FRISCO, Texas -- The last near 24 hours have been crazy for Jamie Oleksiak. The young Dallas Stars defensive prospect played for the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League in a 5-4 road loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night.
However, after that game, Oleksiak, 20, Dallas’ top pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, when he went 14th overall, learned he was being recalled to the Stars on Saturday morning. Dallas needed another defenseman since veteran Stephane Robidas suffered a leg fracture and will miss between four and six months and it was Oleksiak who got the call.
So, the hulking defenseman who is all of 6-7 and aptly dubbed "Big Rig" caught an early-morning flight to Dallas from Michigan and arrived in time for practice at the Stars’ Frisco headquarters.
"Well, early flight. I got the call last night and I was pretty excited obviously getting the call up. We played last night, so I kind of had the adrenaline going," Oleksiak said after practice. "Couldn’t really sleep for a while and had a 4:30 alarm set, five o’clock cab and 6:30 flight. So flew right out here. They wanted me for practice and I made it here in time. I’m excited."
Both he and Kevin Connauton, who was acquired in the April trade that sent Derek Roy to Vancouver, were paired with Brenden Dillon, Robidas’ former defensive partner, in practice on Saturday morning, leading to speculation about which one Stars head coach Lindy Ruff will put alongside Dillon.
However, if it is Oleksiak, Dillon welcomes the chance to skate alongside the big youngster yet again as the two were teammates in the AHL in the early part of last season.
"He’s a big guy. He’s a guy who I played with in the minors for a little bit. He’s obviously very skilled for a big guy and can skate well," Dillon said of Oleksiak. "I think he’s going to fit in great. I’m not sure who I’m going to play with tomorrow or what the d pairings are going to be, so it’ll be good to see."
Connauton, who has been a healthy scratch for much of the season and also spent time in the AHL on a conditioning assignment but has only appeared in one NHL game, is another option for Ruff.
"In the game I played (Oct. 24 vs. Calgary), I was with (Gonchar). In preseason, I played with Jordie (Benn)," Connauton said. "I actually liked playing with Jordie, but luckily for me we have a great group on the back end here and I think stepping in with any of them will be a pretty smooth process."
However, it doesn’t sound like Ruff is too sold on the idea of splitting up either of his other two pairs of Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski or Sergei Gonchar and Jordie Benn.
"Yeah, we’re going to meet on it. Obviously, we used Stephane (Robidas) in a huge role when it came to defending against huge lines. If we have to break up our other pairs to change the defending aspect of it or if we can weigh the fact of putting Oleksiak right in and use him as a top defender against top lines or switch up the pairs and get Connauton back in the lineup," Ruff said. "So we’ll discuss that today and make a decision. The tough part is the other pairs are starting to play pretty well for us and I don’t know if I want to disrupt (that). But we’ll figure that out."
And with Aaron Rome, the only other defenseman currently on the Dallas roster, currently sidelined with a muscle issue that leaves Connauton and Oleksiak as the only two major possibilities to skate alongside Dillon.
Whoever Ruff chooses to go with, Dallas returns to the ice on Sunday afternoon as the Stars conclude a three-game homestand against the Edmonton Oilers at the AAC.
