After a summer of hard training, Janmark has battled back and not just been a useful player, but one of the Stars' best, tallying 19 goals among 35 points in 75 games. For that, he is the Masterton Trophy nominee of The Dallas Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association .

Mattias Janmark missed the entire 2016-17 season with osteochondritis dissecans, a disease that affects blood flow in the bones of his knee. Janmark had a small piece of bone break off and lodge in his knee in 2016. That forced surgery, and recovery from the surgery caused him to be out a year.

Video: Janmark on his recovery and comeback

"It's such a great story, and he's such a great person, that it really does make you happy to watch him out there," Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "What he's dealing with, not a lot of people have dealt with, so to see him battle through it and play the way he's playing is pretty special."

The knee has proven strong, but the disease means a bone chip could still dislodge at any moment, and that uncertainty is something that Janmark has dealt with all season.

"It's a constant struggle with all the games," Janmark, 25, said. "Sometimes, you feel great, and then sometimes you go through a couple of games where you don't feel as great. So I think it's going to take some time and I'm probably going to go up and down a little bit more, but I think overall I've been able to play on a good level."