First Shift 🏒
Every NHL season is different for every team, and the Stars are discovering that for a number of reasons in the 2024-25 campaign.
Not only did the team lose Joe Pavelski to retirement, Radek Faksa and Ty Dellandrea to trades, and Seguin and Mason Marchment to midseason injuries, it also has several players facing new challenges. In addition to a group of 20-somethings moving up the ladder and taking bigger roles, you also had a group of key players who gobbled up 19 playoff games in each of the past two seasons.
The postseason contests obviously push each player up to 100 games and beyond in each season, but they also are extra tough on the mind and body. So teams that have made good runs have seen the cumulative effect on players the next year.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer said he has seen players like Wyatt Johnston, Robertson, Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley get off to slow starts this season – in part because of some individual injuries, but also in part because of the wear and tear.
Harley scored an overtime goal on Saturday and had three shots on goal in a 3-2 win over Utah. It was a nice moment for the 23-year-old defenseman who is trailing behind the offensive pace he set last season.
“I thought Harls was one of those guys in the group that started slow – a lot of minutes in the last two years in the playoffs – and like all of those guys, he’s finding his legs now,” DeBoer said. “I think [Wyatt] Johnston looks like a different player, [Thomas] Harley looks like a different player than he did in the first six, eight weeks of the season.”
Harley still is going through growing pains. He is at 155 NHL games, but his numbers are down from last season when he tallied 15 goals among 47 points and was plus-28 in 79 games. This year, he has five goals among 18 points in 36 games.
Part of the problem is the Stars changed out three defensemen on the blueline and looked to use Harley as the leader of a pairing this season. That meant more shuffling and less consistency than what he typically had beside Heiskanen last season. After a couple of injuries and even more shuffling, Harley is back next to Heiskanen on most shifts, and it has looked good. Harley has a goal and two assists in that span, while Heiskanen has three assists.
“It’s pretty natural,” Harley said. “It’s a little bit musical chairs back there with all of the injuries we have had, but playing with Miro is very natural.”
Johnston and Robertson also are starting to find their way, and that has helped the team during a 5-0-1 surge. Johnston has 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists) in the past six games, while Robertson has 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in the past four.
That’s been great in helping players like Mavrik Bourque (2 goals) and Logan Stankoven (4 goals) better understand the art of scoring goals.
“It’s not an easy league to come in as a guy who is expected to score,” DeBoer said. “It’s easier to come into this league like Oskar Bäck, where your job is to kill penalties and win some battles and make sure that you’re plus when you’re out there. If you’re a young guy where you have a tag that you’re expected to score at this level, it’s an unforgiving league.”
Right now, a smart group of 20 somethings is finding a way to get the group forgiveness.
