The Dallas Stars announced some roster moves today. The club has brought up 2011 first-round pick Jamie Oleksiak and agitating forward Antoine Roussel from the Texas Stars. Forward Reilly Smith has been sent down to Austin.
As feared before the season, Dallas has lost a lot of grit that characterized the "Pesky Stars" of the previous two seasons. This season have also been icing perhaps the most undersized blueline in the NHL. Plain and simple, the Stars of 2013 have not been as physically tough to play against as they were before.
In response, the club has decided to let the future start now with the gargantuan Oleksiak (6-foot-7, 254 pounds). The 20-year-old has played quite well as an AHL rookie this year, and the big club can really use his combination of size and skill.
A word of caution: Expect growing pains. All young defensemen experience them, and Oleksiak isn't going to be any different. Also do not expect him to be some crushing hitter with a sizable mean streak, ala Zdeno Chara. Like Chara in his youth, Oleksiak's game still has rough edges to be smoothed out over a period of several pro seasons.
Thus far, however, the process has gone very well at the AHL level. He made the All-Star Game on merit, and his upside as a two-way defenseman has been obvious. Oleksiak hasn't even hit the "rookie wall" yet at the AHL level. But he's going to have a lot of challenges ahead of him to develop at the NHL level.
Don't think it's all going to be a constant upward climb from here. He's going to make plenty of mistakes, have his share of ugly games. That's how it goes even for future NHL stars. Oleksiak is still a work in progress.
Is Oleksiak NHL ready? We're about to find out. However, my gut feeling is that he IS an NHL-ready player so long as the early expectations (including his time on the ice) are kept reasonable and the organization stays patient through the inevitable ups and downs to come.
As for Roussel, the Stars are looking for a player to do some of the sorts of things that Steve Ott and Adam Burish did in terms of getting under the opposition's skin. He's not as good of a player as either of them (especially Ott) but the undrafted Frenchman knows why he's been called up and what he needs to do to stay at the top level. Apart from agitating, he needs to provide the team some energy and win puck battles.
The Stars return to action tomorrow night. Oleksiak and Roussel will make their NHL debuts in a home tilt with Phoenix. Dallas started out the season with a win over the Coyotes.
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