Stars GM Jim Nill says ‘there’s a good chance’ Roman Polak will not return to finish season

The Stars are preparing for the possibility of playing without Roman Polak.

Polak, a 34-year-old Czech defenseman, previously said he would return to the NHL to finish the 2019-20 season only if he had to. Since then, Stars general manager Jim Nill has spoken to Polak and said, “There’s a good chance he’s not coming over.”

“We’ve had a good discussion,” Nill said. “I understand his situation. Right now, he’s not comfortable coming over. I’ve told him, ‘We’ve still got lots of time, and if you have a change of heart over the next two or three weeks, we’d love to have you back.’ But I fully understand his situation also. Right now, I’d say he’s probably not going to return to play, but the door is not closed either. It’s open if he has a change of situation.”

Polak recently signed a three-year contract with HC Vitkovice in the Czech Republic, a deal that begins with the 2020-21 season. Polak played 41 games for the Stars this season and assisted on four goals. When the NHL season was suspended in March because of COVID-19, Polak was in a lineup rotation with Andrej Sekera.

Polak was set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Without Polak, Sekera figures to become the full-time No. 6 defenseman, with Taylor Fedun moving up to No. 7. Polak’s absence could also create opportunities for Joel Hanley, Gavin Bayreuther, Dillon Heatherington or Thomas Harley.

“We’d love to have Roman back,” Nill said. “He’s a big part of our dressing room, our culture and in the playoffs, he’s a big physical body. We’re going to miss him, but you know what, it’s an opportunity for somebody else. We’ve got lots of other defensemen that are available and some young kids coming in too.”

Nill said no other players have expressed hesitation about returning to Dallas: “Everybody has been excited about coming back.”

Traveling through

Nill said the Stars are expecting an influx of players over the weekend and estimated that about 90% of players will be back in Dallas by Sunday.

When small-group workouts began June 11 in Dallas, the only practice group consisted of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Ben Bishop, Blake Comeau and Jamie Oleksiak. Since then, Corey Perry has joined that group.

Groups were previously capped at six players, but teams across the league can now practice with as many as 12 in a group.

Some Stars are in Dallas going through medical testing, including John Klingberg, Denis Gurianov and Mattias Janmark.

Four Finnish members of the Stars planned to arrive Friday night in Dallas: Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz and Joel Kiviranta. They were to fly on a chartered plane with more than 20 other NHL players, and Nill said the plane would drop players off in their cities.

Had they taken a commercial flight, the players would have been required to quarantine themselves for two weeks before they were allowed to enter the Comerica Center. Training camp is scheduled to start July 10, two weeks from Friday.

Nill said a large group of players would arrive Sunday, including Anton Khudobin, Alexander Radulov, Andrew Cogliano, Jason Dickinson and Justin Dowling.

“We’re very comfortable with where we’re at right now,” Nill said. “We feel like the guys are very safe, and they’re buying into the program, too.”

Rounding out the roster

Nill said the Stars have not determined who will fill out the rest of the expanded roster because they do not know how many players will be allowed in the hub cities, and they do not know the eligibility of prospects Thomas Harley and Ty Dellandrea, who played in the Ontario Hockey League this season.

Previous reports have said that teams would be allowed 28 skaters and unlimited goalies in training camp. The league has also said each team was limited to 50 persons in their traveling party at the hub city.

Kiviranta, who scored one goal in 11 games for Dallas this season, will be included. Other top AHL players, such as forward Jason Robertson, defenseman Joel Hanley and goaltender Jake Oettinger, are expected to be included. Nick Caamano, Rhett Gardner, Gavin Bayreuther and Dillon Heatherington also figure to be candidates.

“I don’t want to bring in 15 to 20 guys and all of a sudden, you can only have five of those guys,” Nill said. “We want to be smart about things, too. We’re just monitoring it. We’ve got lots of time.”

Harley and Dellandrea, the team’s first-round picks in each of the last two drafts, would be intriguing additions. Harley is a smooth-skating, 6-3, 18-year-old offensive defenseman who should challenge for a roster spot next season. Dellandrea is a 19-year-old center who posted a career-high 32 goals and 38 assists in the OHL.

Find more Stars stories from The Dallas Morning News here.