REPORT: FEUD in Dallas Stars locker room has TRADE talks brewing

PUBLICATION

Ryan
October 26, 2022 (12:43)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Dallas Stars are an interesting team, they are have a wide age range of talent, which is what every team dreams of having. They could ice a line of young players to score in Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson, or put out some veterans in Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn.

Not the mention the back end that features one of the best young defenders in the game in Miro Heiskanen and one of the best two-way defenders in the league for the last decade in Ryan Suter.

Follow this up with a goaltender who really proved himself in the playoffs last year in 23-year-old Jake Oettinger, who has started this year off with a .953 save percentage and this is one good lineup.

One player who has been having some issues though is 2015 12th overall pick Denis Gurianov. The now 25 year old really had a coming out party in the COVID shortened season in 2019-20 when he scored 20 goals, but then followed it up with 9 goals and 17 points in the Stars bubble stanley cup run.

Unfortunately though, Gurianov keeps finding himself on the bad side of his coaches. He has now had 3 coaches who often make him a healthy scratch or play him on the third or fourth lines.

New head coach Pete Deboer had this to say about healthy scratching Gurianov:

Obviously things have not been working out for this Russian born player in Dallas, but NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman believes a trade may not have happened yet as the Stars are worried that he could end up being Nichushkin 2.0.

Marek and Friedman talk about Denis Gurianov being a healthy scratch. Friedman brings up that it can't be the coach anymore, this is the third coach he's been under. Marek wonders if the Stars have Nichushkin in the back of their minds, they cannot let this be Nichushkin 2.0.� NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) October 25, 2022

The Dallas Stars drafted Valeri Nichushkin 10th overall back in 2013, and after a few seasons of inconsistent play, he went back to Russia for 2 years. He then returned to Dallas in the 2018-19 season, where he played 57 games and didn't register a single goal.

He left the Stars that offseason and joined the Colorado Avalanche. He was not an instant success in Colorado but last season he really emerged as an elite player and played a huge role in the Stanley Cup run, scoring some huge timely goals. Now to start this season Nichushkin has 7 goals and 12 points in 7 games.

While Gurianov may not be working well in Dallas right now, they would hate to see the same thing happen with him, going to a new team and finding huge success.