A new quality defender has grown in the shadow of Dallas Stars star defender Miro Heiskanen.
Thomas Harley, 22, is only playing in his second full NHL season, but has already shown that he belongs among the top players in the NHL.
Harley has been knocking on the gates of the Dallas lineup for a couple of seasons already, but only this season has he broken into the playing lineup. Plus, he’s having a real breakout season.
Harley debuted in the NHL in the 2021-2022 season under Rick Bowness, but was in trouble under the guidance of an experienced coach. Bowness played Dallas defensively, and the role of the defenders was to play quite conservatively, which did not support Harley’s strengths.
The young defender was in deep trouble in Dallas’ man-guard defensive play template in his own zone.
Peter DeBoer, who replaced Bowness, freed the defenders and brought a dose of football to the style of play, which, among others, Heiskanen and Roope Hintz have been pleased with.
The defensive play in the own defensive area was changed more towards zone defense, where the five is very tight and moves in a certain direction at the same time.
Harley would have already been ready for the NHL last season because of his puck skills, but his defensive work was still not sufficient.
He was sent from training camp to the AHL, where he got to play big minutes and focus on the secrets of playing defense.
– It’s always been about my defense, Harley stated In an interview with NHL.com earlier in February.
Harley is still not at his best in defensive end situations. At times, he falls a little short, because he still doesn’t have enough practice on dueling situations or defending with the stick.
Harley also keeps getting misplaced, and is sometimes late from his goal line.
Dallas goalkeeper Scott Wedgewood highlighted one thing in particular where Harley can still learn from Heiskas.
– I think Harley wants to improve his stick defense when he looks at how good Miro is at defending with the stick, Wedgewood said.
However, it has been easier for Harley that Dallas has changed its defensive zone play even more to a zone guard, where the five are in front of their own goal as if in a dice formation. In the corners and on the wings, the opponent’s player is doubled or even tripled.
This way, Harley doesn’t get into man-guarding situations. He doesn’t have to follow one particular player until the end, which would require him to have such defensive skills, which he doesn’t have at such a good level yet.
His defensive play has improved and is currently adequate.
Harley has risen close to Heiskanen’s level in the puck game this season.
Heiskanen is still Dallas’ number one engine with even fives and dominance, but his burden is eased by the fact that the team now has a puck defender of Harley’s caliber.
The 191-centimeter Harley has fluid movements, observes the field well and has a high-quality skill in the roles of the player with and without the puck and the related tasks. He has brought a great addition to Dallas’ turnover game, as he can quickly shift the focus of the game from defense to offense.
Harley passes versatilely, can pass the opponent’s top player with his foot and shoots in a very exemplary manner. He has already scored 14 goals and is on his way to 20 goals in the regular season.
Harley’s importance can be seen, for example, in how much, in light of expectations, he has been able to bring goals to Dallas with his overall play. Harley has an xGAR statistic reading of 18.2, which is the second highest of the entire Dallas team and the fourth best of all NHL defensemen.
Harley and Heiskanen have played as a pair of defenders in 43 matches. The pair’s shooting and goal expectation ratios are clearly in the plus, which means that when the defenders are on the ice, Dallas shoots more than the opponent and creates more Class A scoring chances than the opponent.
Harley’s improved overall playing has also freed up Heiska, although Heiskanen still focuses a little more on defensive play.
The Stars have not been in such a situation before, but Heiskanen has carried a very large load in the team’s puck game. Now the Finnish star has a player capable of an equally high-quality puck game by his side.
It can be a game-changer for spring.
Harley is playing the last season of his rookie contract. He earns $863,000 this season.
– Harley will play big minutes in the future and Earn big money, Wedgwood summed up.
The story continues after the picture.
Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen are playing a great season. Screenshot. Evolving Hockey
Behind Heiskanen and Harley, Esa Lindell is having another strong season.
Lindell’s skating doesn’t look the smoothest and he is sometimes in big trouble in quick direction changes. However, he compensates for this by driving strongly against his defensive blue line and squeezes the opponent’s time and space to a minimum. He defends strongly with a long stick, which makes it difficult for the opponent to solve the puck game.
If he is unable to counter on the defensive blue line, Lindell tries to make the first shot as quickly as possible in his own defensive area, so that he does not have to participate in the skating technical competition. He has been iron on his own goal kick.
Lindell is having one of the most effective seasons of his career offensively, but is also an irreplaceable player defensively and especially at understrength.
Jani Hakanpää has been fundamentally sure of himself, but his defensive statistics have decreased since the second season, when he was especially strong in the defensive direction. Hakanpää has not been able to defend his own blue line as well this season as we are used to seeing from him. Still, with his own goals, he has been solid as Lindell’s business partner.
Roope Hintz is once again playing a strong season as Dallas’ number one center.
Evolving-Hockey’s GAR statistic tells how the player’s performance is reflected in the team’s realized goals. Hintz’s 18.5 rating is the best among Dallas players and the seventh highest among all NHL players. In other words, Hintz has brought more than 18 more goals to the Stars than an almost NHL-level player.
In addition, he has played with high quality in the defensive direction. Hintz is one of the absolute top centers in the NHL this season as well, measured by many different metrics.