Ivan Vishnevskiy

Vishnevskiy was acquired from the Thrashers as part of the Andrew Ladd trade. Even though he did not skate for the Thrashers, the Blackhawks are his third organization. Vishnevskiy has skated in five games for the Stars in the last two seasons, and registered a pair of assists. He probably will be headed to Rockford of the AHL this season, but a strong camp could give him a shot at the big club.

Vishnevsky enters the season as Dallas' top prospect, having recorded a pair of assists in three games for Dallas last season, and would seem to be the heir apparent to Sergei Zubov as Dallas' next great puck-moving blue liner. Seemed bored at times in the AHL, and his poor showing (19 points in 67 games) don't show his true ability. He's undersized a bit, but there's a lot of potential here. Watch to see if he breaks camp with the Stars.

Continued his excellent junior career with another solid season. It will be interesting to see how his game translates to the AHL and beyond, as there is potential here for a power play QB down the line.

When Vishnevsky makes it to the NHL, it will be because of the offense he can provide from the blue line. He scored 14 goals and had 51 points in 60 games last season with Rouyn-Noranda of the QMJHL. Vishnevsky struggles in his own zone, partly due to the fact that he is only 5-11 and he isn't overly physical, but if he can make enough progress on his own end of the rink, he has enough offensive talent to be the future power-play quarterback for Dallas. The fact he has already played two seasons in North America will help him in the future.

Slowed by a knee injury early in the preseason, there's no questioning his speed and offensive game. Could emerge as the heir apparent to Sergei Zubov, at least as the power play QB, in a few years but he's got a lot of growth before that before he's ready.

Vishnevsky is unbelievably fast whose staccato feet provide some of the most exciting warp-speed lateral moves we've seen in a long time. He can go end-to-end (and loves to do it) and he has enough speed to get back into the play in the defensive zone when the play turns around. But, there's a catch. While averaging almost a point a game as a rookie defenseman in the QMJHL and finshing seventh in league rookie scoring, Vishnevsky can't defend his way out of a wet paper bag. Very simply, he forgets there are two sides to the puck. He reminds us of Sergei Gonchar for all the right -- and wrong -- reasons. If he can figure out his own zone, Vishnevsky will be gold.