Dallas Stars Recall Stephen Johns

(Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars)

You could have seen it coming a mile away. The Dallas Stars recalled Stephen Johns today after suffering another key loss on the blue line last night. Jason Demers, injured last night, and John Klingberg are both out of the lineup and necessitated the callup.

Johns, who was the big get in last summer's trade for Patrick Sharp according to many, could make his NHL debut against the club that drafted him, the Chicago Blackhawks, on Friday.

Here's the release:

The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, announced Wednesday defenseman Stephen Johns has been recalled to the NHL.

Johns, 23, is on his first career NHL call-up after appearing in 55 games this season for Texas with 24 points (4-20=24). The 6-foot-3, 215-pound native of Wampum, Pennsylvania was acquired by Dallas over the summer from the Chicago Blackhawks along with Patrick Sharp.

Johns was a second-round pick (60th overall) of Chicago in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.