FRISCO -- When the Stars announced another round of cuts Sunday morning that included 10 players either sent to AHL affiliate Texas or released from a professional tryout, perhaps the most notable topic was who wasn't included: Thomas Harley.

Harley, the 18-year-old defenseman selected in the first round in June, is now one of the final nine healthy defensemen left in Stars camp, a long way from what was expected to be a quick camp and a return to the Ontario Hockey League.

"He's earned the right to be here," Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "You get to the point now where you're not given games anymore, you have to earn them. He's earned his games. It's valuable experience with him being here at camp. We're going to keep going game by game here to see where he fits in and go from there. Still got three games to go, and see where he fits in."

The odds of Harley making the team remain slim.

He just turned 18 years old last month, and the Stars haven't iced an 18-year-old defenseman since 1981-82 in Minnesota (Ron Meighan). Miro Heiskanen spent a year in Finland after he was drafted before playing in the NHL, and John Klingberg spent four years in Sweden after he was drafted. Add in that six spots on defense are spoken for, and that Taylor Fedun and Joel Hanley must pass through waivers to be sent to the AHL, and the roster space might not be there for Harley.

Harley (6-3, 188) also has not signed an entry-level contract yet, though negotiations can be straightforward because salary and term are limited in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. Nill said the Stars and Harley have had contract discussions.

No matter the end result, Harley's play during camp has been one of the top storylines of the Stars' preseason. It started when Stars coach Jim Montgomery said Harley's skating reminded him of Heiskanen, and continued when Montgomery praised him after games against St. Louis and at Colorado.

When asked who impressed him tonight, Montgomery said Thomas Harley: “Real good poise, our best breakouts and I thought our best passing plays he was involved in.” — Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) September 17, 2019

When talking about Thomas Harley today, Jim Montgomery mentioned this play in Colorado. "That’s some high-end skill and vision."



Also said Harley's spot on the roster this far into camp has been a pleasant surprise pic.twitter.com/RiF9zaGQsa — Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) September 21, 2019

"He just continues to impress with his ability to make plays," Montgomery said. "There's certain things without the puck because he's not used to the way we play that he's made some mistakes with. Love his brain, love his plays with the puck."

When asked Saturday morning about Harley's inclusion in camp, Montgomery was hesitant to say Harley had played his way into the conversation to make the roster ("He's still here, right? So, yeah, he has, I guess.") and added that he's been a pleasant surprise.

Harley entered camp with the confidence of a smooth-skating first-round pick who posted 58 points in 68 games for Mississauga in the OHL last season.

"Coming in, my ego said I could do this, but I was kind of iffy about it," Harley said. "After the first couple days, I thought to myself, 'I really have a chance to stick here for a while.'"

Because of the NHL's agreement with Canadian major junior hockey, Harley (and Ty Dellandrea) cannot play in the AHL until he is 20 years old, which means his only options this season are the OHL or the NHL.

"When you draft somebody, you're going off what you saw as a junior player, a college player or a European player. You think of a certain path," Nill said. "When they come into situations, they can change that. It might have been a situation where [Harley] came in the first week of camp or Traverse City and might have struggled, and we probably would have sent him back. But we haven't seen that with him, so we're happy where he's at, and the thing is, he's still only 18. So we'll monitor that."

When Nill talks about Harley, he strikes a measured tone, wanting to see more of the prized prospect without placing expectations that he'll sniff the NHL this season. He mentions his age, his skills, and the ultimate hockey axiom that the team is taking it game by game.

Does Nill view Harley as a legitimate NHL option?

"Yeah, well, you know what, he's earned the right," Nill said. "He's still young, you've got to be realistic, he's still 18 years old and it's a big step yet. Let's kind of go game by game here and let's see where he fits in. So far, the coaches, when we're putting lineups together, his name comes up and he deserves a chance. So that's how we view it, and that's important. I think he's earned that right.

"We've got three more games to go here. Does he continue to hold up? Does he start to fall off? Does he hit a wall? You never know. We're just going to keep taking it day by day here."

When asked if a nine-game tryout (teenagers who play less than 10 NHL games do not use a year of their entry-level contract) was a consideration for Harley, Nill said he was "not worried about that now."

"I think everyone's expectation was I was going to come to camp and I was going to get sent back to juniors in Mississauga," Harley said. "I don't know what the plan is now with how I've played so far. I'm going to try as best I can to stay here as long as I can."

Roster maneuvering: The Stars sent forwards Tye Felhaber, Adam Mascherin and Riley Tufte, and defensemen Gavin Bayreuther, Emil Djuse and Ben Gleason to Texas on Sunday morning. Forward Tanner Kero and defenseman Dillon Heatherington will be assigned to Texas if they clear waivers.

Forwards Stefan Noesen and Scottie Upshall were released from their professional tryouts. Noesen, a Plano native, was trying to earn a contract after an injury-shortened season in New Jersey last year. Upshall, 35, was attempting a comeback after not playing at all in 2018-19.

Injury report: Montgomery said Justin Dowling, who left Thursday's game in Colorado with an upper-body injury, is "basically ready to go, just waiting for clearance." He did not practice Sunday.

Joel L'Esperance and Anton Khudobin also did not practice Sunday, but Montgomery said their absences were precautionary. Montgomery also said Corey Perry (fractured foot) was on track to be re-evaluated this week but wasn't sure when he'd start skating again.