Top Prospects: The NHL System Rankings

#17: Dallas Stars

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Number of Ranked Prospects: 27

Number of Forwards in the Top 50: 1

Number of Defensemen in the Top 50: 2

Average Rank of Top 10 Prospects in Pool: 90th

Top Forward Prospect in The System: Mavrik Bourque (30th)

Top Defenseman Prospect in The System: Lian Bichsel (25th)

System Score: 3.5

 

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The Dallas Stars have managed to build a championship quality team while maintaining a consistent assortment of draft picks each year. The Stars have held first-round picks in six of the last seven drafts, and three of those picks were players who have since become NHL contributors (Ty Dellandrea, Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnson). Johnson had a breakout year for Dallas in 2023-2024 when he scored 32 goals and 33 assists in the regular season, then added 10 goals and 6 assists in 19 playoff games. Harley also took a big step forward last season to become a full-time starter and contribute 47 points from back end. Dellandrea has seen more mixed results, and given the depth of the system and to help make room for the imminent arrival of a couple of prospects, the Stars traded Dellandrea to the San Jose Sharks last June. Beyond the first round picks, Logan Stankoven (selected 47th overall in 2021) saw his first professional play last year and despite playing in just 24 regular season games he lined up for 19 playoff games, and found a way to chip in 8 points.   

The remaining first round picks and several other early-round selections are currently filling the Dallas prospect pipeline. Although there is not a lot of depth in the pool beyond the top prospects (there are only 27 ranked players in the Dallas system), the Stars' have a nice collection of talent at the top of the pool, including two players who look poised to be NHL players as early as this season.

 

The Top of The Pool:

Mavrik Bourque has been waiting for his chance to make his mark in the NHL for years. He was drafted 30th overall in 2020 draft (he was ranked 16th in that draft by the Hockey Prophets), and he has been busy proving his worth ever since. In 2022, after battling injuries in his draft and post-draft seasons (and the long pause in games for Covid), Bourque became a professional player in the Dallas system, playing AHL hockey for the Texas Stars. To say that he has been successful as a professional would be a big disservice to what he actually accomplished. In 141 games over his two AHL seasons, Bourque scored 46 goals with 78 assists, and last season he led the league in scoring and was named AHL Most Valuable Player. Although he in just 5'10, he has a granite frame at 191 pounds, and his body awareness and control allows him to gain excellent leverage against taller players. He is fast, strong and highly skilled, but his greatest attribute is his vision and hockey sense. Bourque can make plays happen with his feet and his hands, and with his non-stop movement he should become a fan favorite and 50-point scorer on a Stars team filled with fan favorites. There is nothing left for Bourque to prove at any level of hockey except the NHL. 

The top defenseman in the Stars pipeline is the huge Swiss blueliner Lian Bichsel. He was drafted 18th overall in 2022, and has played most of his career for Swedish team Leksands before coming to North America at the end of last season. The 6'6, 233-pound blueliner is a mass of muscle and strength who uses his size as a weapon. Bichsel will position his body to take away time and space. He leans heavily onto his opponents in board battles, sapping them of energy and easily restricting movement. Without great skating ability, he uses efficient lines and his huge frame to take away attacking lanes, and he is not at all shy about playing a physical game. He may not become an offensive force, but he will absolutely make opponents wary of driving the puck in his direction.

For more of a transition defender, the Stars have Tristan Bertucci, the 6'2, 179-pound blueliner that they selected 61st overall in 2023 (Hockey Prophets ranked him 36th) from the OHL's Flint Firebirds. Bertucci has the size, but he also has the hands and passing ability to make long, safe passes to break out of the zone or start a counterattacking rush. He has above average speed and good mobility. The main holdback for Bertucci is the depth of the Stars NHL squad on defense. He will play out this season in the OHL for the Barrie Colts, and afterward almost certainly see a year or more in the AHL before he gets his NHL chance, but he has the talent to be a good NHL defender when that time comes. 

Emil Hemming has a great shot, and he likes to use it whenever he gets the chance. Hemming was drafted 29th overall in the 2024 draft from Finland's top men's league, where he played 40 games for TPS Turku with 7 goals and 4 assists. He, too, is playing for the Barrie Colts this year, where he already has two goals and three assists in his first five games. Hemming plays a hard-working game, and skates well enough to be comfortable at the upper levels of hockey, but it will be his shot that gets him the to the NHL.

 

Return to the Team System Rankings

 

Below is the full list of the Dallas Stars' ranked prospects.

Top Forwards 

Top Forward Prospects By Team

Team Rank	Rank	Name	Position	Age	Height	Weight	Draft Selection	Pre-Draft Ranking	A/P Score
1	30	Bourque, Mavrik	Center	22	5'10	165	30	24	-2.00
2	67	Hemming, Emil	Right Wing	18	6'1	205	29	32	0.13
3	93	Roulette, Connor	Left Wing	21	5'11	160	111	62	-1.19
4	103	Martino, Ayrton	Right Wing	21	5'10	170	73	48	-1.56
5	201	Ertel, Justin	Left Wing	21	6'2	187	79	300	0.00
6	311	Gardiner, Brad	Center	19	6'1	184	79	104	0.37
7	330	Arcuri, Francesco	Center	21	6'0	187	175	129	-0.44
8	408	Stranges, Antonio	Left Wing	22	5'10	170	123	73	0.20
9	511	MacDonell, Angus	Center	19	5'10	172	189	153	0.08
10	527	Seminoff, Matthew	Right Wing	20	5'11	183	179	79	-0.40
11	529	Sjoberg, Albert	Center	21	6'0	174	207	95	0.00
12	619	Samuelsson, William	Center	18	6'0	176	222	300	0.35
13	813	Oksentyuk, Yevgeni	Left Wing	23	5'7	157	162	90	-1.19
14	850	Ljungman, Daniel	Center	22	6'0	165	154	109	0.71
15	874	Bradshaw, Sebastian	Center	19	6'3	196	221	300	1.10
16	981	Porco, Nick	Left Wing	23	6'0	175	142	106	0.39

 

Top Defensemen

Top DefensemenProspects By Team

Team Rank	Rank	Name	Position	Age	Height	Weight	Draft Selection	Pre-Draft Ranking	A/P Score
1	25	Bichsel, Lian	Defenseman	20	6'5	225	18	31	0.31
2	40	Bertucci, Tristan	Defenseman	19	6'1	175	61	81	-1.87
3	69	Kyrou, Christian	Defenseman	21	5'10	172	50	73	-1.71
4	113	Minnetian, Aram	Defenseman	19	5'11	195	125	66	-0.37
5	161	Fegaras, George	Defenseman	20	6'1	185	83	91	-0.17
6	184	Muhonen, Niilopekka	Defenseman	19	6'4	185	158	91	0.35
7	207	White, Gavin	Defenseman	22	6'0	180	115	300	-1.04
8	232	Bar, Jack	Defenseman	22	6'2	194	138	75	0.23
9	284	Holmes, Jacob	Defenseman	21	6'1	205	143	154	0.76
10	315	Zloty, Benjamin	Defenseman	23	5'10	175	250	300	-0.42
11	480	Sjolund, Samuel	Defenseman	23	6'1	172	111	300	-0.04