'It's been a minute': Seguin excited to finally skate on home ice again

Stars (0-0-1, 1 point) at Panthers (2-0-0, 4 points)

"It's been a minute," Seguin said.
Seguin missed most of last season after surgery on his hip. He battled back to play in three games, and then worked hard all summer to get himself as close to 100 percent as he could. He's been flying in practice, and now the next step is to do that against an opponent.
"I'm feeling good, I don't really think about the injuries as much anymore, which is great," Seguin said. "After a few hard days at camp, I was laying on the couch, and I was like, `I don't feel anything anymore, I don't feel any pain.'

"I need more treatment than I have in the past, and the warm-up is longer, but I feel pretty good," he added.
Seguin is using acupuncture on off-days and needs to do quite a bit to get ready to play. He said there's probably no more pregame soccer for him. Still, he said he's been embracing the new routine and said going to the arena is just one more step in the process.
"I look forward to tinkering with it the first few games here," he said.
As for the game, he's slated to skate on a line with Alexander Radulov and Jacob Peterson, and said he just wants to get out there and let his game take over.
"Good habits, structure, getting details down and getting some kinks out," he said of his goals for the evening. "And then, probably having a little fun."

What to watch

Jake Oettinger will get the start in goal and is scheduled to play the entire game, Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. Dallas has four goalies in camp and might have to start with Ben Bishop on IR, Anton Khudobin and Jake Holtby in the NHL, and Oettinger in the minors. Still, the coaching staff would like to use the preseason schedule to get as much information as possible.
"All of our goalies from here on out will play full games," Bowness said. "It's a competitive position in this training camp, so we have to give them all a full game."

Bishop, who's out with a knee injury, hasn't been cleared for play, but there has been some talk of letting him play a preseason game just to test his progress. We'll see on that. Oettinger allowed one goal on 13 shots in 21:43 in a 2-1 overtime loss to St. Louis Monday in preseason play. He was 11-8-7 as a rookie last season with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
Because he's waiver exempt, he can freely go between the minors and the NHL, so that makes him the easiest choice to send to the AHL. However, he said he believes he can be in the opening night lineup, so the guess is he'll try to prove that in preseason.
"We all know Jake, he's a great kid and he's worked very, very hard," Bowness said when asked what he expects from Oettinger tonight. "Just make the saves you're supposed to make and give us a chance to win the hockey game like he's always done."

Lineup updates

After relying on younger players in the first preseason game Monday at St. Louis, the Stars will come back with a lot of veterans tonight.
Here was the lineup at morning skate:
Peterson-Seguin-Radulov
Raffl-Benn-Gurianov
Robertson-Johnston-Pavelski
Tufte-Dellandrea-Kiviranta
Suter-Klingberg
Harley-Sekera
Shea-Petrovic
Oettinger
Holtby
There's a lot to unpack there. Starting from the top, Peterson (who came over from Sweden and is expected to be in the AHL) is getting a good look with Seguin because the Stars haven't seen much from him. Kiviranta has skated with Seguin in practice, but Bowness said they know what Kiviranta can do.
The second line could be the Stars' third line during the regular season. Raffl, Benn and Gurianov have skated in most drills together and bring a two-way element that could allow the Stars to get a little more offense from the top nine forwards.
"We like the size and the speed," Bowness said. "There's been good chemistry in the practices and the scrimmages, and that's what we hope to see tonight. They look very good together, very comfortable together, so hopefully we'll see that in the exhibition games."
The third line is the team's top line from last season with Wyatt Johnston filling in for Roope Hintz, who still technically hasn't been cleared to play after offseason surgery.
This is a great opportunity for Johnston, 18, who was taken 23rd overall in the 2021 NHL Draft and signed his entry-level contract on Tuesday. That contract doesn't kick in until Johnston starts playing pro hockey, and the plan is to return him to the Windsor Spitfires, but this is a chance for him to make an impression and an opportunity for Stars fans to get a glimpse of what the organization might have.

The fourth line is actually pretty interesting, as well, as Riley Tufte has been really good so far in camp and could be one of the players who could makes the organization think about their final cut.
On defense, we'll see Ryan Suter and John Klingberg together for the first time. They're expected to be a pairing when the season starts. Meanwhile, Thomas Harley will get a chance to show what he can do beside a veteran like Andrej Sekera, who might be his partner if Harley plays in the NHL.

By the numbers

45

Jason Robertson had 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 51 games for the Stars last season and was the runner-up in voting for the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL's rookie of the year.

0.91

Joe Pavelski averaged 0.91 points per game (25 goals, 26 assists for 51 points in 56 games) at age 36 last season. His career average is 0.77.

33

Peterson had 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) and was plus-17 in 46 games last season with Farjestads BK Karlstad in the Swedish Hockey League.

He said it

"We need some exhibition games just to get the feel, so it'll be good for (Seguin) to be back in here. Even guys who are new here, (Michael) Raffl, (Braden) Holtby, coming into today to the morning skate and just getting into the routine of this rink, the travel, the time it takes getting to the rink, the locker room, all of the little habits - it's important that they get into that routine early. That's the biggest reason why Holtby is backing up, just to get him into that routine of coming down at 4:30 or 5 o'clock, so all of those little routines are important." -- Stars coach Rick Bowness
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.