Stars’ Miro Heiskanen attends morning skate, considered day-to-day

The Dallas Stars are getting close to having their top blueliner back in the lineup.

After the team’s morning skate, head coach Pete DeBoer told the media that defenseman Miro Heiskanen is now considered day-to-day, though he will miss the Stars’ series opener against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

While the news isn’t ideal, as Stars fans want to see the Finnish defender in game action sooner than later, there was a positive sight as Heiskanen was on the ice on Saturday before the rest of the team.

Heiskanen not playing at the beginning of the playoffs, as Stars general manager Jim Nill confirmed that he would be unavailable last week. With the 25-year-old skating, a return could be in the near future. Nill stated the the team hopes Heiskanen could be available later in the first round.

Heiskanen had knee surgery after suffering a knee injury in late January. The ailment limited him to just 50 games with the Stars this season. Heiskanen registered five goals and 20 assists for 25 points while averaging a team-leading 25:10 of time on ice per game.

With Heiskanen out of commission, Dallas enters the series with a top pair of Esa Lindell and Cody Ceci. Thomas Harley and Ilya Lybushkin are the middle pair with youngster Lian Bichsel paired up with Alex Petrovic at the bottom of the lineup.

The Stars are hoping they can turn the page after an abysmal end to the regular season. Though they finished second in the Central Divsion, they lost their final seven games heading into the playoffs, erasing their chance of leapfrogging the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Western Conference, and the President’s Trophy.

Game 1 in Dallas is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.