Stars fall to Maple Leafs on Day 2 of the NHL Prospect Tournament

Part of testing your prospects this early in the season is seeing how they handle adversity.

The Stars received plenty of that on Friday night.

Injuries to top defensemen Lian Bichsel and Artem Grushnikov, as well as captain Oskar Bäck, forced the Stars to make several lineup changes and play with five defensemen in Game 2 of the Traverse City Prospect Tournament. Dallas lost the game 5-1 to Toronto and although there was disappointment, there was also plenty of learning.

“You want to go 3-0, obviously, but in a tournament like this it’s okay to see how guys handle adversity,” said Texas Stars coach Neil Graham.

The pressure on defense was shifted to players like Gavin White, who handled it well, and Christian Kyrou, who struggled at times. In addition, forward Justin Ertel took shifts on defense to help fill the gap. Dallas is only carrying seven defensemen for the tournament, so there was no choice but to play shorthanded. The Stars also gave newcomer Bryan Thomson the start in goal, who allowed four goals on 32 shots.

“It’s not always how you draw it up, but we got some new guys in . . . Thomson in net, he hasn’t played a live game in months, and I thought he battled hard,” Graham said. “The guys that came into the lineup did a great job and what I liked about our group was I thought we competed until the end. At the end of the day, I thought our guys stayed in the fight and didn’t quit once.”

Shots on goal were 34-31 in favor of Toronto, and the Maple Leafs made some great runs that Thomson stopped. Dallas also had some pushback in the middle of the game after getting down 3-0. Chase Wheatcroft had the only goal for the Stars as he continues to play well after signing as a free agent out of Prince George.

These are the adaptations and adversity this tournament is meant to show. Thomson was signed as a free agent out of Lethbridge in the WHL. The 6-5 goalie went 13-8-2 last season and should be in the mix to play either with the Texas Stars or in Idaho. Remi Poirier took the win on Thursday against Detroit and has the inside track on being in the AHL but having three goalies (along with Matt Murray) below the NHL is a good situation.

“You have to have depth. You’re always one injury away,” Stars GM Jim Nill said. “Poirier was really good last night. He probably won us the game. To see his progression. He came here two years ago and was blown out, and now you see it. His next jump is to be full time in the American League. We’re pretty excited about his development.”

Former Stars goalie Ben Bishop is returning this season in a coaching role and has been working with the goalies in Traverse City. He said he likes what he sees from the stable of talent.

“It’s a good situation,” Bishop said. “We want them all to keep growing and push each other. Bryan was great at development camp. He’s a big guy and we want to see how he performs in this challenge.”

Likewise, Dallas will try to learn from the changes on defense. Playing with just five defensemen is challenging anyway, but even more so when the players are all new to one another.

“It’s a lot easier when you’re managing five D that you’ve coached all year and you know them,” Graham said. “These guys are just learning, and they haven’t played together before. When you’re constantly reading with your partner on breakouts and retrieval routes and you’re earning that trust, it goes a long way. It’s tough enough in a tournament when you’re with your same partner, but our guys hung in. I give a lot of credit to Ertel. He jumped in about a dozen shifts on the back end when we were getting really taxed. The last time he played D was in minor hockey and I asked him if he would give us a few shifts, and he said, `Absolutely’. That’s kind of what this tournament is about, guys stepping up.”

The Stars will practice on Saturday and check the status on Grushnikov and Bäck for a Sunday finale against Columbus. Bichsel is recovering from an ankle injury, so when he tweaked his knee, it was easy to sit him down.

“Bichsel hurt his knee, so we’re going to pull him out and make sure he’s ready for main camp,” Nill said before the game. “We thought he was okay, but then this morning he was pretty sore, so we backed off.”

Bichsel was the team’s first-round pick in 2022 and is expected to be a key part of the Texas Stars this season. The 6-5, 225-pound blueliner has plenty of time to get himself up and running. NHL camp starts on Thursday in Cedar Park.

“We’ll have to re-evaluate,” Graham said. “It’s about being smart for your team and for your players.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.

Photo credit: Dave Reginek