As the Dallas Stars prepare to have their roster in compliance (cap and roster size) by tomorrow’s deadline, they’ve made several moves that indicate what the opening night roster could look like. Remi Elie appears to not have made the cut this season after playing in all but 10 games for the Dallas Stars last season. Throughout training camp and the preseason, Elie never really separated himself from others that were vying for bottom six forward roles. Combined with others making the coaching staff and front office take notice of them, Elie finds himself on the waiver list today. If he clears, he’s likely to be assigned to the Texas Stars in the AHL. It’s fairly likely he will clear waivers, as most teams have enough of their own guys to fill any bottom six forward roles that could be open as the season approaches. Justin Dowling and Joel Hanley were also placed on waivers, an expected move for the Stars. Dowling will be the veteran forward for the AHL team as in seasons past, and Hanley was never really expected to push for a roster spot in the NHL with the log jam of personnel in front of him on the Stars depth chart. He’ll add to the depth for the Texas Stars squad. These moves today indicate that Roope Hintz and Gemel Smith will make the NHL roster. Hintz really took advantage of the preseason to set himself apart from some of the other forwards competing for the bottom six in new head coach Jim Montgomery’s pacey, puck possession system. Some have wondered how both Hintz and Smith could make the final roster. Here’s the thing: teams don’t generally carry eight defensemen, something Dallas has done for seemingly ever (at least the last three seasons, so it checks out). That means that with a 23-man roster, two of which are goaltenders and seven of whom are blueliners, 14 forward spots are available. Martin Hanzal will start the season on the injured reserve list after undergoing spinal fusion surgery this offseason, and that move will allow both Hintz and Smith to be on the opening roster for Dallas. Once Hanzal returns, barring other injuries to the forward corps, that will be when difficult decisions will have to be made on who is sent through the waiver process. Luckily, that’s likely a can that gets kicked two-plus months down the road. The expected forward group for the Stars on opening night should look something like this: Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza - Valeri Nichushkin Blake Comeau - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick Gemel Smith - Roope Hintz/Jason Dickinson - Brett Ritchie/Devin Shore With Stephen Johns currently injured and not playing in preseason games or practicing for the past week, the right-handed defensive depth for the Stars has been put into a precarious position for opening night. Gavin Bayreuther has had a lot of looks in Johns’ absence, and he had a few tough shifts his last two games that led to goals against. Bayreuther was the likely candidate to fill in on Johns’ spot on the third pairing for opening night, but it seems that the Stars believe Bayreuther could use some more development time in the AHL. They announced they traded a conditional 7th round draft pick in 2019 for 24-year-old Connor Carrick from the Toronto Maple Leafs. (The conditional pick becomes a 6th rounder if Carrick plays in 50 or more NHL games this season.) Carrick was expected to be placed on waivers to be sent down to the AHL Toronto Marlies but was not on this morning’s list as the two teams worked out a deal. This move likely indicates that Johns will not be ready to play opening night, and that Roman Polak may not be the player Montgomery wants to fill in on that third pairing. The blueline could look something like this for the season: Esa Lindell - John Klingberg Marc Methot - Julius Honka Miro Heiskanen - Stephen Johns/Connor Carrick Roman Polak In order to put Carrick on the roster, Stephen Johns is likely to start out on the IR with Hanzal. We’ll likely know more tomorrow how long he’ll be out for, as the team is off today. If it’s a short-term injury, Dallas will have to make a decision on whether Carrick or Polak are placed on waivers to clear room for Johns’ return to the lineup sooner rather than later. As for goaltending, the Stars returned both Colton Point and Landon Bow to the AHL, indicating that the mild muscle strains Ben Bishop and Antoin Khudobin had at the end of the preseason are not going to keep either from starting the season. The roster is coming into focus. Opening night is three days away. Hockey season is really upon us.<doc-sep>After last night’s 3-1 loss at the hands of the St. Louis Blues the Dallas Stars, as was expected, made a series of roster moves to narrow their roster down in the lead-up to their season opener on October 4th. Stars beat writer Mark Stepneski shared the details this morning: Dallas Stars roster moves: Recalled G Colton Point from Texas (AHL) Assigned F Denis Gurianov to Texas (AHL) Also, the Stars have placed Erik Condra and Michael Mersch on waivers with the intent of assigning them to the AHL once they clear. — Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) September 29, 2018 The biggest news here is Denis Gurianov being sent down — but perhaps it shouldn’t be. The Stars’ 1st-round, 12th-overall selection in the 2015 NHL draft played very well in the preseason, but would have had to vault a lot of forwards ahead of him on the depth chart to make the opening night roster, including many guys who would have to pass through waivers to be assigned to the AHL. The good news is that Gurianov really needed to show himself well this preseason after being healthy scratched at times in the AHL playoffs this past spring, and by all means he achieved that. If he continues this strong play with the Texas Stars then he’ll likely be one of the top call-up options for Dallas if injuries hit during the year. With regards to the other moves, goaltender Colton Point getting called back up after being sent down earlier this week is a bit of a surprise. Either the Stars want to see Point one more time against NHL competition before committing to sending him down to the AHL, or both Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin need a little bit of maintenance before the regular season begins. Michael Mersch and Erik Condra showed some nice flashes in a few preseason appearances, but they were always expected to be AHLers this season. It’s highly unlikely that either player gets claimed on waivers. As for who is still with the team, perhaps the biggest surprise is forward Justin Dowling. The 27-year-old Dowling only has nine games of NHL experience