D-Man shuffle: Stars defensemen experiment with new pairings

There is always the caveat to take things on the opening day of training camp with a grain of salt, but it’s hard to ignore the fact the Stars have made some bold opening moves with their defenseman pairing on Thursday.

Miro Heiskanen was playing with newcomer Matt Dumba, Esa Lindell was paired with Nils Lundkvist, and Thomas Harley was next to veteran Ilya Lyubushkin. Dallas has swapped in three new defensemen, so the changes were expected, but the logic of these decisions could make sense for the entire season.

“Pairs and lines . . . it’s way too early to get into that,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer cautioned. “But there’s definitely thought put into the left-right. That’s something we definitely want to explore a little bit more. I don’t know if we’ll end up there, but we have at least the options on the right where we can do that. The left-right thing is definitely something we want to explore through the exhibition games and see if we can find combinations that can work.”

By adding Dumba and Lyubushkin – both right-handed – the Stars have the ability to look at Heiskanen on the left side. One of the top defensemen in the NHL, the third overall pick in 2017 has played the right side for most of his NHL career. That can be a challenge for a left-handed defenseman, and the Stars are going to experiment with allowing Heiskanen to play his strong side for the near future.

Heiskanen had 73 points in 79 games two seasons ago and dropped to 54 points in 71 games last season, so the change could help improve his production. At the very least, it’s a chance to see if he is even better on his natural side. From just a couple of weeks in informal workouts Dumba said he is excited about the opportunity to play beside Heiskanen.

“He’s something else,” said the 30-year-old defenseman who played parts of 10 seasons with divisional rival Minnesota. “He’s probably one of the silkiest defenders I’ve ever seen, but he's smart with the way he does it. It might look like he’s run and gun, but he’s methodical with that puck and he thinks about the game. He pulls one, two, three defenders in and slips it past them . . . now the forward, or his D partner, are going the other way. So, I’m loving that and we’re going to try to work through camp and create that chemistry and help this team be even better.”

Dumba has had four seasons of double-digit goals earlier in his career, so he would love to get a chance to revisit that kind of production. He said he likes the way the Stars activate their defensemen and said that can be good for everyone.

“I love it,” Dumba said on Thursday. “They talked about speed the first day. It’s all about speed, playing fast, being quick on breakouts. I know it on the other end, seeing Roope get on his horse, and the D men follow up. You’ve got a really skilled group here, and that’s awesome if you’re a defenseman, so it’s going to be fun here. When you play fast, it makes it really hard to play against.”

That theory is one that could help Lundkvist, who has had some ups and downs in his career. The 24-year-old has worked his way into becoming a consistent lineup presence during the regular season, but then has not been able to gain the trust of the coaching staff during the playoffs. With the departure of Chris Tanev and Jani Hakanpää, the opportunity is now there for Lundkvist to play beside Lindell. That could be a good fit as the talented Lundkvist would have a solid defensive presence that can help support his attempts to become a more skilled defenseman.

Lindell compared him to former long-time partner John Klingberg, and the similarities are there.

“I like it,” Lindell said. “We have played together many games already and I find that we can help each other out. Nils skates so well, and I see similarities to Klinger, so I’m excited to start working out with him now.”

Harley was skating beside Heiskanen for much of last year and that helped him produce solid number with 15 goals among 47 points. Playing beside Lyubushkin, Harley will likely be asked to take a few more chances, and it could allow him to stretch his skating legs at age 23.

“Boosh [Lyubushkin] was my partner and we’re just getting to know each other and learn each other’s playing style,” Harley said. “Dumba looked good with Miro and Smitty looked good too.”

“Smitty” is veteran defenseman Brendan Smith, who also was added in free agency. He’s a left-hander and will be among the candidates to step in at any moment. Dallas also added veteran Kyle Capobianco, 27, and brings back veteran Alex Petrovic, 32. Capobianco had 54 points (12 goals, 42 assists) in 69 games with Manitoba of the AHL last season, while Petrovic was an AHL standout in Texas and played seven games in the playoffs for Dallas last season.

First-round pick (2022) Lian Bichsel will likely be given time to develop in the minors because of the strength on defense, but the 20-year-old could force the Stars to make a tough decision if he plays extremely well in the preseason.

Bottom line, the Stars have more options on defense, and that’s a good thing for the coaching staff.

“We probably needed to add more depth on our defense, and I think Jim [Nill] went out and addressed that,” DeBoer said. “I think our defense is in a better spot that the first two years I have been here going into camp, so I’m excited.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @MikeHeika.