ESPN

More Dallas Stars players are coming into town and are skating at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter in Frisco. The number is in double figures now.

Trevor Daley, Brian Sutherby and Luke Gazdic are the latest players to join the morning skates that already include Brenden Morrow, Stephane Robidas, Mike Ribeiro, Kari Lehtonen, Matt Niskanen, Toby Petersen, Karlis Skrastins and Trevor Ludwig.

“There’s excitement to get going. It’s been a long summer,” said Daley. “Because we were done so early and I was up in Canada, I had no choice but to watch the playoffs and hear about it every day. That got me real hungry to get back going again. I’m anxious to get started."

Loui Eriksson, Fabian Brunnstrom and Philip Larsen just arrived after a long overseas flight, and were out in Frisco today. None of those players skated today, but he could be out there tomorrow. Brunnstrom did some off-ice work.

Here’s some video of the players on the ice today.

The Dallas Stars have made a roster change for the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, which runs Sept. 11-15. Defenseman Hubert Labrie, who injured a knee at his junior team's training camp, has been taken off the roster.

Added to the roster is forward Cole Grbavac, a gritty, physical right wing who is currently with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League. Grbavac played under Stars associate coach Willie Desjardins last season. Grbavac's career WHL stats are here.

As for Labrie, he has been in Frisco the past few days getting checked out by the team's medical staff.

Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen readily admits his performance last season was disappointing. And he’s taken it as a wakeup call and said it was gut check time.

Last season the 23-year-old saw his point production drop to 15 points, he had a team-worst minus-15 rating and he ended up being a healthy scratch six times.

That followed a rookie season in 2007-08 when he registered 26 points and finished second on the team with a plus-22 rating, and a 2008-09 campaign when he led all Dallas defensemen in scoring with 35 points.

“I was pretty happy with my first two years. I certainly had some spots where I wasn’t that good. But last year, as a whole, I was pretty disappointed with my own play and where the team went as well,” Niskanen said. “It was kind of gut check time for me this summer and coming into camp this year I’ve got to re-establish myself as a better defenseman within the group and in the league.”

Niskanen, a restricted free agent who is still waiting to work out a contract with the Stars, arrived back in the Dallas area this week and is skating with some of his teammates at the Stars’ practice facility in Frisco.

With the Stars missing the playoffs for the second straight season it was a long summer for Niskanen, and he took advantage of it. It’s the first time he’s had an extended offseason since he became an NHL player. He had a short offseason after his rookie year because the Stars went on a deep playoff run. The Stars missed the playoffs in 2008-09, but Niskanen’s season continued well into May because he went to Switzerland and played for Team USA at the World Championship.

There was no extended play for Niskanen this spring and that meant some extra time to workout under the guidance of Stars strength and conditioning coach J.J. McQueen.

“This was a good opportunity for me to get a full summer of work in the gym and focus on some things that I needed to work on,” Niskanen said. “I worked closely with J.J. and had a full summer, a full commitment in the gym. I think that should be a help.”

And what was the goal of that extra time in the gym?

“I wanted to add lean muscle and be in better shape,” Niskanen said. “I worked closely with J.J. and things went well. I am hoping I can translate that into gains on the ice.”

That’s what the Stars are hoping. Coach Marc Crawford said earlier this summer that getting Niskanen back on track is a priority.

“We’ve really put a plan in place for Matt so that he will make the improvements that will allow him to be a little bit more assertive, allow him to be a little bit more aggressive in his game,” said Crawford. “We know he’s got tremendous skill and we’ve seen his abilities. He’s shown the Stars and our fans how good he can be, but you can’t rest on your laurels. You have to keep making improvements and he’s given himself the opportunity to have a real bounce back campaign for us.”

Niskanen said he wants that bounce back campaign to start as soon as the Stars hit the ice for training camp in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island later this month.

“It’s been an all summer focus for me and when camp comes I want to hit the ground running and play well right from the start,” Niskanen said. “The last couple seasons I’ve started myself in a hole. My play wasn’t quite up to par. I want to start going well right from day one of training camp.”

Former Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco was formally introduced as the new goaltender of the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.

