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Welcome to DLLS Dallas Stars weekly! Every Monday, I recap news, rumors, notes, shows, and articles from the previous week.
Let’s get into it.
Who’s the new guy??
Yes, the Dallas Stars added a new player last week.
New to the squad is forward Nathan Bastian.
Bastian signed with Dallas on a one-year, $775,000 league-minimum contract on Saturday. The 6-foot-4 depth forward spent the past four seasons with the New Jersey Devils. He was originally a fourth-round pick of the Devils and played two seasons in NJ before a quick 12-game stint in Seattle (drafted in expansion) and a subsequent waiver pickup that sent him back to Newark.
The 27-year-old has 33 goals and 68 points in 276 career games.
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“Nathan will add forward depth and a physical presence to our lineup, both of which will be valuable to our organization,” Stars general manager Jim Nill in a statement. “We’re looking forward to watching him take the next step of his career with the Stars and are excited to welcome him to Dallas.”
Nill summed this one up pretty nicely in his statement. Bastian is not the solution up the lineup. He is a bottom-six forward with plenty of physicality — his 138 hits last season would rank second behind only Lian Bichsel in Dallas — and some penalty-killing abilities. There’s not much more to it than that.
Bastian missed some time last season with a broken jaw, but was also a healthy scratch late in the season after the Devils added at the deadline. He finished with 59 games played — one away from his career high — but played all five games against the Carolina Hurricanes in round one of the playoffs.
“I think I started really well, and then when I broke my jaw, obviously, set me back a little bit,” Bastian said at Devils exit interviews. “Missing time’s hard enough, and I think coming back was a little bit of a struggle for me. I was consistently playing for the most part all year, and then we got a few extra bodies at the deadline. When that happens, some guys get opportunity in different situations for good reason, and there was nights near the end where I wasn’t playing. In my position, in my role, that’s just part of the gig. When I was going through that, I just kept telling myself that as long as I get to play in the playoff games, then that’s the main thing. And that’s how it worked out for me.”
Overall strength and commitment to my role and what I can provide,” he said about what he wanted to work on this summer. “As you get older, maybe it’s less of putting on weight, but more maintaining it. I don’t know how much faster you’re going to get once you’re almost 30, but you just keep pushing forward and pushing through it.”
Side note: Bastian should have some good bonding with Miro Heiskanen, both of whom have taken a violent, very illegal hit from Matt Rempe that resulted in his ejection from the game. Bastian also wore a bubble last season, so he’s already a great fit in the Dallas dressing room.
Dallas still has a “hole” in their top-six, especially on the left side… unless they decide to do something a bit different — more on that this week at DLLS.
What this move does mean is that top prospects Justin Hryckowian and Arttu Hyry will have a steeper hill to climb to crack the NHL roster out of camp. The Stars now have 13 NHL forwards under contract. For either of these two to make the team, they will need to truly be better than the other options — particularly, Oskar Bäck. That is going to be tough to do.
However, while this signing does push their NHL chances back a bit, there will still be plenty of opportunities as the season progresses and inevitable injuries occur.
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Big Ben takes a break
Robert Tiffin was the first to notice this, pointing out that former Stars goalie and player development coordinator, Ben Bishop, was no longer listed on the Stars staff page.
According to a team source, Bishop opted to take a step back during this upcoming season. The bishop’s three boys are young, and I was told he wants to prioritize them and his wife right now. A valiant decision.
The BEST from DLLS
So much has happened on the DLLS Stars show lately, so I wanted to include my favorite moments in this section.
First, a great conversation with Stone Cold Steve Austin — I mean, Ted Ramey — on Joe Pavelski’s future, and whether or not it would be in Dallas or San Jose.
Next, the great Alison Lukan discussed why Mason Marchment is the perfect fit in Seattle. More importantly, why he is a great fit when he is on your team, and a miserable one when on the other side of the ice.
Alison also gave us an awesome outlook on the current state of the Stars and what needs to happen for them to put the pieces together and get over the hump.
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The DLLS crew took some time to discuss the news of Heiskanen feeling 100% following knee surgery and recovery, according to this article at NHL.com. We dove into his recovery, playoff performance, the prospect of the 2026 Olympics, and plenty more.
Finally, Jody Shelley joined the show at the precise time he was being attacked by sprinklers, and Coach Craig Ludwig broke down an area Dallas has to get better in 2025-26.
Fun week ahead at DLLS… as we continue “The Other 31” on the show and I dive deep into articles on lineup options, tactics, and some great conversations with Wyatt Johnston, Jake Oettinger, Mavrik Bourque, and more.
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