Heiskanen, Seguin set for exhibition debuts for Stars against Wild

Preseason: Stars vs. Wild

FRISCO, Texas --Fans at American Airlines Center on Thursday will get their first glimpses of Miro Heiskanen and Tyler Seguin in the preseason and also could see Anton Khudobin play a full game.
And all of that could be very important this year.
Heiskanen is the team's time-on-ice leader and best defenseman, and he is going to have an increased role this year after John Klingberg left for Anaheim in free agency. Seguin is the team's highest-paid player and is looking to have a bounce-back season after a couple of years dealing with injuries. And Khudobin is a veteran goalie on the final year of a contract that pays him $3.3 million, and who might need to be traded. The better he plays in preseason, the better it is for both he and the Stars.
"We'll play two periods and we'll see," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said, but added that he thinks it's realistic for the veteran to play the entire game.
As for Heiskanen, he will be front and center as he always is for this team. The 23-year-old who was taken third overall in 2017, has played 275 NHL regular season games, and 47 more in the playoffs. He is among the team's leading scorers, and he will be a key to DeBoer and the coaching staff implementing a system that will ask for a defenseman to join the play, as well as work hard to get the puck quickly out of the defensive zone.
"I think he's probably licking his chops," Seguin said when asked about Heiskanen stepping into a more aggressive system.
Heiskanen said typically just plays his game, but understands the new coaching staff will mean a new way for the entire team to play.

"It's a lot different," Hesikanen said. "It's more active. The biggest difference is playing more with the puck, be active, play fast. I really like that."
One of the biggest chances will be that Heiskanen is expected to run the No. 1 power play from the point. He was on the second unit last season and often worked off the half wall, but there is a feeling he can be a prototypical power-play quarterback.
"I'm excited about Miro and his opportunity to be a No. 1 power-play guy," DeBoer said.
Asked what Hesikanen has that could make him succeed, DeBoer said: "Vision, passing, feat, he's got all of the tools. For him, it's going to be being a little more selfish and taking the shot when it's there instead of just being a distributor from the top. The best power-play guys in the world have both of those elements and he has the capability of that, and we've talked about that."
He's slated to play on his natural left side and slot in with newcomer Nils Lundkvist tonight, and that also could be a chance we see during the regular season. It certainly makes the game a little more than just your average preseason affair.
Also important will be the play of Seguin. He missed almost all of 2020-21 because of surgery and then changed his game last season as he tried to get back to full strength. That resulted in 49 points (25 goals, 24 assists) in 81 games, which was disappointing for Seguin.
"I'm looking forward to this year," Seguin said. "I feel great."

Stars projected lineup

Wyatt Johnston - Roope Hintz - Denis Gurianov
Jacob Peterson - Tyler Seguin - Ty Dellandrea
Jamie Benn - Mavrik Bourque - Joe Pavelski
Matej Blumel - Radek Faksa - Logan Stankoven
Miro Heiskanen - Nils Lundkvist
Thomas Harley - Jani Hakanpää
Jerad Rosburg - Ben Gleason
Anton Khudobin
Adam Scheel
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.