Matěj Blümel Might Be Just What Dallas Needs, Sooner or Later

Blümel has led the Texas Stars to the playoffs again this year after a two-goal performance on Sunday afternoon. Where he'll wind up in the future is still to be determined.

PC: Amanda Spielberger

Last year, the Texas Stars had two of the best players in the league. Logan Stankoven was named the AHL’s Most Outstanding Rookie, and Mavrik Bourque won the AHL’s most valuable player award.

As a result, both players earned recalls to Dallas during the season, though Bourque’s was just a one-game regular-season cameo (with one more appearance in Dallas’s final loss against Edmonton in the playoffs), while Stankoven’s was a permanent recall that lasted until his trade to Carolina the following season, in the Mikko Rantanen trade deadline shocker.

But the Texas Stars had another offensive weapon that didn’t make it to Dallas last season. Because despite scoring his first NHL goal in a six-game stint back in November of 2022, Matěj Blümel spent his entire 2023-24 season down in Cedar Park.

So with the NHL club’s forwards being largely healthy, and with breakout rookies Stankoven and Bourque ahead of him due to performance and draft pedigree—a cold reality of the NHL pecking order—Blümel went about his business in Texas, putting up an excellent 31-31-62 scoring line while playing exclusively in the AHL.

In all, the six-foot, 205lb left-shot winger—he can play on either wing, though—finished last season fifth in goal-scoring in the AHL, and 11th in overall points. Mavrik Bourque, of course, finished atop the league with 77 points.

This season, Bourque was set to start the year in the NHL, while Blümel spent training camp battling for the 13th forward spot in training camp—only for Oskar Bäck to emerge as the choice of Pete DeBoer.

Blümel was disappointed to wind up back in the AHL to start the year, but his disappointment wouldn’t last long. Because of early injuries to players like Tyler Seguin, Blümel was recalled to Dallas just seven games into the season for a tilt against Edmonton.