Offhand Thoughts about Off-Hand Defensemen, Goalie Sticks, and 13th Forwards

During preseasons past, fans have sometimes had nothing more to go off of than a roster and maybe a Tweet about line combinations and goals. Speculations about who will wind up on the NHL squad come opening night are necessarily limited when you don’t have as much information, and in years past, I’ve definitely had to join the throng of speculators from afar.

This year, I’ve been fortunate to be covering training camp, practices, and home preseason games in person. It’s been eye-opening to see the marginal interactions players and coaches have outside of just line combinations and practice squad assignments, and even moreso to hear directly from those players and coaches about what they’re seeing, feeling, and thinking.

For example, Ben Kraws, who will be playing goal tonight for the third period against the Colorado Avalanche, told me that he uses a shaved-down goalie stick à la Sergei Bobrovsky.

Kraws told me that he just feels more comfortable with it, and that he’s always fine-tuning and tweaking elements of his game (as most players do). I asked if his stick made it harder to perform poke checks in situations like shootouts, but Kraws said, if anything, that he feels more confident in shootouts, as the lower blocker placement resulting from his grip enables him to cut down the angle of a potential shot more.

Kraws played a few games for the Texas Stars last year after finishing his year at St. Lawrence, including a solid in his pro debut. In fact, you can see a picture of Kraws’s stick in this writeup of that game at 100 Degree Hockey, so check it out.

Kraws signed a one-year deal, so with Magnus Hellberg and Remi Poirier looking like the Cedar Park tandem, I’d expect him to start in Idaho if everyone’s healthy. But without a clear Goalie-in-Waiting behind Jake Oettinger with the franchise, he’ll have a chance to show what he’s got.

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Another thing that’s been discussed ad infinitum recently is defensemen playing on their off-hand side, particularly Miro Heiskanen. But with the right-handed Matt Dumba coming in as Heisaknen’s ostensible defense partner, that hasn’t been as hot a topic as some expected (though do expect every goal Heiskanen scores to be viewed through that lens).

But today at morning skate, Esa Lindell and Lian Bichsel–both left shots who have played on the right side in the past–were playing together, and I was told that the plan is for Lindell to start on the right side tonight.

In talking with Lindell, he downplayed any difficulties of playing on the right side as you’d expect from a veteran who has done so many times, but he did mention one practical adjustment that has to be made, which is playing the puck along the boards. If you’re a left-shot on the right side, you have to use your backhand to rim the puck up the boards, which is obviously a tougher play than doing so from your forehand. That means you have fewer options unless you get to the puck early enough to pick it off the boards and turn onto your forehand, which isn’t always a play that’s available. (Note: Unless you’re Miro Heiskanen, who is more likely to get to the puck ahead of a forechecker than almost anyone else in the league).

Bichsel told me that at the start of training camp, he told the coaches that he is perfectly happy to play on either side, as he grew up playing on both sides and genuinely feels equally comfortable either way. He said what most pro players who haven’t been bought out by two different teams will say, which is that “it doesn’t bother me.” And the truth is, in the NHL, players are capable of receiving a pass well in almost any situation, so it probably isn’t as huge of an issue as we often make it out to be. Still, it’s interesting to hear what goes into the adjustment process.

Misha Donskov talked about this after morning skate as well (and we’ve certainly asked him about it more than once already), saying that there are certain plays that are naturally easier on a player’s forehand, and that he personally prefers balanced handedness on his defense pairings. He mentioned Heiskanen’s goal in particular as one that’s easier with balanced pairings, as low-to-high passes along the boards are quicker to shoot or even pass to the other point if a defenseman is on his strong side.

My sense is that, like with the final forward spots on the roster, they have an ideal way things would work out, but that they are willing to accept some imbalance if some players truly separate themselves and force the coaches to put them in the lineup. Speaking of which, let’s talk more about those final forward spots in a section I like to call:

Speaking of Which

The 4 Nations Face-Off isn’t until February, but the Dallas Stars have a bit of a miniature four-nation battle happening at the margins of their roster, with Oskar Bäck (Sweden), Matěj Blümel (Czechia), Kole Lind (Canada), and Arttu Hyry (Finland) all in the mix for the final forward spot(s).

We’ve talked about the group of forwards a lot. They’re all between 23 and 25, so it’s starting to get to that “now or never” point for them when it comes to sticking in the NHL. But with Lind and Blümel both playing tonight, I suspect we’re on the verge of some clarity, with some roster whittling likely to happen this weekend before Texas Stars training camp begins next week.

A couple of distinctions that are important here when it comes to special teams play: Blümel and Lind have been used on the power play, whereas Bäck has been used on the penalty kill. But Hyry, the youngest of the bunch at 23, has been deployed both on the penalty kill and the power play (though the latter came in the road tilt against Colorado, when the Stars had seven power plays to get through).

Lind has 31 NHL games under his belt, and some size that can play against professional crease-clearers. He’s racked up 60+ points two AHL seasons in a row, but his NHL scoring totals are a bit more modest, with just two goals and six assists in those games.

Blümel scored 31-31=62 in a fantastic season for Texas last year, and was better than a point-per-game in the playoffs, so it’s clear that he can score against other pros. The obstacle for him is figuring out how his game plays on an NHL fourth line, as Dallas has too many solid wingers in the NHL that they would move up the lineup first before throwing someone in the top six straight from the AHL.

Hyry’s game is less straightforward, though he did score 31 points in 55 games for Karpat last year. He also had a good showing in Traverse City, and if Jere Lehtinen likes a player’s game, there are probably a lot of details being got right that NHL coaches delight in seeing.

Bäck is very much not a scoring forward, but unlike the other players above, he is a center. That means he can be relied on to win faceoffs on the penalty kill, cover the front of the net, and generally reinforce the Stars’ defensive structure regardless of whom he’s playing with. He’s a responsible player who brings size, and NHL coaches tend to trust that. Radek Faksa was beloved by his coaches for much the same reason, but it’s also worth noting that Faksa began getting scratched last year by DeBoer for the first time in a long while, eventually asking Jim Nill for a trade, if possible.

So, do the Stars have a specific type of player in mind for their 13th forward role? What a great question! That’s what I asked (in a roundabout way) Coach Donskov this morning, and he answered with a bit of caginess: “I’m gonna answer it this way: I thought Pete DeBoer’s message to start training camp was awesome to our guys: ‘Show us how you can help us win.’ And that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the faster skater, the best shot, or you’re the toughest, but within your role and within the structure of our team game, how can you help us win? Show us that, and if you can do that, then you’re going to get an opportunity to play in that spot.”

I think you can believe them when they say that, too. Thus far, I’m not sure one of those four (or players like Justin Hryckowian who aren’t too far behind them) has really separated themselves from the pack. But with the cap situation likely to be better this season, there should be a lot more ability for the team to move players up and down between Cedar Park and Dallas as the need arises.

In tonight’s game in particular, I’ll be watching to see whether Kole Lind looks like a player who has seen a thing or two in the NHL and can make a line better by his presence. I’ll also be watching to see if Blümel shows signs that his ability to score in the AHL can translate meaningfully to the NHL, given the chance. Certainly both of these players have been working hard for a long time to get this opportunity, so regardless of the caliber of competition Colorado brings tonight, the effort should be there. Hockey players tend to be pretty good at giving it their best effort, just like Cool Doug at night.