Owen Newkirk reported this morning that the Stars made three roster moves on defense, with Lian Bichsel and Kyle Capobianco both sidelined and Kyle Burroughs called up.
The timing stings. Dallas lost 8-3 to the Jets on Thursday night, and it now hosts the Sabres tonight with a thinner blue line than it had two days ago.
Newkirk laid out all three transactions in a short post on X, including the detail that Bichsel's injured reserve stint is backdated.
-
Bichsel goes on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 12, the night of the Winnipeg game. The 22-year-old is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, with an expected return of at least Nov. 27, according to the latest injury report.
That's a significant loss for a young defenseman who has been a regular this season. He has played 18 games, all of Dallas's games so far, and he's a minus-4 with 16 penalty minutes.
Capobianco's situation is more serious on paper. He was moved to long-term injured reserve, and he's listed with a leg injury and an expected absence of at least Nov. 27 as well.
He has played just 5 games this season without a point, so his absence will be felt less in the scoring column than in the depth chart.
Who is Kyle Burroughs and will he play tonight?
Burroughs is a 31-year-old veteran who comes up from the Texas Stars of the AHL. He has not played a game for Dallas this season, but he brings 201 NHL games of experience, with 22 points over that stretch.
Whether he steps straight into the lineup against Buffalo isn't confirmed. With two defensemen out and a blowout loss fresh in the locker room, it's hard to see how Glen Gulutzan keeps him out.
The bigger concern is what the loss of two bodies does to the pairings. Bichsel brings a 6-foot-7, 235-pound frame to the back end, and Burroughs is a very different type of player at 6 feet and 195 pounds. Dallas loses physicality in a hurry.
Our view: giving up eight goals and then losing a big-bodied defender the next morning is a rough sequence. If Burroughs is simply a stopgap, the Stars at 10-6-2 should be fine. If the injuries linger past Nov. 27, general manager Jim Nill may have to look at the trade market.
Dallas sits fourth in the Central Division and faces Buffalo tonight, so the first look at the revamped defense comes quickly.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
How should the Stars handle the injuries on defense?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Official: Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar status update for Avalanche vs. Canadiens
