Welcome to DLLS Dallas Stars weekly! Every Monday, I recap news, rumors, notes, and articles from the previous week.

Let’s get into it.

Making things exclusive

Over the past week, I got to conduct a lot of exclusive interviews. Two of those articles are already available!

First up was Jake Oettinger, who discussed moving on from the end-of-season drama with Pete DeBoer and finding ways to play his best when the team gets deeper into the playoffs.

Oettinger has a lot to play for this year. Not only is he trying to improve his regular-season numbers and find a way to lock in more late into May, but he is also working toward a spot on Team USA’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics. And you better believe that the starting job is on his mind and in his sights.

There is just one Vezina & Hart-Trophy winning Connor Hellebuyck standing in his way.

As you can see… those two are among the best in the game.

Oettinger’s quote about his friend Mason Marchment being traded made the rounds, and it tugged at my heartstrings a bit too, I won’t lie.

The second interview was with forward Mavrik Bourque.

Bourque signed a one-year contract with Dallas this summer. He has a great opportunity in front of him under new coach Glen Gulutzan and is motivated to prove that he has far more to give at the NHL level. Oh, and he is joining us on the show today (Monday) at 2 pm!

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Dare I say it? Joe Pavelski.

Yes, Joe Pavelski has once again made it into our minds, show, and articles. But this time, it wasn’t just because we brought him up in some way that Dallas misses his presence. This time, it was in celebration of a tremendous honor.

On Wednesday, Pavelski was named an inductee to the USA Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2025!

He, along with Bruce Bennett, Scott Gomez, Tara Mounsey, and Zach Parise, will be inducted this winter in Minnesota.

Speaking of Parise, our Sean Shapiro wrote an article about this induction, including a couple of great quotes from Parise. Like this one:

“I played a lot against Joe, some playoff series, and I think you respected his two way game, but you just felt like he was always going to score a big goal,” Parise said. “You just had that feeling that if that thing was going overtime, or that thing was going late, tied, if he had that puck on a stick, like it was going in. So, you know, you’re always aware of where he was on the ice, but I just think he was a really well respected player.”

Some Stars are among the best

Jason Robertson’s name has been thrown around ALL SUMMER… and not just in Dallas.

But among the trade rumors and contract drama, I would like to talk about something positive: his skill.

Last week, Robertson was listed as No. 49 on NHL Network’s “Top 50 Players Right Now” list. We shall see which other Dallas players make the list, which is currently at No. 41 as I write this.

Robertson, along with Mikko Rantanen (of course), was also included on the “Top 20 Wingers Right Now” list… So, why is his name in trade rumors again?

Some other Stars made the cut as well…

Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley BOTH ranked among the “Top 20 Defensemen Right Now,” with Harley coming in at No. 14 and Heiskanen, very fittingly, at No. 4.

And last but not least, Roope Hintz ranked 17th on the “Top 20 Centers Right Now.” They even went with “Hip, Hip, Roope” to celebrate him. Well done.

Quite the week of shows & what’s ahead

We had some pretty awesome shows last week.

Not only did we have awesome guests for our Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres days on “The Other 31,” but we were the first to introduce new Stars forward Nathan Bastian to the fan base.

Bastian was great and told some really wild stories about his broken jaw and when he was drafted by Seattle in expansion.

Then on Friday, Luds, Owen, and I sat down with St. Louis Blues president of hockey ops/general manager & Hockey Canada GM for the Olympics, Doug Armstrong. Boy, was that ever fun.

Doug talked about Harley’s wild experience at the 4 Nations tournament, the Olympics (including a surprise about the ice surface), relocating from Minnesota to Dallas, and plenty more. You have to check this one out if you missed it.

This week on DLLS Stars:

• Monday at 2 pm – Stars forward Mavrik Bourque
• Tuesday at 2 pm – Former Stars forward and current Minnesota Wild & USA Hockey GM Bill Guerin
• Wednesday at 1 pm – Dave Mishkin, radio play-by-play voice of the Tampa Bay Lightning
• Friday at 1 pm – Sean Shapiro live in studio with the boys ahead of the Stars and Red Wings prospect games over the weekend