First Shift 🏒
Thomas Harley has faced plenty of adversity in his career. And every time he does, he seems to find a way to make himself better.
COVID allowed Harley to jump from Major Junior Hockey into the NHL playoff bubble in Edmonton in 2020, and he not only soaked up two months of experience as a reserve inside the Stars camp, he actually made his NHL debut in a playoff game that year. After bouncing back between the AHL and the NHL in subsequent seasons, Harley was told to go down to the minors in 2022 by new Stars coach Pete DeBoer, and he used a 66-game AHL stint to completely revamp his defensive game.
Harley’s latest challenge? Step in to replace injured No. 1 defenseman Miro Heiskanen and become one of the most important players on one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Once again, tough times make him better.
Since Heiskanen went down with a knee injury 17 games ago, Harley has 19 points (6 goals, 13 assists) and is averaging 25:16 in time on ice. On Tuesday, he had a goal and two assists and played 25:40 in a 4-3 overtime win against the Ducks.
“I thought Thomas was maybe the best player on the ice for either team tonight - for sure for us,” DeBoer said. “He’s just elevated. He’s playing with confidence, he’s got world-class feet, obviously, and he can skate all day long. He’s found that sweet spot where he’s creating offense but he’s not doing it at the cost of his defending. He’s doing it the right way.”
Harley was taken 18th overall in 2019 and he’s played more than 200 NHL games, regular season and playoffs combined, so he’s at a place where he can make significant strides in his development. But again, different challenges create different opportunities, and that seems to make him even better. Harley was not included on the original roster of Canada’s 4 Nations team, but was called to fill in during the middle of the tournament. He played in both games against Team USA, including the championship, and that was eye-opening.
Stars GM Jim Nill was an associate GM for Team Canada and DeBoer was an assistant coach running the defense, so both were able to not only help Harley with the process but also witness up-close what was happening to the young blueliner.
“I’m so glad Thomas was a late addition,” DeBoer said. “I think it really changed his trajectory. He got that experience, he played against that level of player, and he came back at a different level. It was just because of that experience and the confidence of knowing he can play against those guys and with those guys.”
Harley is being philosophical about the experience. He learned in his year in the minors that defense creates offense, and he’s sticking by that in his elevated role.
“Being on the first power play helps for points, but honestly, I’m just trying to defend hard,” he said when asked about his scoring boost. “The harder you do that, the more time you have the puck. And when you have it, the more you can skate and score.”
While on the ice at 5-on-5 in Tuesday’s game, Harley had a positive shot attempt differential of 27-8. He had scoring chances at 16-4 in his favor. That’s the kind of game that can help the Stars a great deal while Heiskanen is out.
“I can tell you with Miro out, he’s needed to elevate,” DeBoer said. “We’ve needed him to take over that first power play and to drive offense from the back end.”
And so far, he’s doing that…and doing it the right way. With Harley exceeding the next closest player by two minutes since Heiskanen’s injury, Dallas is 11-4-2 and outscoring the opposition 70-52. The power play is clicking at 35.6 percent in that span.
“He’s been a huge part of our success here,” said Hintz. “You see how he does stuff every night, it’s great to see.”
