Thomas Harley has been unreal for the Dallas Stars this season, and he now sits tied for first in goals by a defenseman with Vancouver Canucks superstar Quinn Hughes and Buffalo Sabres star Rasmus Dahlin.
Thomas Harley has been unreal for the Dallas Stars this season, and he now sits tied for first in goals by a defenseman with Vancouver Canucks superstar Quinn Hughes and Buffalo Sabres star Rasmus Dahlin.
Harley is up to nine goals this season, including three in his last four games. Harley scored the game-tying goal with 3:30 remaining in last night's game against Hughes and the Canucks.
"I was pretty fired up," Harley said postgame. "Otherwise, I'd be up most of the night thinking about [the Canucks third goal]."
Harley was on the ice for the Canucks third goal. He made a defensive mistake that allowed Vancouver to finish a terrific passing play.
Harley's season has been a breakout one. He is averaging 18:27 TOI. Across six games last season, Harley's TOI was 16:47.
"He's earned it," Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said about Harley postgame. "We really reward players based on merit. Across the board, not just young players. You get opportunity here, and you earn more opportunity or situations depending on how you play."
Harley's teammates have been impressed with his play as well. Tyler Seguin recognized his defensive development.
"Incredible, the strides he's taken. He's really found a nice home here," Seguin said. "I think he's always had that offense, but when you add that defending attribute, for us forwards, you always notice when [Heiskanen] is on the ice, and you always notice when Harley's on the ice."
With the one-two punch of Harley and Miro Heiskanen, the Stars' defense is set for years to come. Expect Harley's role to continue to increase as the playoffs approach.
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