The Other Stars: Lian Bichsel, Emil Hemming, and an unlikely name fuel this week's Dallas Stars prospect report

The first of many prospect reports.

Dallas doesn’t have many impact players below their NHL pool.

Again, that’s to their credit. Nobody aspires to have great prospect pools. They aspire to have great NHL contributors, and ideally, a stable of reinforcements once those professional contracts get too convoluted, or better — ways to make other prospects obsolete. This revolution has already happened. Players like Oskar Bäck represent the current lull; NHL ready only by default, not because they’re genuine impact players. However, that’s not to say there is no potential at all beyond the graduated.

In early August, I posted my top 15. Even if you don’t feel like reading it, it’s worth revisiting. For these weekly prospect reports, I’ll recap the prospect action according to rank; for example, starting with Lian Bichsel (top ranked), then Emil Hemming (third), and so forth. I figured this would be better than separating players by league since it gives us a bird’s eye view of risers/fallers.

These rankings are my own. For superior minds with different rankings, I recommend checking out how EPRinkside has Dallas’ prospects ranked, or Scott Wheeler at The Athletic.

As the facts change, I intend to change my mind. Prospects can get worse, they can get better, or they can stay the same — but these changes can happen at different times. I’m looking forward to the new generation of players, but I’m also interested in what Dallas’ pipeline looks like without Mark Leach. While we don’t know the extent of Leach’s influence on Jim Nill’s picks, Leach was with Nill when both were in Detroit, so at minimum, he had Nill’s ear. (In addition to the fact that Toronto probably did their homework and had some idea.)

As we get deeper into the season, I’ll be sure to highlight single players, Tales From The Clipped style. With that out the way, be sure to like if you like this article, subscribe if you really like it, and upgrade to paid if you super like the Stars Stack. Onto the reports!

(AHL) Lian Bichsel: Stars Stack Rank, #1

2 GP, 1 assist

I’m gonna save the part about Bichsel’s potential offense for when there’s real evidence, but for now, Bichsel looks like Bichsel. He’s still a mean motor scooter who probably should have been called for interference here.

But his game remains strong in key areas, including his one-on-one defending. While I maintain that his playreading, and puck management — more than his physicality — are the strongest elements of his defensive zone play, occasionally both show up at once.

Two games does not an assessment make, but Bichsel continues to execute in all three zones. There are still aspects to his game that remain raw, like his puck control, and parts of his skating, but he ranks number one on my board because he plays a dynamic three-zone game for a shutdown defender, which fits the profile of a top four defender. Paired with defensive defensemen Luke Krys (a player I’ll spotlight eventually), he’ll be in the perfect spot to venture outside of his comfort zone, and freewheel a bit more this year.

(OHL) Emil Hemming: Stars Stack Rank, #3

7 GP, 2 goals, 3 assists

Hemming’s off to a slower start than one would like with the Barrie Colts, given that he just spent last season in a professional league (the Liiga). But all of his strengths remain on display. In keeping with his profile, he’s strong on the forecheck. (Hemming is #28 in white, drawing a penalty at the end.)

And he’s comfortable handling the puck along the wall and getting into shooting position. (Hemming is #28 in ultramarine.)

I don’t actually like this play. I’d prefer to see Hemming either take it straight to the net, or try to connect with his teammate on the other side of the net, but I can see what he was trying to do, and probably assumed the F3 (Parker Vaughn, who has zero points and won’t be draft eligible until 2026) would be barreling down the slot a lot faster than he was.

Part of Hemming’s development will be figuring out what kind of shooter he is in a modern game that increasingly demands more and more layers. Paired next to a fellow first rounder (Cole Beaudoin), I don’t think Beaudoin’s more meat and potatoes style will pair well with Hemming, but it also won’t hurt his development. Beaudoin may not be a playmaker, but he’s a strong north-south pivot, and their chemistry will be what drives the Colt’s success.

(AHL) Christian Kyrou (Stars Stack Rank: #5)

2 GP, 1 goal

Kyrou needs to no introduction here at the Stars Stack. Kyrou will forever be tied to Lane Hutson, but not only is this unfair, it’s also purely theoretical. After all, players aren’t just drafted by teams, they’re drafted by puck philosophies and franchise culture. The kind of process and decision-making that goes into an organization drafting Hutson is not the same process and decision-making that goes into drafting say, Wyatt Johnston. This is often lazily referred to as “hindsight” but it’s not. Think of it more like if Hegel and Deleuze were in charge of predicting hockey futures, and you get what I’m saying.¹

Where the hell was I? Oh right. Kyrou is back to being dangerous from the point. Obviously. (Kyrou wears #15)

Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to need many of these to pay the bill.

