The Dallas Stars and new head coach Peter DeBoer have picked up right where they left off after the departure of former coach Rick Bowness, with the team sitting comfortably in playoff position atop the Central Division standings. A major reason for the Stars’ success this season, beyond the obvious storylines of Jason Robertson and Jake Oettinger, has been the play of number-one center Roope Hintz. Hintz, 26, has scored 19 goals and 44 points in just 39 games this season, and is on pace to have his third straight season scoring around the point-per-game mark.
Hintz is a player of such significant importance to the Stars’ success that were the team forced to play without him, they would be at a major disadvantage. That makes this news from today’s stars game notable. As reported by The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf, Hintz suffered an upper-body injury and is questionable to return to today’s game. While it’s possible that this is only a precautionary measure and Hintz’s injury is inconsequential, this overall situation will be one to monitor for Stars fans and hockey fans alike who have come to enjoy watching Hintz play on a regular basis.
Some other notes from across the hockey world:
- Buffalo Sabres goaltender Eric Comrie’s conditioning stint with the AHL’s Rochester Americans has ended, per Noted Hockey’s Joe Yerdon. Comrie had been in Rochester as part of his recovery process for the lower-body injury he suffered in November. Comrie signed a two-year, $1.8MM AAV deal with the Sabres in the offseason, and has had an up-and-down season, with a hot start and some games he’d like to have back. Overall, his numbers aren’t great (.887 save percentage through 11 games) but the Sabres as a whole seem to have turned a corner from their slow start to the season, so perhaps a healthy Comrie can benefit from the team’s overall improvement.
- Two top prospects in the Canadian Hockey League could be on the move. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that Olen Zellweger, a top defensive prospect of the Anaheim Ducks, is being traded to the Kamloops Blazers as part of a massive deal involving as many as four first-round picks in the WHL Bantam Draft headed back to Zellweger’s current team, the Everett Silvertips. Additionally, Hockey Unfiltered’s Ken Campbell reports rumblings that 2022 fourth-overall pick Shane Wright could be headed to the London Knights as part of a major trade. Neither deal has been officially announced, so it’s still possible that things shift, but at the moment it seems the destinations of two of the CHL’s biggest-name players have been settled.