edgework.

It’s a stretch to say his ceiling is as a top four defender, but there’s no reason why he can’t play an NHL shift given how mature his game already is. If anything’s holding him back, it’s his puck handling. He doesn’t have sturdy hands, which could be an issue once he’s facing forecheckers who know how to do more than crash into corners. Still, he’s working from a strong foundation.

Antonio Stranges

• 2 GP, 2 assists, 70-point pace

It’s everyone’s favorite mystery box! Listen, I can see reason A, B, and C for why a head coach wouldn’t trust Stranges to be an everyday player. But at this point, he needs to be playing. He pleaded his case with a two-point weekend after being scratched the first two games of the season.

Keep in mind, none of this is to say that Stranges is a perfect or even particularly good player. Even his dogged work feels borderline incidental.

But the only way his skill can be woven into something more focused is if he’s on the ice.

Believe me I get it. His problems are still Stranges problems. He doesn’t look for his teammates, his puck control is still a struggle, and his game is just six different shades of raw. But I didn’t notice his C-step as much (could also just be his limited minutes through two games), and I feel like I noticed a slightly quicker player. I could be wrong. Nonetheless, it was a productive weekend for a player that needs points to justify his presence.

Also: ICYMI, we are here for fun at the Stars Stack, and Stranges is fun.

Chase Wheatcroft

• 4 GP, 3 goals, 3 assists, 108-point pace

Talk about pulled from the abyss. I talked about Wheatcroft last season as a player to watch. Granted, the tone was written in the same way one talks about watching out for ‘that traffic up ahead’ but still. I’m not here to gas up players for the sake of gassing them up. He’s always had NHL caliber hands, but never much of anything else. That’s starting to change.

His shot is much more powerful than it was even a season ago, and he put an exclamation mark on that on Saturday. (Wheatcroft is #29 in green.)

But the rest of his game seems to be coming together. His puck handling, which has always been high level, feels unlocked by a player who hasn’t necessarily gained a first stop or imported a Roope Hintz-like stride, but by a player with a better dial for pace. It probably helps that he’s on a line with Stranges, and both also play on the same power play unit. Wheatcroft will not break 100 points in the AHL, but he looks like taking a serious step forward after putting in diligent work over the summer.

The Rest

The Barrie Colts were in action this weekend with Hemming, Brad Gardiner, and Tristan Bertucci.

There’s not much to report. Hemming got taken off the top line with Cole Beaudoin. He’s currently on a 53-point pace, which would be a downgrade given the fact that he has 40 professional games to his name in the Liiga. I wouldn’t expect Hemming to dominate right out the gate. After all, while he profiles like a shooter, that doesn’t make him one-dimensional. He forechecks hard, and takes each specific zone as seriously as the next. However, it also kind of dulls his ceiling. Maybe that’s what explains why he isn’t producing at a high level despite experiencing a step down in competition. Doing these week by week in response to a small sample of games means I’m liable to overreact, but I’ll be up front about my bias here: I didn’t like the pick. However, I promise to recognize the limitations of that bias as the season unfolds. Besides, the transition from the bigger to smaller ice likely holds some explanatory power, even if I’m not happy with a common but uninvestigated talking point having the final word.

Gardiner has slowed down after his hot start, while Bertucci remains a stable blueline presence. Bertucci deserves to be mentioned right alongside Minnetian as Dallas’ top defensive prospects below Bichsel. He’s very quickly starting to pass up Christian Kyrou on the depth chart. That’s not a swipe at Kyrou, but a credit to Bertucci. He’s not putting up points, but he’s got the coach’s trust in all situations, which says a lot about how mature his game already is.

I haven’t had a chance to watch Ayrton Martino closely, but I intend to set some time aside to watch a few Clarkson games.² I only caught a few minutes of his play, but he looks exactly the same as I remember: a really talented player whose physical tools lag behind somewhat. I always give playmakers the benefit of the doubt though given how badly a few mediocre teammates can hobble them.

In goalie news, Maxim Mayorov in the MHL is at a .895 save percentage with Loko Yaroslavl, while Arno Tiefensee is at .903 with Adler Mannheim (DEL). Outside of that, still no Gavin White sighting (this is my sad face).

1. Apologies for dropping the ball by not naming among him on my list of favorite sci-fi authors when asked in the other day’s mailbag. Dick, Malzberg, Butler, and Lem. That’s my Mount Rushmore. Although Gibson rotates in there every now and then.

2. Especially to get in front of ESPN+’s obnoxious 30-day rule.