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STARS MAILBAG: The trade deadline, the offseason, and figuring out the defense

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Before diving into this week’s mailbag, I wanted to give an update on a minor change/upgrade coming to Wrong Side of the Red Line.

Starting next week you’ll notice there will be a weekly feature only available to my subscribers on Patreon, starting with a story on Monday about Rich Peverley and his transition to life after his playing career came to an end.

For only $3 per month — essentially one cup of coffee — you’ll have access to four exclusive stories a month, while you’ll also get a digital subscription to Dallas Stars Prospect Insider — a monthly newsletter I produce on the Dallas prospect pool.

Subscribers are also going to get other unannounced bonus content from time to time.

Supporting the Patreon allows me to cover the costs involved with running the site, while it also creates an opportunity to improve other areas of Stars coverage (including videos, podcasts, and other endeavours I’m currently looking into).

Interested? Follow this link to sign up on Patreon and you’ll have more details emailed to you about accessing the subscriber content.

Either way, the rest of the site will remain free, but I appreciate your support.

Now that that the pitch is over, let’s get started with the mailbag:

It really is.

Even though teams are only going to lose one player through expansion, the fact a 31st NHL team is entering the league and can really throw a wrench into your plans is weighing on general manager’s minds. And NHL executives already tend to be more conservative with their moves, so another factor — like expansion — is making potential general managers think twice.

The other problem is so many teams are still logistically in the playoff hunt. Only three are true sellers in my mind at this moment (Dallas, Arizona, and Colorado), so 27 other teams don’t want to risk giving up an asset (for example: a good back-up goalie) now if they think think — right or wrong — that they have a chance to make a run this season.

Trades will be made before the deadline, I’m confident of that. But I think you’ll see more action after the playoff and leading up to the expansion draft as teams scramble to get their assets in order.

Quite a few. Ok, more than a few.

I could argue throughout the season every player on the roster has been misused at some point, some worse than others.

If I were Jim Nill this would be my off-season checklist:

1. Fix the goalie situation

This doesn’t mean acquiring Ben Bishop or Marc-Andre Fleury, it means finding a younger goalie that is getting close to entering their prime. Personally I’d look at Philip Grubauer in Washington and then Scott Darling in Chicago, two goalies that are back-ups behind veterans but are ready for full-time starting roles.

Ideally you’d be able to unload Kari Lehtonen or Antti Niemi in a trade, but it’s more likely the Stars will have to buy one out and the other will serve as the back-up next season.

2. Fix the defense

The Stars can’t go into next season with eight defensemen. They need to construct a group of six they trust, and allow Jordie Benn to be the reliable seventh defenseman.

That starts with the remaining 23 games this season. If Dallas isn’t going to make the playoffs, they don’t need to field the best roster each night — they simply need to field the roster that allows them to run research which of these young defensemen they actually want as part of the team next season.

3. Find a right wing

This is third on the checklist, and is more of a secondary goal than anything. But the Stars depth on the right wing could use a boost, especially with Patrick Sharp likely headed elsewhere and the Stars having an influx of young defensemen they could use to make a deal.

I think it’s something they’ll look into, but it’s one of those markets that will be easier to gauge after the season and before the expansion draft.

At that time other NHL teams will be making their decision on which defensemen to protect, and those with added depth at on the blue line will be in a position to move a reliable defensemen.

Yes, I want to see that group play out the stretch and build for next season.

Let them learn and play through mistakes, rather than walking on egg shells. That scenario is a test run for the young defensemen, and will allow the Stars to evaluate which players are worth the future investment.

In 2011 the Stars traded future considerations to the Minnesota Wild for Eric Nystrom.

In that deal the “future considerations” was a chance for the teams to move money around. The Stars needed to make a trade to get to the cap floor at that time, while the Wild had moved on from Nystrom and their ownership group didn’t have to pay out the final $2.4 million of his contract.

I think the Stars should give Matej Stransky an NHL game this season for two reasons.

First, to see what he could do in the NHL. Is his skating ability — even though it’s improved — that much of a liability?

Second, I want Stransky as part of the organizational depth in Cedar Park next season. Giving him a chance to play in the NHL this season is a nice gesture to a player that will likely have offers back in Europe this summer.

You’d like to think it’s possible, but the problem is the depth of the draft.

In 2013 it was a deeper draft and Vancouver was able to draft Bo Horvat with the ninth pick. In this upcoming draft a player with Horvat’s pedigree would probably be a top-five pick.

I don’t give Denis Gurianov an NHL game unless he earns it.

We need to remember that Gurianov is only 19, and while he’s a humble kid, you don’t want to create any expectation — either internally or externally — that he has an NHL job locked up for next season. You want him to work for everything and prove he belongs at the NHL whenever that moment comes.

That was one of the problems with Valeri Nichushkin. He was given an NHL chance right (albeit because of contract), thought he was entitled to it, and never had to earn it.

Of the pending unrestricted free agents, I think the Stars would be interested in bringing back Adam Cracknell and Patrick Eaves.

Now, the Stars should still trade Patrick Eaves, but I think that could be a pure rental and he could theoretically re-sign with Dallas this summer on July 1.

We need to see what Ales Hemsky’s game looks like when he actually plays again this season. Would he be worth an investment? Maybe, but only if it’s at an extremely discounted rate from the $4 million he got this season.

Yes, the Texas Stars run the same offensive system.

I’m still disappointed the Stars didn’t go with our plan to have the team fly with shelter dogs. It really would have boosted morale.

If they won’t adopt that idea, maybe they should take a minor league hockey idea — Pucks and Paws — and allow all dogs entrance to the game.

On Jan. 4 the Stars had a service dog in attendance and they got a point in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens. Maybe if they had more dogs in attendance, those overtime losses would turn into wins.

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