and spent all of 2017-18 in the minors, but was a key player in helping Texas reach the Calder Cup Final and has impressed new Stars head coach Jim Montgomery this fall. He’ll likely end up going down to the AHL as well in the next few days, but lasting this long is a good showing for him. At this point, it seems like who gets the last forward spot on the team will likely come down to a decision between Gemel Smith, Roope Hintz and Remi Elie. Also still with the Stars are defensemen Gavin Bayreuther and Joel Hanley. Bayreuther spent last season in the organization with the Texas Stars, while Hanley is a well-rounded 27-year-old journeyman with 22 games of NHL experience. Stephen Johns is nursing an injury and might not be ready for the start of the season, so Dallas wants to do their homework and find out who they would prefer to have with the team as a replacement if need be. The Stars’ last 2018 preseason game is this Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche, a game that could be the deciding factor in the team’s last round of cuts.<doc-sep>DALLAS, TX - MARCH 23: Remi Elie #40 of the Dallas Stars skates against the Boston Bruins at the American Airlines Center on March 23, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Remi Elie The Dallas Stars lost one of their depth forwards today as Remi Elie is headed to the Buffalo Sabres after being claimed off waivers this morning ahead of the roster deadline. Elie was a second-round pick for the Dallas Stars in 2013. He was signed to a one-year contract extension this summer. He played 72 games last season with the Stars, spending almost the entire year up in the NHL. Elie also played 18 NHL games the season before. Last season, Elie had 6 goals and 14 points. He was averaging just over 10 minutes of ice time a game and playing mostly in the bottom six, though he moved up higher for a few of Ken Hitchcock’s more adventurous line combinations during the season. He played in just 4 regular-season AHL games last year, but he joined the Texas Stars on their playoff run that led them all the way to the Calder Cup Finals before losing to the Marlies in seven games. Elie was sent down on waivers to make room for Roope Hintz to join the line-up. The bottom six was up in the air for a while, with Gemel Smith and Jason Dickinson in the mix as well while Hintz was giving an outstanding performance. Two other players were put on waivers yesterday with Elie. Justin Dowling and Joel Hanley were some of the last skaters standing for a roster spot, but as expected, neither made the cut. Both of them cleared waivers today and will head down to the AHL. Jim Nill said yesterday that he felt Elie should be in the NHL, despite not making the Stars’ NHL roster. Nill said he hopes Elie gets claimed, "he deserves to be in the NHL." But if he doesn't get claimed, selfishly he's happy about having Elie on the AHL roster. — Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) October 1, 2018 With Elie gone and most of the last cuts made, the roster for Thursday is pretty clear at this point. The only question mark right now is around Stephen Johns and new acquisition Connor Carrick. Johns is battling an injury and Gavin Bayreuther was expected to fill in for him if he wasn’t ready to go by opening night. With the Stars trading for Carrick yesterday to avoid the risk of trying to get him on waivers, Bayreuther should be headed to the AHL shortly. Unlike Elie, Bayreuther is exempt from waivers. Elie was a good depth forward for the Stars, but with so many quality prospects in the pipeline, his departure isn’t an absolute shock. Both fans and Jim Nill himself felt it was a long-shot for him to clear waivers. Hopefully, he will have the best of luck in Buffalo. And, hey, maybe Stars fans will see him again in a 20th anniversary repeat of the 1999 Stanley Cup Final. Crazier things have happened, right?<doc-sep>
ST. PAUL, MN - SEPTEMBER 20: Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) shoots in the 3rd period during the preseason game between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild on September 20, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Stars defeated the Wild 3-1. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) It’s finally October and the Dallas Stars are almost out of time to finalize their opening night roster. This morning, the Dallas Stars put Remi Elie, Justin Dowling, and Joel Hanley on waivers, making a few more moves needed to cut down the roster. Assuming they clear, all three will head to the Texas Stars to start the season in the AHL. Elie spent the bulk of last season in the NHL, playing 72 games and even spending some time on the top line. His reassignment is a bit of a surprise, but the forward depth is overloaded right now. Of the three, he’s also most likely to be claimed off of waivers. Dowling didn’t spend any time with the Stars last year, but he did get in 9 NHL games in 2016-17. His cut was much more expected than Elie’s. Hanley is new to the organization after signing a one-year, two-way deal this summer. He’s got 22 NHL games in the past 3 years and was meant to be an AHL depth defenseman. While the three of them wait to see if they clear waivers before tomorrow’s deadline, a few interesting names remain on the roster ahead of opening night. Gemel Smith went through contract arbitration with the Stars this summer over a disagreement mostly about a one-way vs two-way contract, but the Stars are keeping him up either way, at least to start the season off. His play last year was good and he has the potential to be a helpful depth player when he’s not healthy scratched. However, the most notable player to make the roster is Roope Hintz. After a stellar 2017-18 season and an impressive showing in camp and preseason, Hintz more than earned his shot at the NHL. He’s still waiver exempt, so he’s easy to reassign to the AHL, but Nill and Montgomery elected to give him the chance he deserves. Hintz is the type of player who could absolutely be a long-term second-line center for the Stars, so it’s good to see the Stars recognize his potential and his performance. With Martin Hanzal starting the season injured and Jason Spezza working to put his difficulties from last year behind him, Hintz could even get a golden opportunity to show exactly what he can do on the second line. There’s just three days until opening night, but the final roster is due to the league tomorrow. With Connor Carrick in the mix now and a few lingering injury questions, it’s not finalized quite yet, but until then, fans will have to wait and see if anyone gets claimed from waivers.