Player Profile: Thomas Harley

Thomas Harley

Position: Defense

Height: 6-3

Weight: 205

Age: 21

Shoots: Left

Salary:Final year of entry level deal at $863,333

Did You Know: Harley was born in Syracuse, NY, but plays for Team Canada in international competitions. He has dual citizenship via his parents.

Last Season:Harley has had a unique climb to the NHL. Covid shut down the OHL in 2020, which allowed Harley to jump immediately to pro hockey. He joined the Stars in the Edmonton playoff bubble and learned a ton in the two months he was there as a reserve. He even played in one playoff game. That training allowed him to play in the AHL the next season where he logged 34 games (8 goals, 17 assists, 25 points). Harley split time in 2021-22 between the AHL and NHL, logging 27 games (0 goals, 11 assists, 11 points) in the minors and 38 games (1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points) in the NHL with Dallas. He was all set to be a part of the NHL roster last season when the Stars made a preseason trade for Nils Lundkvist, forcing Harley to the AHL, where he stayed for most of the season. Harley said it was the best thing for him, as he settled in, focused on his development, and tallied 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 66 games. Harley not only played in all situations, he had the time to work on getting stronger, and he did just that. He was called up for the final six games of the regular season and then played 19 playoff games. He finished second among defensemen in playoff scoring with 9 points (1 goal, 8 assists), despite being fifth in time on ice for defensemen at 16:10.

Looking Forward: Harley was so impressive in the playoffs last season that there is a chance he will be in the top three in time on ice this season. He is big and strong, but also very skilled. He exuded an air of maturity and sure looks like he could be scaled up in minutes this season. The key will be how the coaching staff views the D pairs. Miro Heiskanen averaged 25:29 during the regular season in time on ice, so that's a lock, but everything else could change. Dallas potentially has two right-handed defensemen in Jani Hakanpää and Lundkvist, so the left-handed Heiskanen will likely play the right side. While Ryan Suter has spent a lot of time to the left of Heiskanen, there's no reason Harley couldn't be considered for the same position. If you want to leave Hakanpää and Esa Lindell together, you could do that and play Suter with Lundkvist. If you want to split Lindell and Hakanpää, you could still let Harley get a lot of ice time with Heiskanen. It will be an interesting experiment, and history says that playing top pairing minutes at age 21 is a significant challenge, so there could be changes throughout the year. But Harley proved last season that he was able to play in high-pressure situations. We'll see if he takes an even bigger step this year.

He Said It:"His feet and his skating and his length give him a real advantage at this level. He's an elite skater but the physicality part of it, you're always interested in seeing how a young defenseman handles it. But he took as much [physical play] as anyone on our team and he didn't back up.There was no hesitation in his game. It was really impressive how he handled that."

• Stars coach Pete DeBoer on how Harley handled the playoffs

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.