Dallas’s meeting with elite defenseman Malte Gustafsson suggests a massive roster shake-up. With only a second-round pick, the Stars may be plotting a bold draft-day trade.
With draft week on the horizon, 90 prospects gathered in Buffalo this past Saturday for the NHL Scouting Combine, hoping a strong showing in physical and skills-based testing would give them one last boost before their names are called.
The Dallas Stars enters the week in a curious position as they are picking 59th overall in the late second round, the organization made some interesting choices in who they chose to sit down with at the Combine, and it has raised more than a few eyebrows around the league.
Earlier this week it was reported that the Stars met with defenseman Vladimír Dravecký, a prospect expected to go in the 70 pick range and someone who fits comfortably within their current draft positioning. But the meeting that has generated the most intrigue was with Malte Gustafsson, a consensus top-15 pick and one of the most coveted defense prospects in the entire draft class.
Dallas is operating in a cap crunch heading into this off-season and has not been shy about acknowledging the need to rebuild their prospect pipeline going forward.
That combination of financial pressure and organizational self-awareness has fueled speculation that a significant move could be coming, whether that means offloading an expensive asset or repositioning themselves entirely on draft night. Meeting with a player like Gustafsson suggests the Stars may be thinking bigger than their current spot on the board would indicate.
Make Sure You Bookmark THN's Dallas Stars Site For The Latest News, Exclusive Interviews, Breakdowns, And So Much More.
Gustafsson, for his part, said the meeting with Dallas went well. The towering six-foot-four Swede has been one of the more compelling stories of the pre-draft season, with his rise up draft boards driven largely by a dominant second half to his draft year. He was red hot with HV71's U20 Nationell squad, putting up 12 points in 19 games from the blue line before earning a call-up to the SHL roster, where he logged 27 games against men and recorded three assists.
He described the transition to the pro game as a much faster environment with bigger and tougher competition, and acknowledged that returning to HV71 next season will be about learning to sustain that level of play over a full campaign. With extra muscle added this off-season and a focused summer of work behind him, the expectation is that he comes back a better player for it.
When it comes to the kind of defenseman he wants to become, Gustafsson looks to the best in the business for inspiration. He studies Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes to understand what elite offensive production from the blue line looks like, while also keeping a close eye on Gustav Forsling as a model of what a truly dominant defensive defenseman can be at the NHL level.
Landing Gustafsson would require a significant move up the board for Dallas, but if a roster shake-up is indeed on the horizon, draft night may be exactly when it happens. Should the Stars pull the trigger on a major trade, Gustafsson could find himself in a Dallas jersey before the night is over, giving the organization an instant cornerstone piece to build around as they look toward the future.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.