Roope Hintz

Lore & Background

Hintz grew up in Finland playing within the Ilves organization. He spent the 2012–13 season with the Tampa Bay Juniors in the Empire Junior Hockey League and also played early that season with the Bismarck Bobcats of the North American Hockey League before returning to Finland to play professionally for Ilves. He made his Liiga debut during the 2013–14 season, playing seven games while spending most of the season with Finland's U20 team. As the youngest player on Ilves in the 2014–15 Liiga season, he recorded five goals and 12 assists for 17 points through 42 games. Hintz transferred to fellow Liiga club HIFK on a two-year contract in April 2015. After missing the start of the 2015–16 season due to injury, he returned as HIFK's second-line center and finished the season with 19 goals and 11 assists for 30 points through 44 games, then led the Liiga in postseason scoring with three goals and 11 assists for 14 points through 14 games.

Reader's Guide

Hintz signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars following the 2016–17 Liiga season. He began the 2017–18 season with the Stars' AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, where he led team rookies in scoring by December. He was recalled to the NHL in March 2018 but did not make his debut before returning to the AHL. Hintz played a key role in the Texas Stars' run to the 2018 Calder Cup Finals, including scoring the overtime game-winning goal in Game 6 of the Conference Finals with 8.5 seconds left. He made his NHL debut on 4 October 2018 and scored his first NHL goal on 18 November 2018. After several assignments between the NHL and AHL during the 2018–19 season, Hintz became a mainstay in the Dallas lineup and earned top-six minutes. He scored an overtime game-winner that helped secure the Stars' wildcard spot for the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. During the playoffs, he scored his first two career playoff goals on 17 April 2019 and co-led the team in goal scoring with five goals despite playing with a fractured foot.

Did You Know?

• Hintz was nicknamed the 'Ace of Spades'.
• He played organized basketball, soccer and hockey growing up.
• Hintz scored an overtime game-winner with 8.5 seconds left in Game 6 of the 2018 Calder Cup Conference Finals.
• He played through a fractured foot during the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.