Fraser Gets His NHL Chance Among Multiple Roster Moves

Matt Fraser after scoring his first AHL goal in 2011. (Credit: Texas Stars)
The Dallas Stars announced today that they have recalled forward Matt Fraser and defenseman Jordie Benn from the Texas Stars. At the same time, Dallas has assigned Tomas Vincour and Tom Wandell to Texas. In a separate, unrelated move, Texas recalled Jace Coyle from the Idaho Steelheads earlier today.

With the injury to Trevor Daley in last night's game, a defense recall was imminent. The only question was whom. Jordie Benn gets the call here. To me, it's a coin flip between Oleksiak and Benn. Both have made some mistakes in their NHL games this season. However, the Stars would probably like to keep the 6'7" rookie in the minors getting massively important minutes than put him on the third pairing in Dallas.

The big news in this callup, I think, is Matt Fraser's callup. This is his chance to blow away the Dallas organization with his skill and show them how much his game has matured this season. It's not something that we've mentioned a lot in this space, and that's my mistake. After getting much criticism for his defensive game last year, he's #1 among Stars forwards in plus-minus this year at plus-12. He has 24 goals and 12 of them are on the power play. Just let that sink in for a second. The team's leading scorer is plus-12 just a season removed from being minus-13 and hasn't let that defensive shift change his offensive game. That's maturity.

For the record, this isn't Fraser's first NHL stint. However, he played single digit minutes in his one and only game.

Finally, Tomas Vincour returns to Cedar Park as his yo-yo ride continues. He was steadily in the lineup but apparently did not show enough to stick around. New to Stars fans is Tom Wandell. Wandell fits very much into the always a healthy scratch category. It just so happens that Dallas has enough going for it in the youth movement (in terms of able bodies) to make Wandell an AHL player, at least for a two week conditioning stint.

Additionally, earlier today Jace Coyle was recalled from the Idaho Steelheads after having 5-5-10 in the month of February. His recall comes as Texas lost Tyler Sloan and Patrik Nemeth to injury this weekend. At this time, nothing further is known on the condition of either defenseman or Travis Morin and Alex Chiasson, also injured.

Comments

  1. Excellent opportunity for Matt. Sad to lose that offensive prowess in Austin, but he deserves another look up top. If Vincour plays at his best like he has (briefly) before, he could make up for some of the hole Fraser leaves behind.

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    1. Thats true, and also Wandell is a true box of chocolates. He has at times shown well in Dallas, and may do well here. We will just have to wait and see.

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  2. Just saw this in the Dallas press release, by the way (emphasis mine):

    Fraser, 22, is tied for third in the AHL with 24 total goals, and leads the league with **13** power play goals.

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