When General Manager Jim Nill signed forward Nathan Bastian in August, the move seemed to come out of nowhere, but it is clear that the attitude Bastian brings to the team is the first step in creating new head coach Glen Gulutzan's identity for this season.
Bastian went on the DLLS Stars podcast with Sam Nestler and Craig Ludwig Thursday to talk about his role coming into Dallas. In their chat, it was clear that his role on the team will be to bring physicality and hitting to a lineup that pretty notably has lacked just that during Pete DeBoer's tenure over the last three seasons.
In fact, Bastian mentioned that some of his best hockey has come in the playoffs, where his style of play is emulated up and down the lineup of most teams. The NHL postseason is truly a hit-or-be-hit type of run to the Stanley Cup, and the Florida Panthers have mastered that art en route to back-to-back Cups. Of course, the NHL is a copycat league, and everyone wants to be like Florida now more than ever, but it is evident that Dallas basically chose not to play that way under DeBoer.
For the past three seasons, the Stars have let their skill do the talking. That has, of course, taken them to three Western Conference Finals in a row, but has also been the downfall of their losses against Vegas and twice against Edmonton. When the goal scoring dried up, the wins dried up and their hopes of a championship dried up. Now, Gulutzan wants to get to playoff hockey one game at a time, increasing their intensity starting in the regular season opener and culminating in the first game of the postseason.
The Stars forward group seemed pretty full, but then Nill added Bastian right in the doldrums of August, far removed from the chaos of the opening of free agency and seemingly when the roster was all but set for this season. Dallas may not have needed a forward, but they needed the mentality Bastian is bringing in from New Jersey. He knows his role and is ready to utilize it on a good team. Playing in the playoffs is Bastian's number one goal for any team he would have signed with, because he knows his game is ready for it.
Bastian is one forward who doesn't need to adjust his game for what the new regime is trying to install in a few weeks when training camp starts. It will be the rest of the core that will need to begin their adjustments to get to that first playoff game ready to emulate Florida, Stanley Cup trophy and all.
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