ESPNChicago.com's Jesse Rogers has a video interview and a story on Turco here.

ESPNChicago.com's Melissa Isaacson has a piece on Turco here and it includes some thoughts from Blackhawks legend Tony Esposito:

"This is his prime, the next three, four or five years …" Esposito said. "You've got the experience and you're able to handle the pressure better. When I knew they had an opportunity to get him, I knew that it would be good for this team. He's a guy that's been around. He's healthy and not that old. He can play for another several years and, with this defense we've got, he'll do really well."

I spent a few hours in Frisco today. Some more players have arrived in town to skate and then work out off the ice with strength and conditioning coach J.J. McQueen.

Defensemen Karlis Skrastins and Matt Niskanen are the latest additions to the skating sessions, joining Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro, Stephane Robidas, Kari Lehtonen and Toby Petersen.

Skrastins arrived late last week and Niskanen got into town this week. I talked to Niskanen after he was done with his workout. As has been mentioned previously, he’s stepped up the conditioning work this summer. He’s determined to bounce back from a rough 2009-10 season, which he considered a step back.

“I was pretty happy with my first two years. I certainly had some spots where I wasn’t that good. But last year, as a whole, I was pretty disappointed with my own play and as well as where the team went,” Niskanen said. “It was kind of gut check time for me this summer, and coming into camp this year I’ve got to re-establish myself as a better defenseman within the group and in the league.”

I’ll have more on Niskanen in the days ahead.

Also joining the group this week was forward Matt Tassone, a sixth round pick in 2008. Tassone has had some injury problems (shoulder, neck) the past couple seasons and the Stars opted not to sign him to an entry-level contract this summer. But the team has helped him deal with those injuries, and Tassone said he is good to go.

Tassone, who arrived in town Monday after a 30-hour drive from Canada, will play for the Stars at the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City. He's hoping to make an impression there.

"One of my goals is to earn an NHL contract," said Tassone. "I've got to prove myself. I'm here, I'm good and my injuries aren't a problem and won't affect how I play. I've just got to go out there, play my game and I should be good."

Right now his contract status is TBA, but it looks like he’ll end up with the Texas Stars this season. I’ll have more on Tassone as Traverse City gets closer.

Marc Crawford and some of the coaches were around today as well. Saw assistant coaches Stu Barnes and Charlie Huddy, but didn’t see associate coach Willie Desjardins.

Here’s a few minutes of video of the players skating today.

Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said Monday that there is still no decision from Jere Lehtinen, who is deciding if he wants to play his 15th NHL season.

“I met with him the other day and I don’t think he’s really made up his mind,” Nieuwendyk said.

Lehtinen, who has battled injuries the past three seasons, has spent the summer contemplating if he wants to put his body through the rigors of another campaign.

A Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, reported Monday that Lehtinen is giving serious consideration to not coming back. The newspaper noted that Lehtinen has worked out less this summer, and that's a sign that he's not playing.

“I don’t think he’s worked out as much as he usually does, but he has had a few workouts lately,” said Nieuwendyk. “He hasn’t really made up his mind, and we haven’t put a ton of pressure on him.”

And it doesn’t appear there is the pressure of any kind of deadline. Training camp may be less than three weeks away, but that isn’t necessarily a deadline. The Finnish newspaper article indicated Lehtinen might not be at Stars training camp. Nieuwendyk acknowledged that could be the case, but he added that doesn't mean Lehtinen would be out of the picture. The Stars GM left the door open that Lehtinen could miss camp and join the team some time down the road.

“I think there’s a chance of that. That option is there,” Nieuwendyk said. “Right now it’s up to Jere. I think now that’s he back and his kids are in school he’ll be able to get a better sense of what he wants to do in the next few weeks."

And as of right now, Lehtinen hasn't made a definitive decision one way or the other.

RFA watch

Nieuwendyk said there was nothing new to report on restricted free agents James Neal and Matt Niskanen, who are still unsigned. The Stars GM did say he expects talks with both to pick up this week.

