Stars walk away with well-rounded draft class

The Stars have had a lot of success with players from the Ontario Hockey League, and they're hoping that continues this year.

Dallas selected three players from the OHL, including their first two picks, on Thursday at the NHL Draft. The hope is they will follow in the footsteps of players like Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Thomas Harley and Ty Dellandrea. Joe McDonnell, the Stars Director of Amateur Scouting, is from Ontario and sees a lot of the players.

"We like [the OHL], and it's all of us," McDonnell said of the scouting staff who is spread throughout the world. "But it's just the way it's worked out."

What McDonnell is hoping is that these players will provide great value for where they were selected. Dallas felt it grabbed a high-end talent at No. 61 in Tristan Bertucci, a defenseman from Flint, and then the team moved up into the third round to get center Brad Gardiner, who plays in Ottawa. Dallas gave up a third and sixth round pick in 2024 to Nashville to get the 79th pick to take Gardiner, who is the son of former NHL player Bruce Gardiner.

McDonnell said the team was happy several players on its board fell into positions that made them available.

"We got kids who we definitely didn't think would be there when we got them, so we're excited," McDonnell said. "It was awesome. You always say you had them rated a lot higher, but we did."

Maybe the biggest jump came in the fourth round where Dallas was able to nab Aram Minnetian from the US National Development Team. Minnetian was predicted to go in the first two rounds, but Dallas was able to get the 5-11 defenseman at 125.

"If he was 6-2, he'd probably be gone in the first round," McDonnell said. "Just his overall skating ability, moving the puck. He played on a really good team, so he didn't get a lot of power play time. But on the second unit, he looked good doing that."

Dallas traded its first-round pick to the Rangers before last season for Nils Lundkvist and believes the now 22-year-old defenseman will be a significant contributor next season. Combining that fact with a strong group of prospects already in house, allowed Dallas to go get players they can wait on. Bertucci is a skilled defenseman who had 50 points (11 goals, 39 assists) in 63 games with the Flint Firebirds. He is 6-2 but is listed at 175 pounds.

"We had him in our first round," McDonnell said. "He's very skinny at this stage, but he's going to get bigger and stronger. He plays hard and physical, but he's a really good skater and moves the puck well. He's an all-around 200-foot defenseman."

"I'm just really excited," Bertucci said.

He played against Johnston in the playoffs in 2021-22 and said he has watched the Stars closely.

"He's a really good player," Bertucci said of Johnston. "He had like 120 something points last year and an unbelievable rookie season. I'm just excited to hopefully call him a teammate someday."

Both Bertucci and Minnetian are huge fans of Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen and said they can't wait to meet the skilled blueliner. That's another thing about the youth movement on the Stars, it creates a buzz about wearing Victory Green. Minnetian said he has always been a fan of Dallas and is excited his cousin will attend SMU next year.

"Dallas is a great spot and I'm so excited to go there," said the native of New Jersey. "It's probably my favorite city. I love the south and their team is unbelievable."

Gardiner also said he's excited for prospect camp and to meet some of his new teammates. The Stars didn't have a third-round pick because of the trade that acquired goalie Scott Wedgewood last season, but they felt moving up to get Gardiner was worth a few draft picks in the future.

"Gardiner was a kid that we loved and if you really love somebody that much, you're going to try to get in there somehow," McDonnell said.

Gardiner is another longer-term project, but that's fine because Dallas is loaded up with forwards who are knocking on the door at the NHL level. After recording 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) in 68 games with Ottawa, he seems to be on a good path. In addition to learning from his dad, Gardiner also uses Gary Roberts as an offseason trainer. The former NHL player also helped train Bertucci.

"He's a health nut, and his dad played in the NHL," McDonnell said. "He knows what to expect."

Dallas finished out with 21-year-old goalie Arno Tiefensee from Germany, scrappy center Angus MacDonnell from Mississauga, and center Sebastian Bradshaw from Elite Hockey Academy. McDonnell said the team was "throwing darts" at that stage, but still is hoping one of the players can break through.

McDonnell said Bradshaw could be a "rat" type player and said they will simply watch Tiefensee to see how he develops overseas.

"I know our Finnish guy and Czech guy saw him, and [Kari Takko] is our goalie guy, and he really liked the way he moves," McDonnell said.

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 Twitter @MikeHeika.