FRISCO, Texas -- Considering they both missed nearly all of preseason and didn't arrive in Dallas until last week, Brenden Dillon and Cody Eakin are coming along nicely in terms of being ready to roll for the start of the Dallas Stars' season on Thursday.
Along with Eakin, Dillon, 23, was one of two restricted free agents on the Stars this offseason. The young defenseman didn't sign until Thursday but admits he feels pretty good a day before the puck drops against the Chicago Blackhawks at American Airlines Center.
"I feel great, feel really good. I got back into town, had the hard skates here, got a little bag skate in to get the legs back under me and get the rust off, but no I feel good," Dillon said. "I'm excited to get things going."
Eakin, also 23, signed earlier last week, and he too is feeling better with each passing day about where his body is at heading into the start of the campaign, which will be his third in Dallas.
"Every day, I'm feeling better. Took me a while, my hips were pretty sore for a bit there. Started to cool off, every practice feels a little bit better," Eakin said.
Dillon, who is heading into his third full season in the NHL, is again expected to help anchor a Dallas rearguard that returns intact, even after a season where Stars general manager Jim Nill made numerous additions to the roster, including veteran center Jason Spezza, fellow vet Patrick Eaves, Ales Hemsky and backup goaltender Anders Lindback.
And while some who follow the club groused about Nill's inactivity on D, Dillon sees that as a sign of the high level of confidence which Nill, head coach Lindy Ruff and the rest of the organization have in him and his fellow d-men.
"It's great to hear. It's awesome to know that your GM has that confidence in you and I think that translates into yourself having even more of that confidence," Dillon said. "I'm really happy with how my offseason went, with getting stronger, getting faster, getting overall just better."
And the British Columbia native who has made great strides through his first two full seasons as a Star expects to continue that rather progression again in year three in Big D.
"The fact that the new GM can show that confidence in you, I'm ready to take that next step and I want to take that next step," Dillon said. "That's likely going to be going into a greater role and chipping in even more. I'm another year older and able to mature, so I'm looking forward to that translating onto the ice and having a better season and just taking another step in the right direction."
Eakin is expected to center Dallas' third line alongside Antoine Roussel and Ryan Garbutt. And the young center who came to the Stars from the Washington Capitals in the trade on the day of the 2012 NHL Draft which sent veteran Mike Ribeiro to the nation's capital, is also itching to hit the ice and for the games to start counting.
Over his past few seasons in Big D, he has found a nice role as a gritty center, a guy who can do the little things like did pucks out of corners, deliver a big hit and even chip in offensively.
Eakin's unyielding work ethic and desire to always improve made Ruff a big fan almost right away, a relationship the young centerman looks forward to building on going forward.
"I think it's been pretty good. I've shown him the kind of player I am-smart, responsible, reliable. In turn, he's given me an opportunity to play in almost every situation. It's been good on both sides," Eakin said.
Earlier this week, the second-year Stars head coach was asked how well he thought Dillon and Eakin have looked since rejoining the club and he couldn't resist injecting a little humor into his response.
"Well, Eakin's face (is) a little bit redder than Dillon's usually. That's the truth, pretty much tells me he's puffing a little bit more maybe. I don't think it's easy, missing training camp by any means. He's got some soreness where you would expect because you don't torque yourself the way you do in practices or these scrimmages," Ruff said.
"But Dillon, I've been pleasantly surprised that he seems incredibly fit, which is good. We haven't been able to test him quite as much as we'd like to, but seems like he's done all the work to be ready to play in this first game."