Prospect note

The Stars said doctors in Dallas will at some point further evaluate defense prospect Hubert Labrie, who suffered a knee injury recently at the training camp of the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Labrie, who is expected to be out a while, was scheduled to play for the Stars are the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan starting on Sept. 11. The team said there is no plan to replace Labrie on the roster right now since the Stars still have seven defensemen on the Traverse City squad.

The Dallas Stars Ice Breaker is back this year. It will be held Saturday September 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Galleria.

Players will be on hand to meet with fans and sign autographs. The Ice Girls will be there as well.

The Stars were unable to hold the event last year due to the compressed schedule of an Olympic year.

More details are here on the team's official site.

The Dallas Stars have missed the playoffs two straight years, but in defenseman Stephane Robidas’ eyes the Stars are on a par with every other team in the league at this point. As far as the 2010-11 season goes, everybody is tied with a record of 0-0-0. It's an opportunity to leave the past behind and move forward.

“It doesn’t matter what you did in the past, it’s what you are going to bring to the table this year,” Robidas said. “I think everybody is coming with a fresh attitude and ready for a fresh start. It’s a fresh start for everybody. We’re all starting at the same level and at the same amount of points as Detroit and everybody else. It’s up to us to prove to ourselves and to prove to the rest of the league that we’re a good team.”

Robidas and some other Stars players have been skating at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter in Frisco in preparation for the coming season. Forward Toby Petersen is another one of those players.

“We aren’t happy with the way the last two seasons have ended. We have a lot to prove and we’re going to set out right away to get it headed in the right direction,” said Petersen.

The Stars don’t believe they are that far off course. Sure, they finished 12th in the Western Conference but they were only seven points out of the final playoff spot.

“I think we look at ourselves as a playoff team heading into the season. Obviously, we can’t say that about last year, but a few bounces here and there,” said Petersen. “You can say that about every team and most teams are probably saying that about themselves. We weren’t completely buried in the standings. You’ve got to look at last year and try to look at the positives and not focus on all the negatives and try to move forward.”

It’s not hard to go back over an 82-game season and pick out games or stretches and see where you squandered seven, eight or more points. Putting together a winning streak of more than two games would have helped. Putting together 1-5-1 and 3-6-2 runs out of the Olympic break didn’t help.

“You’ve got all those shootouts that we lost last year. I hate talking about that, but those are points that we lost. To me, that’s why I am optimistic because we weren’t that far off,” said Robidas. “If you take those points we lost in overtime and shootouts, we could have been in the playoffs. I’m not saying we were happy with where we finished because we weren’t. But there is room for improvement. It’s not like it is a big mountain to climb.”

But there are still some hurdles to overcome. Getting the goals against, which ranked 23rd in the league last season, down will be an area that gets a lot of attention.

“We want to tighten it up defensively, have a better penalty kill,” said Robidas. “There were little things we didn’t do right last year. Our PK was awful (27th in the league) and we gave up a lot of goals. It wasn’t just the goalie or one guy or this or that. It was the team. We’ve got to do better in those departments. It’s something we want to focus on for the upcoming season.”

At this point, the Stars will bring back basically the same team the played out the final part of last season with a couple of notable departures.

“It’s a new look team in a way, but a bulk of the guys are back and that can help because we have a lot of familiarity with each other,” said Petersen.

The new look comes in the form of the two big names that will no longer be suiting up for the Stars. Management decided to part ways with center Mike Modano and goaltender Marty Turco. Modano signed on with Detroit and Turco with Chicago.

“We are going to miss them, but it is part of the reality,” said Robidas. “Sometimes when you’ve got young guys pushing you’ve got to make changes when the team isn’t going in the right direction. I think that’s one of the reasons they made those moves this summer.”

Robidas likes to point out that while the Stars are a younger team they aren’t that far removed from a trip to the Western Conference Finals (2008), and that they still have 12 players who played during that playoff run still on the roster.

“You add to that some veteran guys, some good young players and Kari Lehtonen, who is a proven goalie and played really well for us when he came in,” he said. “For me, all that is just positive for our team.”

Training camps for junior teams have already opened or will open this week, so it’s a good time to throw out some prospect updates.

