Harley finished the season as the Stars’ top-scoring defenseman with 50 points (16 goals, 34 assists) in 78 games. He then led all Dallas defensemen in the postseason with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 18 games, helping Dallas reach a third consecutive Western Conference Final, losing in five games to the Edmonton Oilers.
Only forward Mikko Rantanen with 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists), provided more offense for Dallas in the playoffs.
“Thomas is mature beyond his years, which I think makes him unique,” Nill said. “That situation with 4 Nations, that was a tough situation.
“We threw him into that (Canada-United States) game and never looked back, but that’s Thomas. He handles those situations. He’s mature beyond his years. He doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low and to be able to do that, it’s not easy to do on that stage.”
Coming back to the NHL after the tournament, Harley felt like a different player. He looked like a different player, too, taking on a bigger role with Dallas, which has carried into this season.
“It really didn’t change that much of how I thought about myself, but it did give me a big confidence boost,” Harley said. “Just the speed of it, it was the fastest hockey I’ve ever seen played, and on the ice, it seemed faster.
“So to go from that back to the NHL, it felt slow, it was easy. I know that’s kind of laughable to say, but I remembered we played New Jersey in the first game after the break and I had (Nico) Hischier and (Jesper) Bratt coming down on 1-on-1s, and I go take puck away and skate back down the ice, wondering why it can’t always feel like this? It did speed up after a period and got back to normal, but it was a big confidence boost.”
That confidence can only be a good thing for Dallas and Harley’s Olympic chances.
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report