First Shift 🏒
Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen will be out “week-to-week” after suffering a lower body injury on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Heiskanen was skating the puck up ice when Vegas captain Mark Stone tripped and fell helmet-first into Heiskanen’s left knee. Heiskanen crumpled to the ice and was holding his knee before being helped off to the dressing room. Stars coach Pete DeBoer said on Thursday that the Stars are taking a wait-and-see approach with their top defenseman.
"We’re terming him 'week-to-week,'" DeBoer said. “He had an MRI yesterday and then he’s seeing the specialist today, and we’ll know more after that meeting."
The timeline is potentially manageable for Heiskanen. The 4 Nations Face-Off will be held Feb. 12-20 in Montréal and Boston, and Heiskanen has been declared out by Team Finland. That could give him an additional two weeks to recover before the Stars’ regular-season schedule resumes on Feb. 22 in New Jersey. The team has five more games before the break begins.
In the short-term, it’s just one more challenge for the Stars. Dallas is already missing Seguin (potentially out until the playoffs after hip surgery) and Mason Marchment (week-to-week after face surgery). This means they are without three of their best players for a pretty big chunk of the season. Also concerning is the fact that defenseman Nils Lundkvist has missed the past three games.
That means that Thomas Harley and AHL call-up Kyle Capobianco step up. Harley is an easy sub. The 23-year-old is second on the team in time on ice at 22:27 (only trailing Heiskanen’s 25:10) and is second among defensemen scoring at 23 points (7 goals, 16 assists) behind Heiskanen’s 25 points (5 goals, 20 assists).
“You don’t want anyone to ever go down, but there is the opportunity to take on a bigger role,” said Johnston, who has done the same thing in the forward group. “Harls is an awesome player and he does so much for us. But, yeah, it’s an opportunity to help pitch in. It’s everyone's, obviously, but it is a big opportunity for Harls and for some other guys.”
Heiskanen leads all Stars players in power play time on ice per game at 3:35 per game. Harley is 10th on the team (2nd among defensemen) at 1:38. He would generally come out to get time with the second unit after Heiskanen changed from his shift. The rangy lefty will likely get the first shot with the top unit now.
Capobianco is a candidate to take on Harley’s role. While both Esa Lindell and Matt Dumba are NHL veterans who have past power play experience, they are more defensive defensemen at this point. Capobianco, 27, has been leading the power play for the Texas Stars in the AHL and has 28 points (2 goals, 26 assists) this season. That includes 10 power play assists. Last year, with the Manitoba Moose, he had 54 points (12 goals, 42 assists) in 69 games.
“He’s turned himself into a really good pro,” DeBoer said. “We had a brief look at him in training camp and I liked what I saw. He’s got decent size, he has run a power play in the American League really successfully for a couple of years now. He skates really well. With Miro out, we’re looking to replace a little bit of that offense, power play, and he’s the guy that best fits that description with the guys we have left available. I’m excited to see him. It’s a great opportunity for him.”
In 73 career NHL games with Arizona and Winnipeg, he has 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists).
The guess is Harley, Lindell and Ilya Lyubushkin will be getting a sturdy uptick in ice time, but it also is an opportunity for rookie Lian Bichsel. The 20-year-old has averaged 13:57 in 11 games this season.
Dallas also has veteran Brendan Smith as an option on defense, though he has performed well at forward recently. If Smith switches to defense, The Stars would have to call up a forward, so we’ll see where that goes.
“It’s got to be the same way we have adjusted to Tyler Seguin out, to Mason Marchment out, to Roope Hintz out,” DeBoer said. “It’s next man up. We’ve got some guys in that defense room who I think can elevate their game. That’s the reality of the NHL season.”