FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson is week to week with a lower-body injury after getting knocked out of the regular-season finale by Nashville’s Michael McCarron on Wednesday.
The Stars’ hallmark for years now has been their depth, with a wealth of talent up front and on the back end. That depth will face perhaps its greatest test yet in a first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche, as they’ll be without their top left winger in Robertson and their No. 1 defenseman in Miro Heiskanen, who’s still working his way back from knee surgery he had in late January.
At Friday’s practice, Mikael Granlund and Evgenii Dadonov skated with No. 1 center Roope Hintz. Matt Duchene centered Mason Marchment and Tyler Seguin on the second line, and Wyatt Johnston centered Jamie Benn and Mikko Rantanen on a third line that’s a third line in name only.
With Seguin back from December hip surgery and Rantanen and Granlund acquired via trade, Stars coach Pete DeBoer believed his team was better equipped to handle Robertson’s injury than they would have been a year ago. Robertson had 35 goals and 45 assists in 82 games, second in points only to Duchene’s 82.
“Robo sticks the puck in the net, creates offense for us,” DeBoer said. “We have more creativity in our depth than maybe last year. Last year we had maybe more heaviness, specialty, faceoffs, PK — I’m thinking of (Radek) Faksa and guys like that. This year, I think we have more scoring depth; we have Dadonov with 20 goals on the third or fourth line. There’s no good injuries to the right guys, but if you’re talking about an injury to a key, key player, we’re probably better able to absorb that in that position than probably some others.”
DeBoer didn’t dismiss the idea that Robertson could return during the series, but it seems like a long shot. The Stars had the fifth-best record in the league, but thanks to the NHL’s divisional format, they drew a fellow Stanley Cup contender in the Avalanche in the first round. So there’s no cakewalk to buy Robertson’s time.
Defenseman Thomas Harley said it’s a next-man-up mentality in Dallas.
“We’ve got great players in the lineup,” said Harley, who has filled Heiskanen’s role for nearly three months.. “It just means one of the guys gets to step up and play more minutes than they’re used to, and show the world what they can do.”
Seguin, who returned for the season finale in Nashville and picked up an assist, echoed that idea.
“Our team’s been good all year, and the last few years, with our depth,” he said. “That’s what the playoffs is about. It’s about different guys stepping up at different times, and whoever’s in the lineup making a difference. You need 25-30 players, maybe even more, when you go on deep runs. It takes a couple months and everyone’s going to be ready.”
(Photo: Robert Edwards / Imagn Images)