Dallas Stars twenty-two year old defenseman is turning some heads in Dallas and around the league in his first full season in the NHL.

Only a year ago, Thomas Harley had just been selected to his first All-Star game... as an AHL standout for the Texas Stars. Now, a season later, Harley leads the Dallas Stars into the All-Star break with two game winning overtime goals in a row, joining with a now healthy Miro Heiskanen to form the Stars most dangerous defensive duo the team has seen in years.

The pairing's expected goals for is nearly double their expected goals against, which is by far the lowest in all of the pairings the Stars have put together. And this checks out - in the two games that Heiskanen has been back and the two have been paired together, the Stars outscored their opponents 4-2 while they were on the ice.

Harley wasn't called up until April 3 last season, but the Stars quickly slotted him in on the third pairing and relied on him throughout the postseason. He only played six regular season games in the NHL, due to the Stars wanting him to keep developing. After proving himself in such a short time, he played in 19 playoff games, including the Western Conference Final. He had nine points during the playoff run. This year, he made the opening day lineup and has not looked back since.

With the recent injury to Heiskanen, Harley answered the bell when it was time for someone else to step up. Harley averaged over 22 minutes a night, playing over 27 minutes twice. Harley was mainly paired with Joel Hanley, who is scratched now that Heiskanen is back from injury.

That pairing allowed Ryan Suter and Nils Lundkvist to establish a rapport together as the second duo, with big Jani Hakanpaa rounding out the third pair with Esa Lindell. Lundkvist had been in and out of the lineup, still earning the trust of the coaching staff. But during the time Heiskanen was out, Lundkvist was able to use that time to his advantage to show that he and Suter can not only be trusted and effective as a pairing. 

Solidifying that pairing is what allowed the coaching staff to finally pair Heiskanen and Harley together; something that fans have been calling for for quite some time. 

With Heiskanen back Thursday against Anaheim, Harley proved that he could only get better as the quality around him improved, posting an assist on the game tying goal and scoring the game winner, while also being on the ice for all four Stars goals. He followed it up with a two goal performance to send the Stars victorious into the All Star break Saturday against the Capitals.

Combined in the two games with Heiskanen, Harley posted four points, nine shots on goal, was +5 and recorded one hit and two blocks.

Defying the odds

The Dallas Stars scouting department yet again found another diamond in the rough in the draft. The Syracuse, NY native was drafted (rather infamously, as "Harley Thomas") in 2019 as the 18th pick behind five other defenseman. Phillip Broberg, Victor Soderstrom and Cam York are all still trying to make a name for themselves as higher picks, and Harley is outshining them all.

Even as a first round pick, a player is not guaranteed to ever make it at the NHL level. Over 20 percent of first rounders won't ever play a game in the NHL. The Stars have had some tough luck in the first round in years prior. Julius Honka, Riley Tufte, even Denis Gurianov and Val Nichushkin did not pan out the way Dallas wanted despite showing flashes of brilliance.

Harley showed promise quickly, making impressions on former Stars coach Jim Montgomery back in 2019, even going as far as to say that Harley "looks like Miro" all the way back in a pre-covid training camp. He made it to the final stage of cuts in training camp and finished that season back in junior hockey in Canada, but the stage was set for a quick ascension in the ranks of defensive prospects in the Dallas farm system.

Harley made his Dallas debut in the bubble during the 2020 playoffs and spent the next full season in Cedar Park, playing 38 games with Texas during the shortened 2020-21 season. The next year, he played 27 at the AHL level and 34 games in Dallas at the NHL level, but only registered four points and didn't play in the playoffs at all.

Then came the surprise of the 2022-23 season, where Harley was sent back down to Cedar Park and played 66 games before getting his shot back in Dallas, but the move of giving him full reign as the number one defenseman at the AHL level is already paying dividends less than a year later.

Harley's hot streak

If Harley's heroics in back-to-back games to end overtime wasn't impressive enough, he is now tied for the league lead in overtime goals. But it doesn't stop there, the overtime goal against the Capitals ties the franchise record for most overtime goals in a season and there is still 30+ games to go. 

With two goals in the game against Washington, Harley is now tied for second in goals among defenseman with 12 goals. He is tied with MacKenzie Weegar, Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes and is only one behind Rasmus Dahlin at 13. He also has seven goals at 5v5 which is tied for third among all defensemen.

In defenseman under 22 who have played 500 minutes, he is first in goals for percentage and expected value.

What Harley is doing is unreal, but this is only the beginning. If the Stars are able to keep Harley with Heiskanen, he is only going to flourish. This pairing has the potential to give Makar and Devon Toews a run for their money for most dynamic in the Central Division, and perhaps the entire league.

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