Dallas Stars fans and coaches are ecstatic in anticipation of Mattias Janmark’s return. He looks healthy, and boy, is he inspiring.

The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is the one end-of-season award in the National Hockey League that no player ever sets out to win. When you look into the rafters of American Airlines Center, the home arena of the Dallas Stars, you begin to know why.

Named after Minnesota North Stars forward Bill Masterton, who is the only player in NHL history to pass away as a direct result of injuries suffered during a game, the Masterton Trophy is awarded to “the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.”

The Dallas Stars continue to pay tribute to Masterton, as his #19 is never to be worn by any player in the franchise’s history. Although the Stars have retired Masterton’s sweater number, no Dallas player has ever won the trophy bearing his name.

Until, perhaps, 2018.

Osteochondritis dissecans, a genetic knee disorder that causes knee cartilage to grow weak and detach due to a section of the knee bone dying out, is an extremely scary and dangerous illness that caused Dallas Stars forward Mattias Janmark to miss the entirety of the 2016-17 season. Janmark had undergone surgery for the disorder in September of last year, with the recovery time (initially 5-6 months) not doing him any favors.

Janmark, and the Stars, were devastated, and also void of his immense production from a points standpoint (29 in his rookie season), and an advance metric standpoint (53.9 career CF%). In 2015-16, Janmark surprisingly netted himself a spot on the Dallas Stars roster right out of training camp, performing so well that the now-24-year-old scored his first NHL goal just 99 seconds into his league debut.

While the Stars missed the postseason and Janmark ended up sitting out the entire 2016-17 campaign, it was still disheartening to see a player that showed as much potential as any young Star in 2016’s Central Division title run go down. The Swedish winger/center hybrid was an effective player in every situation for the Stars, ranging from power play set-up man to penalty kill anchor.

“I’ve worried about a lot of things, because I’ve been gone for a year. But, I feel good, and I think I’m stronger. I’ve had a lot of time to work on stuff, and now time will show how much it will affect me on the ice.” – Mattias Janmark to The Dallas Morning News

If training camp and the Dallas Stars preseason are any indicators, however, the Stars will see a healthy, productive Mattias Janmark in 2017-18, perhaps the most promising hockey season in Dallas in recent memory. Having a player of his skill level and maturity is a major boost to the Stars and head coach Ken Hitchcock, but also a chance at an elusive end-of-season honor.

A Dallas Stars player has not carried an end-of-season award home to Big D since Jere Lehtinen won his third and final Selke Trophy in 2003, and that’s a long 15 years. Again, the Masterton Trophy is nothing anyone particularly wants to win, but as an symbol of toughness, inspiration, and perseverance (the criteria on which previous winners have been awarded the roster), Janmark deserves every bit of it.

To keep his head up when everything under him (quite literally speaking) was falling apart, then skating in camp and preseason as if nothing ever happened is nothing short of admirable. His mental strength and resilience is evident when his #13 sweater is flapping through the wind, and in his preseason stats: two goals, one assist, plus-4, 60% in the face-off circle through three preseason games, playing mostly second-line minutes.

Janmark has been arguably the Stars’ most well-rounded and consistent player in the lineup early on in the exhibition games, averaging 18:03 on the ice per game, with over three minutes a game on both sides of the special teams units. To have a player with so many question marks on his own body playing fearlessly on the power play, penalty kill, and at even strength is not only an inspiration to the rest of the Stars, but it should serve as one to us as well.

Janmark is a hockey player, plain and simple. He refuses to let a lingering knee issue that few can understand – much less spell correctly – hinder his ability to contribute to the Dallas Stars, or his own wonderful, infectious style of hockey. Nothing screams “dedication to ice hockey” like a genetic knee disorder and its debilitating effects completely ruining a youthful, exciting hockey player’s season (and for awhile we worried if it would spell the end of his career), and the said player throwing those worries and ailments aside to electrify American Airlines Center.

Did he ever.

When Janmark scored his first goal in the preseason, this beautiful snipe over Carter Hutton – after churning past St. Louis Blues defenseman Jordan Schmaltz – as the lefty was steaming down the left-wing boards, his smile lit his chubby little face up. It was Janmark’s first goal in an officially sanctioned National Hockey League game since May 9th, 2016, in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the same team, the Blues. That’s 502 days in between NHL goals.

It was a smile that we all shared. The guy that probably should have retired from the game just ripped one over an NHL goalie in an NHL game, and did such so effortlessly. He is a magisterial talent, an invaluable top-six forward, and an extremely impactful locker-room presence. And, just maybe, the 2018 Masterton Trophy winner.

Whatever happens, we are not only blessed to have Mattias Janmark, but the Dallas Stars are too. It’s completely unfair to judge the Masterton Trophy credentials of every NHL players (you’re basically examining whose personal life has been worse over the past year), but Janmark would surely have my vote.

He has erupted into an immensely important piece on the Dallas Stars roster, and will, barring any health issues (God forbid), play a pivotal part in the Stars’ success this season.