In recent seasons, there has been an increase in the number of prospects who make the immediate jump to the NHL in the same year they were drafted. That trend may continue whenever the 2012-13 NHL season starts, even if there are no NHL training camps in September.
Last season, there were nine members of the 2011 Draft class -- including seven first-round picks -- who saw time in NHL. Four players spent the entire year in the NHL: Calder Trophy winner Gabriel Landeskog, first overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Philadelphia Flyers shutdown center Sean Couturier and New Jersey Devils defenseman Adam Larsson. Twenty-year old Andrew Shaw (selected in the third round by Chicago) split the year between the AHL and NHL.
The previous season, five 2010 Draft selections made an immediate jump to the NHL. The list included Calder winner Jeff Skinner, top overall pick Taylor Hall, second overall pick Tyler Seguin, Anaheim Ducks' offensive defenseman Cam Fowler, and Alexander Burmistrov.
The Dallas Stars, however, have long preferred to bring prospects along methodically. In franchise history, they have not had a draftee make the immediate jump to the NHL since Brian Bellows (the second overall pick of the 1984 Draft) joined the then-Minnesota North Stars for the start of the 1984-85 season. Mike Modano, drafted first overall in 1988, debuted in the playoffs but spent the 1988-89 regular season with Prince Albert.
Going back to the 2008 Draft, all Stars' draftees from 2008 to 2011 have played a combined 138 NHL games, represented by Tomas Vincour (71), Philip Larsen (63), Reilly Smith (3) and Scott Glennie (1). Glennie, selected with the 8th overall pick of the 2009 Draft, spent the vast majority of his rookie pro season last year in the AHL with the Texas Stars.
There is a chance that an exception to the Stars' longstanding policy could be made this year with first-round pick Radek Faksa. Although his offensive game is still developing, he averaged better than a point per game as an OHL rookie last season. Even more important, he has already shown good two-way potential, a strong work ethic and is already a little more physically mature (6-foot-3, 202 pounds and still filling out) than the majority of teenage players.
With Derek Roy on the shelf until November, there is an open center spot to be won in the lineup (at least assuming the season starts before Roy is ready to return). There is a danger in putting too much pressure on Faksa too soon, but he does appear to have the potential to be a player whose long-term development would not be hurt.
Moreover, the presence of Jaromir Jagr in 2012-13 -- which is likely to be his only season in Dallas -- could be beneficial to the young Czech. It cannot be overstated how much being around Jagr benefited Philadelphia's Jakub Voracek and other young players on the team last season.
The risk of bringing Faksa along too quickly is that it could stunt his development in the long-term if he proves not to be ready for the challenge of the NHL. The slow-and-steady development approach has worked for the Stars with other players, ranging from current players such as Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson to past standouts such as Jere Lehtinen (NHL debut at age 22) and ex-Star James Neal (pro debut in the AHL at age 20, NHL debut the next year).
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