Roope Hintz hasn’t been the prolific scorer he was one postseason ago for the Dallas Stars.
And while Hintz hasn’t been listed on the team’s injury reports this postseason, Pete DeBoer did acknowledge the potential of something affecting his game as the Stars’ playoff run continues into the second round.
“I guess what I would say is, you know, a lot of times you don’t know the whole story. And I’m not going to give you the whole story,” the Dallas head coach said Wednesday of Hintz.
“But what I will say is he’s not alone in that boat. I mean, the strength of our team all year has been if Roope Hintz’s line doesn’t score, then Matt Duchene’s line scores. If Matt Duchene’s line doesn’t score then Wyatt Johnston’s line scores. If none of those guys score, our fourth line scores. So, you know, this isn’t on Roope Hintz. Our depth has to show up in this series.”
Hintz was tied as Dallas’ third-leading scorer in the regular season with 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists) in 80 regular season games. He has one point (one goal) in eight playoff games this postseason after scoring 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 19 playoff games in 2023.
Injury updates: DeBoer said forward Mason Marchment is “really close” to a return to action, and will likely be a game-time decision on Thursday vs. Colorado.
- Defenseman Jani Hakanpää — who has been out since March 16 with a lower-body injury — is still not skating with the team, DeBoer said, but that is the next step on his path to potentially playing again this season.
