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The Stars are in desperate need for defensive depth, as they’ve spent the past few seasons stocking up on gritty forwards. Last year, GM Joe Nieuwendyk shifted the focus on speedy, talented wingers and despite the dearth of blue line talent decided against picking a defenseman. Expect that to change this year, as it’s likely the Stars can grab a young defenseman at #11 that can help the NHL team in a very short amount of time. They also need some goaltending depth, as the usual stream of goaltending talent from the Stars has slowed up in reason years.
2010 draft picks:
Round 1 - 11th
Round 2 - 41st
Round 3 - 71st
Round 5 - 131st
Top prospects (per Hockey’s Future):
1. Scott Glennie, RW
2. Philip Larsen, D
3. Alex Chiasson, RW
4. Ondrej Roman, C
5. Perttu Lindgren, C
6. Richard Bachman, G
7. Curtis McKenzie, LW
8. Matt Tassone, C
9. Colton Sceviour, RW
10. Sergei Korostin, RW
PHT’s mock draft results:
11 - Derek Forbort - D - USA U-18 (USDP)
This is the perfect player for the Stars to take in this spot. He’s a big, steady and talented defenseman who wont score many goals but does everything else nearly perfectly and many think he has the most potential of any defenseman in the draft.
What the blogs are saying:
The Stars traded their top defensive prospect, Ivan Vishnevskiy to the Thrashers in the deal for Kari Lehtonen, leaving them with Philip Larsen as the top rated blue liner in their system. He is the only defenseman in the Stars top 20 prospects outside of Hubert Labrie, who I’m guessing most Stars fans haven’t heard of. The Stars’ defensive cupboard is bare and Derek Forbort is where they need to start the re-stocking.
Forbort, by all accounts, is an impressive combination of size and skill. Projected by many to be a top pairing guy in the NHL, the 6'5", 198 pounder is good on the penalty kill, willing to blocks shots and can hold his own in the offensive end. While not a “pure puck mover”, Derek scored 4 goals and 10 assists in 26 appearances with the U.S. National U-17 team in 2009-2010 and is described as an excellent skater for his size. He is committed to the Univeristy of North Dakota in the fall. The Stars are mock-happy to mock-draft the young man from Duluth, Minnesota, and continue a tradition of outstanding American players (Modano, Hatcher, Guerin, etc) in Texas.