Jack Becker is out of Dallas Stars camp as Glen Gulutzan's roster tightens again, with nine players moved in one sweep.
Dallas released Becker, Benjamin Gleason and Kyle Loof from their professional tryouts, ending all three bids to turn training camp into contracts.
That distinction matters. They weren't assigned to the Texas Stars or moved deeper into the system. Their PTOs are finished, leaving them outside both the NHL and AHL rosters in the organization unless a new deal is reached later.
Becker at least made his push visible. The forward scored during preseason action against St. Louis, but the Stars still decided there wasn't enough room to keep his audition alive.
Gleason and Loof reached the same endpoint on the blue line. With Dallas moving closer to its regular-season group, carrying extra PTO bodies no longer served the same purpose.
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The other six moves tell a much different story. Justin Ertel, Christian Fitzgerald, Ayrton Martino, Aram Minnetian, Charlie Paquette and Connor Punnett were loaned to Texas.
Dallas is getting much closer to its final roster
Those players remain inside the organization, giving Dallas another layer of depth and giving the AHL club several young pieces who can keep developing under meaningful minutes.
Martino and Minnetian are especially notable names among that group. Rather than continuing to fight through a crowded NHL camp, both can now settle into defined roles and push their way back onto the radar.
Ertel and Fitzgerald also head down after receiving preseason looks. Fitzgerald dressed against St. Louis alongside Becker, while Dallas used the exhibition schedule to sort through several players competing on the margins.
Paquette and Punnett complete the six-player wave to Texas, another sign that the evaluation stage is rapidly turning into final roster construction.
For Gulutzan, the decisions now become sharper. The camp group is smaller, NHL jobs are harder to hide, and every remaining practice or exhibition game carries more weight for players still near the bubble.
These are among the final trimming moves Dallas will make before the regular season begins. The Stars haven't reached the finished product yet, but the locker room is starting to look much closer to it.
And for Becker, Gleason and Loof, the message is already different from everyone sent to Texas: their Dallas camp opportunity has ended rather than simply changing addresses.
Did the Dallas Stars make the right call ending all three PTOs now?
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