Before we begin, let me paint you a picture. It’s game 5 of the 2020 Western Conference Finals. Denis Gurianov blasts a missile of a one timer into the back of the net on the power play in overtime to send the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup Final. In celebration, the Russian leaps into an embrace with Roope Hintz.
That's the future of the Dallas Stars right there. An image to propel the Stars into a new era of victory. . . But here we are 3 seasons later and Denis still does not have a strong niche on this team. Here are the 3 key reasons for Guri’s apparent lack of success.
Exaggerated Expectation
Gurianov broke into the league in the 2019-2020 season. He led the Stars in goals (20) and looked to be a perfect winger to play alongside Roope. While this was a good start for the young forward, it was far from an all star level performance.
That all star performance came in the 2020 Playoffs. Denis was a showstopper in the bubble playoffs scoring 17 points in 27 games including 2 massive game winning goals. This performance elevated him in Stars fans' minds from a promising prospect to the goal scoring savior that that team needed.
In hindsight, this was an overreaction to a very special playoff run that defied all odds. Remember at the same time Anton Khudobin was outplaying every goaltender in the league and Tyler Seguin wasn’t scoring at all due to an injury. It was a weird time. This weird time led to expectations that were way over the top for the young forward and just set him up for failure.
In fact, Guri’s stats improved his next two seasons in the point department, but Stars fans did not get the Alexander Ovechkin like goal scoring that we saw in his playoff run, so we still view both of those seasons as failures because our expectations were inflated.
The Bones Effect
There is no hiding the fact that the offensive players felt stifled under the Rick Bowness style of hockey. Former Star John Klingberg said this about the dismissed Stars coach “...He thought that we didn’t play good enough with the puck. So, the way we wanted to win the games was focusing on keeping the puck out of our net to be as successful as a team as we could possible.” Definitely a little bit of angst in that first statement by the puck moving defenseman.
It is also no secret that Bowness did not love how Gurianov played very often. He was healthy scratched rather consistently for a player of his quality, especially when goal scoring, which was Guri’s best facet, was at an all time low. His playing time was also an item up for constant debate amongst Stars fans.
All of this pressure and lack of trust from the coaching staff could have limited an explosive player like Denis.
Is This As Good As It Gets?
This is the theory I like the least.
The eye test tells you that Gurianov has all the tools to be an offensive power house in this league. His speed is almost unmatched. He flies around the defensemen. His shot is incredible; that shot in OT of Game 5 was over 100 MPH, a speed normally reserved for the All Star Skills Competition. His hands are good enough to dangle through entire teams. The main person entering the zone right now on the Stars second PP unit is Denis with his silky smooth mitts.
All of these tools point to him being an elite forward in the NHL, but for whatever reason, it just has not happened.
This reminds me of the Val Nichushkin situation that many Stars fans know too well. Nichushkin, like Guri, was a promising prospect and was thought to finally be the 3rd forward in the Benn and Seguin line. He was eventually dropped by Dallas and picked up by Colorado. Now he is an integral part of that Stanley Cup winning team.
I am afraid that the same fate may befall Denis. He may just need a change of scenery and some new faces to try and unlock that offensive potential that we all see.
This is his last year to do it in Dallas. He was given a minimum qualifying offer and, unless we see a big jump in performance the rest of the season, he is highly unlikely to return.
Hopefully, Guri can unlock his potential before season’s end.
