What is the potential AHL MVP bringing to the Dallas Stars?

A look at Mavrik Bourque as he's been recalled from the Texas Stars

The AHL’s leading scorer and potential league MVP is headed to the NHL this weekend.

The Dallas Stars recalled Mavrik Bourque on Friday, with plans of him playing Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Bourque leads the AHL with 72 points and has had a massive spike in offensive production this season, jumping from 47 points last season to a league-leading 72 so far this campaign.

He’s also the second über prospect the Stars have recalled in the past month. Logan Stankoven has rather famously thrived with Dallas after getting recalled before the deadline and posting 13 points in 18 NHL games.

Before he was recalled, Bourque and Stankoven were ripping apart the AHL together. And even if they don’t play another AHL game, they both are heavy favorites to take home AHL hardware for MVP and rookie of the year.

I’ve seen Bourque play in person multiple times, but no one has watched him more in person — from a media perspective — than my good friend and We Win Here co-author Stephen Merserve, who also runs the must-read AHL site 100 Degree Hockey.

So, for a quick intro to Bourque, I asked Stephen for some quick insights.

Bourque has been one of the most consistent Texas Stars we've ever seen this season. He already sits second all-time in single season points and has continued scoring even without Logan Stankoven on his wing.

You can see all the numbers in a stat pull, but the thing that I like to point out to those who don't watch the team closely is Bourque's sweater: it bears an A. Texas HC Neil Graham does not hand out letters, and Bourque is just a second year player. There were plenty of veteran options to wear a letter, and Bourque earned it. Take that as you will for his off-ice tendencies and work ethic.

And because Stephen is great, he went even further.

One of the things I'll be watching is of course where he is placed in the lineup. He has had the ability to produce with Texas' top players, like Stankoven or Curtis McKenzie, but also with names that Dallas fans might not know as well. Does his playmaking ability translate to the NHL where he is arguably not going to get top 6 minutes right away? This is the classic challenge for high-skill AHL players. I believe that he will immediately translate, basically becoming the (second) trade deadline acquisition that Jim Nill didn't make. There is something next level about his hockey IQ and he has the ability to make players around him better in a way that other high-skill players of the past in the Dallas/Texas pipeline have not.

Awesome stuff from Stephen. Again, buy our book.

Let’s now look at some additional stuff on Bourque after I pulled some video and data on his AHL season.