Matěj Blümel’s Defense Is His New Calling Card in Pursuit of NHL Career

Even with league-leading point totals, the forward’s play keeping the puck out of the net is what will put him in the show

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

Last week, Texas’ top scorer, Matěj Blümel, earned Player of the Week honors from the AHL thanks to his 3-6=9 in four games. While his offensive numbers have been staggering, it is his defensive progress that will allow him to make the jump to the NHL. 

Let’s start with his offense; Blümel began this season averaging just under a point per game. Projecting this out to the end of the year would have him finishing very similarly to his 2023-24 season's point totals of 31-31=62. However, since January first, Blümel has 11-13=24 in just 18 games, blowing out his average points per game from the beginning of this season. 

This may just be the beginning of a productive playoff push for Blümel. He was recently added to Texas’ top line, including rookie center Justin Hryckowian and veteran winger Curtis McKenzie. The trio racked up 20 points in their first four games together. 

“There’s a little bit of everything,” head coach Neil Graham said when asked about the newly formed top line after a recent game. “They all work well below the goal line, they all can make plays through the neutral zone, and frankly, there’s a little bit of different dynamics, both offensively and defensively, that round each other out.”

In a season where line scrambling has been the norm, if this top line sticks and continues producing at a similar pace (which the trio did not do on their recent road trip), Blümel will not only break his point record, but he could also have a shot at being the highest point producer in the entire AHL. 

While earning the John B. Sollenberger Trophy (awarded to the player with the most points in the AHL) would undoubtedly be a great honor, everyone in the AHL, including Blümel, has the bigger dream of earning their way to the NHL. With that goal in mind, Blümel is making changes in his play style that would elevate him to the top league in the world, albeit in a different role.

Blümel in just his second game as a Star from October 2022. He scored a pair that night.
(Credit: Ross Bonander/Texas Stars)

Part of that different role will be on the penalty kill. According to InStat, Blümel is averaging 1:54 PK time on ice per game, third-most on the team, compared to just 52 seconds per game last season, eighth-most on the team. This is a rarity among the league’s top scorers because coaches would rather deploy those players in situations where they are more likely to score, such as the power play or for an offensive zone faceoff. 

Blümel’s increased PK time, stricter dedication to backchecking and overall defensive reliability have been his most significant improvements this season. These are the skills that are necessary for Blümel to claim a bottom-six forward role in the NHL. 

The offensive potential that Blümel brings to the lineup is a big plus that most prospective NHL fourth-liners typically do not bring. According to his history, that production will only improve. In his first season with the Texas Stars in 2022-23, he scored 44 points in 58 games. Last year, he improved on that by scoring 62 points in 72 games. This year, Blümel is on pace to score a blistering 71 points in 67 games. 

Recently, NHL teams have been looking for fourth-line centers who can chip in on offense while still maintaining staunch defending. For example, the Dallas Stars’ fourth-line center Sam Steel signed a two-year $4.2 million contract to fulfill precisely those two criteria. Blümel’s most likely path to the NHL will be finding the correct balance between his defense and offense. 

This shift from pure offensive talent to disciplined two-way play has been achieved before. A great example is Radek Faksa, a Texas and Dallas Stars alumnus and current St. Louis Blue. During Faksa’s final season with Texas in 2015-16, he produced close to a point-per-game pace. 

When he was called up to Dallas in the middle of that season, Faksa struggled to translate his AHL production to the NHL. In his rookie year, he scored only 12 points in 45 NHL games. Since then, Faksa has transitioned his play style and has become known as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL. Blümel doesn’t need to take his defensive game quite that far to be a successful NHL player, but it does need to be one of his strengths. 

Blümel in March 2023 (Credit: Ross Bonander/Texas Stars)

All that aside, the primary obstacle in Blümel’s way right now actually has nothing to do with him. It is Dallas’ top-tier forward depth. Especially with the addition of Mikko Rantanen at the trade deadline, Dallas simply does not have the room on the roster to give an aspiring forward like Blümel an honest chance. 

With that in mind, Blümel will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. Texas’ top scorer may test the free agency market to see if any teams are willing to give him a full-time NHL roster spot. If he is willing to make the trade off, he could easily find himself playing regular NHL minutes for a non-contender. He could even return to European professional hockey, where he would be one of the better players in whatever league he chooses. 

Although the young Czech’s future is uncertain, his recent focus on defense while maintaining his offensive production shows that he is doing everything he can to reach his goal of playing in the NHL.