Fourth-line decisions could be most important aspect of Stars' preseason

With NHL training camps shortened to three days, the preseason schedule becomes more about getting the opening-night roster ready to play than it does sorting out just who might be on that roster opening night.
Because when you get right down to it, most teams have a pretty good idea who will be playing for them to start the season.
But the Stars have a real battle working before the season even starts. You can speculate that the top-nine forwards are pretty much worked out, but that leaves six guys who are battling for five roster spots and three places in the lineup on the fourth line.
And that's a good thing for new coach Jim Montgomery.

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"In order to play at a relentless speed, you have to have four lines that can play," Montgomery said. "To be a really good hockey team, to go four rounds in the playoffs, you have to have that fourth line."
The Stars believe they have the makings of an excellent fourth line. With the addition of Valeri Nichushkin and Blake Comeau to the forward ranks, Devin Shore is expected to slide down the lineup and be one of the players fighting for a spot on the fourth line. He has played all 82 games the past two seasons and brings experience and a hunger to improve on last season.

He has played on a line with Jason Dickinson and Brett Ritchie through much of camp and is expected to play with Roope Hintz and Tyler Pitlick Thursday at Minnesota. Pitlick is expected to be on the third line during the regular season. Also playing Thursday are Remi Elie, Dickinson and Gemel Smith.
Dickinson is in his first year of a one-way contract -- meaning he gets paid the same at the NHL and AHL levels -- and that's a good indication he'll likely spend the entire season in the NHL. The former first round pick has been playing center after playing a lot of wing last season, and said he believes he's ready to do whatever the coaches need.
"I think it's good that we have these guys who can play all sorts of positions, because you can find all ways to slot together," Dickinson said. "If you have two wingers who can't play strong down low, it makes it so much harder for the center. He's got a lot of work to do and a lot of coverage that he has to take. It makes it easier having another center who knows those responsibilities."
Shore can also play center and wing, as can Smith and Hintz. That creates a lot of options for how Montgomery can assemble the fourth line, so he has a lot of evaluating to do in these preseason games.

That also means the competition could be intense. Not only is a player fighting for ice time in a game, he could be fighting to not get sent down to the minors.
"I don't think we think about it quite that way," said Smith. "We all want to help the team and we all want to play our best, and that's what we're trying to do. You work hard and let the coaches sort that all out."
Smith is one of the many players with good speed, and that could be an important asset for the fourth line. Montgomery said he wants to have every line feed the next shift. That means carrying energy throughout a game.
"They've got to build momentum for the next people coming over the boards," Montgomery said. "That's true for every line, but it's so important that they do it. If they have a great shift in the offensive zone, they're being relentless, they're creating turnovers, they're getting opportunities and pucks to the net, they're creating offensive zone faceoffs or drawing penalties. That's what a fourth line needs to do."
And that fourth line should have that opportunity this season.
"I think we'll be more of a four-line team, so that's nice," said Smith. "We have the ability to change the momentum of the game, and I think if we can do that, we can help the team win. It's a great opportunity."
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.