Stankoven ready to take next step with Stars

DALLAS --Logan Stankoven is looking to follow in the footsteps of Wyatt Johnston with the Dallas Stars this season.

Johnston, who was selected by the Stars in the first round (No. 23) of the 2021 NHL Draft, made the team out of training camp as a 19-year-old last season and had 41 points (24 goals, 17 assists) in 82 regular-season games. He also had six points (four goals, two assists) in 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"I think it makes you feel a little bit more confident in your abilities," Stankoven said of watching his fellow forward. "Obviously, Wyatt's a special player and had a great season. Payed close attention to him and the things he was doing right to develop consistency."

Stankoven, 20, who was selected by Dallas in the second round (No. 47) of the 2021 draft, was one of the final cuts in training camp last season, playing in five preseason games before being returned to Kamloops of the Western Hockey League.

With Kamloops, Stankoven had 97 points (34 goals, 63 assists) in 48 regular-season games and a league-leading 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 14 playoff games.

He also played for Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, getting 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in seven games to help it win the gold medal.

"I tried to enjoy as much of it as I could. Long 10 months of hockey," Stankoven said. "Not much time off, but that's what the NHL is about."

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Stankoven added that during those 10 months he worked on some of the more intangible aspects of his game in order to prepare for his transition to professional hockey this season.

"I think just being patient. Sometimes the goals and the points and everything that you want may not come right away, so I think you have to grind through it and put your time in," Stankoven said. "I think also my playmaking game has taken another step."

To Stars general manager Jim Nill, what helped Stankoven take another step in his game was the playing time he received with Kamloops.

"Well, they've got to be in the lineup every night," Nill said. "I don't really worry if that's the first line, second line, third line, fourth. It doesn't matter. If you're playing every night, you're developing. But if you're sitting in the press box, playing one of every three games, that's not good for development."

Whether that development results in Stankoven making the Stars' roster this season remains to be seen, but just like last training camp, he will get an opportunity despite Dallas adding veteran forwards Matt Duchene, Craig Smith and Sam Steel in free agency.

"I think it's the same message from [Nill] all the time: If you're ready then we'll make room for you," Dallas director of player personnel Rich Peverley said. "But it doesn't hurt guys to go down and earn their stripes. It's a big jump from the junior league to the American Hockey League, and you're talking a bigger jump to get from there to the NHL. It's a process, and earning it is very important."

That jump could be even bigger for someone like Stankoven, who lived at home when he played for Kamloops.

"It's massive. When you just see a player have success in juniors, you hope it's immediately transferable, but it's sometimes easy to lose sight of the human element," said Neil Graham, who is coach of the Stars' American Hockey League affiliate in Texas. "When you take in the human element, not only are you away from family, or billets, or girlfriends, or friends, you're on the other side of North America and you're trying to figure things out on your own.

"It's as simple as now you need an American cell phone, an American bank account, you should have some stuff set up with your social security. These are all things that get sorted out, but your job is to focus on being the best hockey player you can be, win hockey games and contribute at the NHL or AHL level. There are outside influences and distractions."

Despite all that, Stankoven said he's ready no matter where his professional career starts this season.

"I think also being a smaller guy (5-foot-7, 170 pounds), it's going to be more of a learning curve for me," he said. "If I can be in Dallas at the start of the season, that'd be awesome. If not, there's no problem playing down in Austin with the Texas team. It's just about growing your game each day. It's patience. You don't expect to hop into the League right away. It's going to be tough, but I know if I put in the work it's doable."