The Dallas Stars made their final cuts of the 2024 training camp this weekend, and a Swedish youngster who earned an NHL spot is the biggest surprise of camp.
The Dallas Stars made their final cuts of the team's training camp this weekend, and their roster is now set for the Stars' first regular-season game against Nashville Oct. 10.
On Saturday. Dallas assigned defenseman Lian Bichsel and forwards Matej Blumel and Arttu Hyry to their American League affiliate Texas Stars. Bichsel in particular turned heads at training camp, but ultimately, Dallas' defense corps had a slew of veterans locked into an NHL roster spot. So there wasn't room for any newcomers at this point.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Stars GM Jim Nill made his final roster cuts, sending six players to the Texas Stars: defensemen Kyle Capobianco and Alexander Petrovic, forwards Cameron Hughes, Kole Lind and Emilio Pettersen, and goalie Magnus Hellberg.
The Stars' NHL roster is now set, and the only name some fans may not be familiar with is forward Oskar Back, a 23-year-old Swede who has spent the past three seasons in the AHL. Back will begin the season as a spare forward, but if Dallas has any injuries early on, he'll get an opportunity to step in and prove he belongs at the NHL level.
Dallas kicks off the regular season with a road game against the Preds, and after that, the Stars have a three-game homestand against the New York Islanders, Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks. If they can win that first game against the rebuild Predators, the Stars have an excellent chance to go 4-0 to start the season.
This Dallas team is the sexy choice to win this year's Stanley Cup, and that process begins in earnest Thursday. Time will tell if this group of Stars is worthy of the praise they're currently getting, but on paper, Dallas has what it takes to win the Central Division and go on a long and prosperous playoff run.
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