Stars' Seguin in limbo for opener

Frisco, Texas – Tyler Seguin is available, but Dallas Stars coach Lindy Ruff still has to decide if the high-scoring center is ready for Game 1 of the playoffs on Thursday night against the Wild.

Seguin hasn't played since he had 15 percent of his Achilles' tendon sliced by the skate of Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman on March 17. Wednesday was Seguin's first practice without a red noncontact jersey since his March 18 surgery.

"I feel good," Seguin said after practice. "I want to do obviously what's best for the team and today was a good day."

Seguin alternated line rushes with Patrick Sharp on a line with Jamie Benn and Cody Eakin in practice. He was not part of either power play unit when the Stars worked on special teams.

"Seems like he's getting better each and every day," said Benn, a 41-goal scorer this season. "I think probably Monday he started out a little bit slow, but he's made progress and he looks pretty good over there with me."

Ruff confirmed Seguin's availability and said there are a couple of factors going into his decision for Game 1.

"First it's health," Ruff said. "The first thing you consider is can he make a difference in the game. And has he had enough practice time, and that's the most important thing. It's one thing to step out there in practice and get a couple full practices in. It's another thing to step into a regular-season game, and it's even a step further to step inside a game that has the playoff intensity that we're going to see tomorrow night."

"You have surgery you're going to be feeling it for a while," he said. "I'll probably be feeling it a little bit in the summer."

Seguin had 73 points (33 goals, 40 assists) in 72 games before the injury. Jason Spezza (33), Benn and Seguin gave the Stars three 30-goal scorers, the first time that's happened in the NHL since San Jose and New Jersey did it in 2011-12.

Ruff said rookie forward Mattias Janmark would also be available for Game 1 and, like Seguin, a decision will be made Thursday.

Janmark suffered an upper-body injury on April 2 against Los Angeles. He alternated line rushes with Travis Moen on the third line in practice Wednesday.

Brett Ritchie is the only Dallas player who has been declared unavailable for Game 1. The winger has been dealing with a lower-body injury and hasn't played since March 24. He skated by himself before practice Wednesday. Ruff said Ritchie is "progressing."

"I kind of asked the older guys how is it to play in the NHL playoffs," rookie center Radek Faksa said. "They said it's very different hockey. They said it's faster, very different, so I have to prepare for that … excited, but very nervous."

Faksa is one of five players without playoff experience on Dallas' roster. Janmark, John Klingberg, Stephen Johns and Jamie Oleksiak are the others.