NEMETH LOOKS TO ADD MUSCLE TO DALLAS D
Heading into the 2014-15 season, Stars defenseman Patrik Nemeth sought to establish himself as a fixture in the Dallas starting lineup after playing well late in the previous season and starting five playoff games against the Anaheim Ducks.
Unfortunately, a grisly on-ice accident early last season waylaid what would have been the first full NHL season for the Stars' second-round (41st overall) pick of the 2010 NHL Draft. On the game's first shift of the Stars' Oct. 18 home game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia forward R.J. Umberger accidentally inflicted a skate cut that severely lacerated Nemeth's forearm.
Initially expected to miss the rest of the season, Nemeth returned late in the campaign. Overall, he dressed in 22 NHL games last season. Now the 23-year-old defenseman will look to turn last year's adversity into a breakthrough year in which he becomes a reliable regular starter for coach Lindy Ruff's team.
The Stars of recent years have generally iced an undersized blueline. While the NHL as a whole has moved toward a heavy emphasis on mobility and puck possession, teams still need a bit of defensive muscle along the walls and around the front of the net. The trade that sent Brenden Dillon to the San Jose Sharks for puck-moving Jason Demers further depleted Dallas of blueline grit and physicality.
Despite his huge frame (6-foot-4, 233 pounds) is Nemeth is not exactly a throwback defenseman to the days of big and strong but immobile stay-at-home defensive defenseman. He actually skates pretty well for player of his size and can also make a decent first pass.
Nevertheless, Nemeth is much closer to the mold of Arizona Coyotes defenseman (and former Stars fixture) Nicklas Grossmann than to someone like 2014-15 rookie standout John Klingberg. Nemeth skates better than Grossmann does (especially after Grossmann's series of knee injuries over the years) but his main value is as defensive muscle that is also reasonably sound in positional play. Nemeth has never been much of a point producer at any level, and is unlikely to morph into one in the future.
Nemeth is a role-playing defenseman but has value to offer the Stars if he remains healthy and continues his development. Part of the team's problems in its own end last year was that it lacked defensemen who were good at unglamorous (and not especially Corsi/Fenwick friendly) own zone tasks such as board pins and tie-ups/ traffic clearing in front of the net.
In the meantime, Nemeth moves well enough not to be a liability on challenging rushes and showed potential in his NHL games to fend off forecheckers and get the pucks up to the forwards -- at least in short to mid-range -- adequately enough to avoid excessive icings and turnovers. His learning curve as an NHL defenseman is not complete but he was progressing nicely until getting set back by the freak injury.
For players such as Nemeth and former first-round pick Jamie Oleksiak, the time is now to make their move at the NHL level. At this point, neither stands to gain much from more time in the American Hockey League.
On Sept 12, the Dallas Stars Alumni Team will play the Israeli national team in a charity benefit at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco. The start time is 8:30 p.m.
Among the notable Stars Alumni slated to play in the game are goaltender Marty Turco, defensemen Richard Matvichuk and Craig Ludwig and forwards Guy Carbonneau and Greg Adams. Team Israel will feature the likes of prolific goaltender Evgeni Gusin and all-time leading national team scorer Sergei Frenkel.
Tickets are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.com and range in price from $10-$50. Fans will also have the opportunity to purchase a ticket for the Stars- Florida Panthers preseason game on Oct. 24 for $10 when purchasing tickets for the Stars Alumni game.
For more information, click here.
