"We're giving Thomas a chance to work with a veteran," Bowness said. "Thomas is here to make the hockey club. He's got to take advantage of the fact that Feds (Taylor Fedun) is out, Pysyk's out, Miro's out, (Oleksiak's) out. He's going to get a good look. If you want to give him a good look, put him with a veteran and see how it looks.
"He's here to make the team. You've got to give him a good, experienced partner to see how close he is to being ready to help our team."
Likewise, 21-year-old winger Jason Robertson was on a line with veterans Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov Saturday. Joel Kiviranta started training camp on that line, but has been out in recent days, so this gives Kiviranta a chance to gain his legs and Robertson a chance to show what he can do with high-end talent.
"I wanted to see what Robertson looked like with Pavelski and Radulov," Bowness said. "Kivi looked great there before he got sick and probably will end up there, but, again, give Kivi a couple of days to find his legs. In the meantime, you take the time to take a different look at different guys with different partners or different linemates."
As it is now, if the Stars had to play with this lineup, they'd be pretty confident. They have most of the top nine forwards intact and have their top two goalies. So, if you want look at the optimistic side, this isn't the worst thing in the world. Khudobin, who was delayed by immigration issues, now is in the flow. Harley, who was delayed by playing in the World Junior Championship, really is getting a legitimate chance to prove he could be in the lineup on opening night.
Realistically, it's going to be tough to squeeze four games into an already tight schedule for the Stars, so there are going to be issues of fatigue and depth down the road. Still, if you were concerned about a slow start, the current setup does give Dallas the chance to work its way up to speed before Friday.
