Stars plan to play free agent acquisition Hemsky with Benn and Seguin

When the Dallas Stars traded for Ottawa Senators center Jason Spezza and subsequently signed free agent forward Ales Hemsky, who was dealt to Ottawa by the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline and found instant chemistry on a dynamic scoring line with Spezza, it appeared as if they'd simply acquired two-thirds of the Senators' second line. 

As it turns out, the plan in Dallas isn't simply to graft Ottawa's second line onto the Stars' existing structure next season. In fact, according to Stars general manager Jim Nill (who would know), the plan going into training camp is to split up Spezza and Hemsky, and play them on different lines in Dallas' top-six. From Hockey Night in Canada's Elliotte Friedman:

The Stars' plan for Ales Hemsky is to start him with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. "They are shooters. We need a passer with them." Asked who Spezza gets, Nill first mentioned Valeri Nichushkin. After living with a local family much of last year, he is now on his own. Nill expects a similarly big step on the ice in the player's second season, and lining up with Spezza could do that. 

Fantasy owners take note, if you need assists, Hemsky is an excellent bet (albeit sort of a high-risk, high-reward selection due to his injury history).

While the prospect of watching the silky smooth Hemsky feed Seguin and Benn the puck is tantalizing, Dallas' two superstars were at their best last year when flanked by Nichushkin, a 19-year-old man-child. With the Nichushkin, Seguin, Benn trio on the ice at even-strength, the Stars outscored their opponents by a better than two-to-one ratio.