Roope Hintz continues his ascent into a top-tier, game-breaking center

Name: Roope Hintz
Number: 24
Age:25
Birthplace:Tampere, Finland
Height/Weight:6-3, 210
2021-22 stats: 37 goals, 35 assists and 72 points in 80 games
Contract:One year remaining at a cap hit of $3.15 million. Actual salary is $4.45 million.

Performance evaluation

Hintz continued his assent into a top-level player as he posted almost a point a game and was a huge leader in two-way play. After getting placed on a line with Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson two years ago, Hintz has seen his offensive numbers increase significantly, and last season was just another step.
The top line had all of the pressure on a team that struggled to score, and they handled the expectations quite well. Hintz was among the team's puck possession leaders at 53.4% and took 214 shots on goal, fourth most on the team. He was among the faceoff leaders at 53%, and he was used quite a bit against the other team's best line.

Expectations for 2022-23

If you were to draw up a perfect player on paper, it might be Hintz. He's big (6-3, 210), strong and incredibly fast. Furthermore, he's smart, anticipates plays well and can be very good defensively when the challenge is presented.
Now, you do have to work around some details. He can get banged up, and while he often plays through his injuries, they definitely affect his play. He also likes to take very short shifts, so that can make it a challenge when a coach is trying to match lines. But those are small issues when you consider what Hintz does for this team.

The guess is the new coaching staff keeps the top line together and Hintz continues to progress with Pavelski and Robertson. It'll be interesting to see if that group's minutes go up as they each averaged 18 minutes a game last season. Top forwards are typically between 20 and 22 minutes per game.
Hintz is in the final year of his contract and should be due a big raise. While that's not the motivating factor, we've seen in the past that many players put up huge numbers in a contract year.
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.