• Some bad news for Stars defense prospect Hubert Labrie, who is the captain of the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He suffered a knee injury at Gatineau’s training camp and it sounds like he could be out for a while. Labrie is scheduled to play for the Stars at the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan, but that would appear unlikely now. I'm hoping to get an update on Labrie from the Stars this week.
• Stars defense prospect Alex Theriau (Everett/WHL) began training camp this past week. Prospects whose teams open training camp this coming week are: goaltender Jack Campbell (Windsor/OHL); right wing Scott Glennie (Brandon/WHL); and defenseman Jace Coyle (Medicine Hat/WHL). Coyle could turn pro this season, but he is also eligible to return to the Tigers as an overage player. Time will tell. Coyle, Campbell, Glennie and Theriau all are scheduled to play for the Stars in Traverse City.
• The word is that Patrik Nemeth, the Stars’ second round pick (41^st overall) in this summer’s draft, continues to play well for AIK’s Swedish Elite League team. He picked up an assist Saturday and now has two points (one goal, one assist) in six preseason games. AIK has several injuries, which means Nemeth is getting a lot of playing time in these exhibition games.
• After helping lead Frolunda to the championship at the European Trophy Junior Tournament, defenseman John Klingberg is back with Frolunda’s Elite League team, which is playing in the major European Trophy Tournament. Klingberg, the Stars’ fifth round pick in this summer’s draft, has played in Frolunda’s last three games, picking up one assist in each game. That tournament continues until early September.

The New Jersey Devils are going to try to it again with Ilya Kovalchuk, whose first contract with the team (17 years, $102 million) was rejected by the NHL.

ESPN The Magazine's E.J. Hradek reports the Devils have worked out a new contract with Kovalchuk and are waiting for a decision on it from the league:

The New Jersey Devils have submitted to the league for approval a new contract with star free agent Ilya Kovalchuk, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

According to Daly, the league has five days to review the contract.

Although no specific details of the deal are known at this time, a source says it's a 15-year contract worth approximately $100 million.

The rest of the story is here.

Stars forward Krys Barch is featured on the NHLPA's official site today. The article begins:

Krys Barch figured his best shot at an NHL career was to do the things others preferred not to. Over 200 big-league games later, the blue-collar forward’s decision has paid off better than he could have ever hoped for.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Here’s a look at the salary and salary cap situation for the Dallas Stars now that Nicklas Grossman has agreed to a two-year, $3.25 million deal with the club.

The Stars now have just under $42.2 million committed in actual salary to 21 likely roster players.

The two players left to sign are forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen. The Stars’ budget is said to be around $45 million so they would have around $3 million or so left to spend and fall within that range. There’s the possibility they could sign Jere Lehtinen, but if they do they’d have to move a player off the roster to make room.

The Stars have been able to keep salary costs under control for this coming season by getting some players to take less money in the first year of their recent multi-year deals.

For example, Steve Ott’s contract average’s $2.95 million over four years but his salary this season is $2.1 million. Kari Lehtonen’s contract averages $3.55 million over three years and he gets $2.7 million this season. Loui Eriksson averages almost $4.3 million over six years but he takes in $3.2 million in 2010-11.

In the case of Neal, it wouldn’t be a surprise that if he gets a two-year deal that the money would be distributed in the same way – less money in the first year and more in the second.

When it comes to salary cap costs, the Stars the Stars are just under $47 million for those 21 likely roster players. The cap cost figure includes the $1,937,500 hit the Stars still take for the New York Rangers claiming Sean Avery off re-entry waivers.

The upper limit of the salary cap this season is $59.4 million and the salary cap floor is $43.4 million.

Here’s a look at the Stars’ likely roster players along with 2010-11 salary and cap hit. I’ve used Andrew Raycroft as the backup goaltender. He and Brent Krahn will battle for the position in training camp and preseason.

The Dallas Stars have agreed to terms on a two-year, $3.25 million contract with defenseman Nicklas Grossman, who was a restricted free agent.

The deal will pay Grossman $1.5 million in 2010-11 and $1.75 in 2011-12. He made $1,050,000 last season.

“We are very happy to sign Nicklas to this new contract,“ Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said. “He is a solid NHL defenseman and is an important part of our young core.”

