Over this past season including this playoff, we’re seeing the emergence of Denis Gurianov for the Dallas Stars.
A forward who spent some time in the American Hockey League affiliate Texas Stars, and going back and forth to prove himself for the National Hockey League parent club. We could very well see a similar story with the team’s 2017 second-round pick. Jason Robertson has had success at all levels of hockey under the NHL.
Thus far his current stint with the Texas Stars is the biggest stage of his young career. Earlier in the year, Robertson was lighting up the score sheet for the Dallas affiliate.
Derek Neumeier with Defending Big D would note his success back in February.
“Which is why it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that, just halfway through his rookie season in the AHL, Robertson is steadily starting to become “the guy” on offense for the Texas Stars.”
“Robertson has 11 points over his past 10 contests, a scoring spurt that propelled him into the sole points lead on the team, with a total of 35 in 48 games. He’s also currently the only player on the roster with 20 goals, and one of only 11 guys in the entire AHL to hit that marker so far.”
Jason dominated the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in his time there as well. The OHL is a Canadian junior hockey league.
His stint with the league went really well, as noted by Matthew DeFranks in August of 2019.
“Jason was the OHL’s leading scorer last season playing for Kingston and Niagara and could compete for a roster spot during Stars training camp in September. It’s the goal he’s set and one that his father wants to be reached when the Stars visit the Kings twice this season.”
This is the kind of success all future NHL players want to have before getting on the world’s biggest stage.
During the Stars’ first-round series vs the Calgary Flames coach Rick Bowness was asked if Robertson could play. The coach chimed in.
“That’s a discussion pretty much every day,” Bowness said Saturday. “The kid hasn’t played since February, March, you start throwing him into these situations where he hasn’t had a game, that’s a tough call too. You’re taking someone out of the lineup. The roles, we’ve got the defensive guys, we’ve got the penalty killers, we’ve got the power play, guys.”
Bowness continued: “The power play has to do better. The power play was doing great, the power play is creating opportunities, the power play is just not scoring. Could Jason step in? That’s a big jump when you haven’t since February.”
So much like Denis Gurianov in recent times though Jason Robertson will wait his turn to get into the NHL. He is on the right track, and his time will come.
With at minimum a first-round series win, this year could bode well for Jason coming into a better team too. His future certainly looks bright in Dallas.
Featured Image: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