Kyrou is on the bottom pair right now, but gets time on the power play, which is more or less what his development needs. As I’ve written time and time again, Kyrou has a long road ahead. He belongs to a class of defensemen that feels like it’s being phased out, but that only speaks to league trends rather than player execution. Kyrou still needs to develop the defensive side of his game — insofar as it can become palatable for coaching staffs — because his offense is not so powerful that it offsets his other flaws, which is what makes his defensive improvement so mission critical. All the same, fish gotta swim, and Kyrou is keeping his offensive game swimming.

(OHL) Tristan Bertucci: Stars Stack Rank, #10

7 GP, 2 assists

Bertucci has always been on my radar as a bit of a reach from the 2023 draft, but the kind of quality reach involving a player with an equally high floor as their ceiling. He sort of defies convention as a hybrid defender specializing in nothing, but his skating is absolutely mint. I’m not sure he belongs on Barrie’s top power play unit, but his ability to transition makes a strong case. (Bertucci wears #12)

Antonio Stranges could learn a few things from Bertucci, like how not to abuse the C-step.

Bertucci is not really an offensive defensemen despite having the skating ability of a very good one, and his meager two assists attests to this. However, how much of that is due to the role he’s traditionally played, and been asked to do versus what he’s capable of doing? I wouldn’t say he has vision, but his skating opens him up to wire pucks to others, as he does here.

It’ll be interesting to track Bertucci’s progress, because he’s hard to read. His on-ice ability is pro quality, but you still have to forge an identity, and Bertucci remains in search of one. I’m not one to take the scouting line “limited offensive upside” seriously for a defender, but Bertucci is not a shutdown defender either. In fact, for a player with his speed and agility, you would think he’d be quick to loose pucks, but in point of fact — he’s not. Overall I don’t think he’s a deficient defender or anything, but it’s something he’ll need to develop in time.

Again, I’m coming around to Bertucci, and really appreciate where his game is at.

(OHL) Brad Gardiner: Stars Stack Rank, Unranked

7 GP, 3 goals, 3 assists

I was pretty vocal about Dallas’ 79th overall pick in 2023. There were a ton of talented forwards that fell that year (including Aydar Suniev, who is leading the NCAA in goals right now), and the Gardiner pick felt like the Remi Elie one, where a team knowingly drafts a role player.

I get it. “Maybe don’t judge a teenager—” Do you say this whenever people get excited about a prospect on draft day? Exactly. So let’s drop it. Besides, I want to be wrong about these players. And right now, I’m very wrong about Gardiner, who is almost a point per game for the Colts, and tied for the team lead as its top scorer next to Cole Beaudoin, this year’s 24th overall pick. Gardiner is on a tear, having a scored his last three goals over the last two games. (Gardiner is #25 in white.)

That’s a powerful shot at a severe-ish angle, and again — it wasn’t the first time. (Gardiner is #25 in ultramarine.)

There is an asterisk, however: Gardiner seems like the beneficiary of a hot hand. The rest of his game is still rough. His passing can be clumsy, and he’ll do that Stranges special of trying to cheat one on one battles. His defensive game is lacking, and he doesn’t have the skating to transition effectively — although to his credit, his skating looks faster than it did the previous year. Right now Gardiner has a middle six role, and is taking advantage of it. I like his offense, and it’s showing on the boxscore. But hopefully this is not just a gift from the shooting gods.

The honorables

Two of Dallas’ better prospects are missing from this list in Aram Minnetian (who I ranked #4, just above Kyrou), and Ayrton Martino (#9). I haven’t had a chance to catch their college games, but I’ll talk about them once I do. Minnetian in particular I can’t wait to see make the jump. Angus MacDonell (#15 on my list) is another player off to a hot start, with nine points through seven games with the Brampton Steelheads.

It’s a small cupboard right now, but there are still some good ingredients for the future.

1. This is not to make excuses for drafting terrible players. If anything, it illustrates a problem some teams have: philosophy alone shouldn’t BE the assessment.