Grossman, 25, had seven assists in 71 games for the Stars last season, and ranked third among defensemen in ice time at 19:11 per game.

He has played 222 games for the Stars, registering 26 points (2 goals, 24 assists).

The Stars have released their full 2010-11 television schedule. All 82 games will be carried and all 82 will be offered in HD. You can download a copy of it here (excel document).

Here's the release.

The Dallas Stars announced today the National Hockey League club’s local television schedule for the 2010-11 regular season. All 82 games will be televised in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market and, for the first time ever, all will be offered in high-definition (HD).

“We are very excited about providing our fans all 82 Dallas Stars games for local television with every one of them offered in HD,” said Stars Executive Vice President Geoff Moore. “I’d like to thank our great partners - Jon Heidtke of FOX Sports Southwest and Gary Schneider of CBS 11 and TXA 21 - in working together with us to make that happen. Along with Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket, we have an ‘all star line up’ for our viewing and listening public. With Ralph and Razor again calling the action, we look forward to a great broadcast season for the Dallas Stars.”

FOX Sports Southwest returns for its 18^th season of carrying Stars telecasts, with 62 regular season games scheduled to be shown on the network. Twelve of these games will be shown on FOX Sports Southwest Plus, the network's alternate channel which is carried by participating cable and satellite providers. Specific channel information for individual carriers will be announced at a later date.

FOX Sports Southwest provides quality local sports programming to over 10 million cable and satellite TV subscribers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and parts of New Mexico. The Stars’ regular season opener on Friday, Oct. 8 at New Jersey is featured on the FOX Sports Southwest schedule, as well as the club’s home opener on Oct. 14 vs. Detroit.

FOX Sports Southwest's comprehensive coverage includes "Stars Live" pre and postgame shows before and after every game, a weekly "Stars Insider" magazine show, and interview and documentary specials airing throughout the season.

Seventeen games will be broadcast locally over the air on TXA 21, which enters its first season of a four-year agreement to televise Stars games. Stars broadcasts on TXA 21 will air primarily on Saturday nights, beginning on Oct. 9 when Dallas visits the NY Islanders. Stars games on TXA 21 will include 30-minute pre and post-game coverage.

The Stars join an extensive sports lineup on TXA 21, including Texas Rangers Friday Night Baseball, Dallas Mavericks basketball, as well as Big 12 sports, SEC football and the High School Football Game of the Week. If it’s local sports in Dallas/Fort Worth, it must be 21 (www.txa21tv.com).

VERSUS will exclusively televise three Stars contests: Monday, Nov. 29 at Carolina; Monday, Jan. 17 vs. Los Angeles; and Tuesday, Feb. 22 vs. New Jersey. VERSUS is the exclusive national cable home for the National Hockey League.

NBC Sports (KXAS-TV, Channel 5 in Dallas-Ft. Worth) has the option to choose from two games on the Dallas Stars local TV schedule during the spring. First introduced in 2007, the NHL on NBC will feature flexible scheduling for regular season dates on the network. NBC will have nearly two weeks in advance of a particular weekend to select which games will air. No matter what NBC decides on possibly picking up Dallas contests, all 82 Stars games will be televised locally in Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket enters its second season as the flagship home of Dallas Stars hockey and will broadcast all 82 regular season contests and all playoff games, with extensive pre and post-game shows planned for most games with studio host Matt McClearin, and home post-game shows with Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell. The Ticket will also broadcast one Stars pre-season game – Sept. 30, 2010 vs. Colorado. The all-sports station broadcasts on both 1310 AM and 104.1 FM.

Forming the broadcast team for the Stars for the 15^th consecutive season will be Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh. Strangis begins his 21^st season as a Stars broadcaster while Reaugh will serve in his 15^th season as the Stars’ color analyst.

The AHL released the 2010-11 schedule for the Texas Stars and all other league teams today. Texas, which plays an 80-game schedule,will open the regular season Sunday October 10 at San Antonio. The Texas Stars' home opener will be Saturday October 16 against San Antonio.

Texas plays 17 of its first 24 games at home.

You can find Texas' entire schedule here.