Lian Bichsel isn’t available and now he’s really getting his chance

I spoke with Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill on Saturday afternoon, discussing some of the various elements surrounding the Stars trade for Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci.

Nill was pretty open about a couple things, he went over how important it was for the Stars to get ahead of the defensive trade market, especially with so many teams still in the Eastern Conference playoff race — there are way more buyers than sellers at the moment.

Nill also told me pretty bluntly that his trio of young NHL roster players — Mavrik Bourque, Lian Bichsel, and Logan Stankoven — aren’t available.

This feels particularly notable, especially as the entire DFW sports landscape was reminded late last night that, in sports, anyone can be traded.

For that trio it’s a public vote of confidence from Nill, and a even with the Ceci trade, it feels like Bichsel officially has the runway to win that full-time NHL job while Miro Heiskanen is out with injury.

Before Heiskanen’s injury Bichsel had been averaging 13:57 per game, against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, his usage was upped to 19:06, closer to his typically role he’s played in the AHL with the Texas Stars.

Bichsel, in my view, is NHL ready and should be ramped up to playing closer to 2o minutes on the Stars blue line come playoff time. Yes, he’s still raw, but in my view this would be the Stars optimal playoff defense.

Ideally that’s on a third pair with Ceci, but I envision a world where Bichsel could also be a top-four option by mid April.

I asked some NHL scouts their view on my ideology and what would need to happen for this to become a reality.

“He’s ready in my view, now I’ve also watched his game a lot with Texas,” one scout said. “He’s got a bit of that ‘F you’ attitude about his game, and I think those players, with that healthy ego, can move up quicker to bigger minutes without being overwhelmed.”

Another scout was a little bit more cautious, almost for the same reasons.

“He’s a wildcard in his game, raw and unrefined, but violent,” the other scout said. “I think his entire career is going to be determined by figuring out that line, and I think he’ll do it, but I don’t know if it won’t take some humbling first in the NHL.”

It’s a bit of the classic conundrum for young players, you can learn the league, but at the same time the league is also learning you.

For Bichsel this really helps define what the remainder of his season will look like. The Stars have proven historically that young defenders can win vital jobs in the postseason, just look at Thomas Harley, and Nill has made it clear that Bichsel is going to get that chance and build toward an even better long-term future.