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STARS MAILBAG: Vegas, Val, trade thoughts, and bolstering up the blue line

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Couple weeks ago I ran a reader survey here at Wrong Side of the Red Line. It was an informative look at my reader base and it’s going to help me shape Dallas Stars coverage at this site for the 2017-18 season.

I’ll be laying out full plans later this summer, but based on your responses you can count on some of these changes as we approach the season.

– A more frequent podcast. We still have to figure out the exact scheduling, but the Wrong Side of the Red Line podcast will likely move into a twice-weekly format during the regular season. (In the offseason we’re doing it on an as-needed basis).

– A yearly option for subscribers. There will be more subscriber-only content in the future and I’ve been thrilled with the feedback so far from those who have subscribed (shameless plug, it’s only $3 per month on Patreon). But I will be introducing a yearly option, likely to be announced soon, that will allow readers to pay $36 up front for a full subscription.

– A weekly video element. The final details still have to be determined, but I’m envisioning a Sunday feature that will come out each week during the regular season.

Now let’s get started…

https://twitter.com/BobSchaller/status/870420706290393088

Everyone wants Vegas to solve their problems, and that’s not going to be the case. George McPhee is a smart man and knows that he has more leverage than any GM in NHL history — he has 30 other GMs all calling him looking for help.

Personally I don’t think Vegas uses the expansion draft to build a roster. Yes, they’ll be drafting players for the roster, but in the long run the expansion draft will be best used to acquire and grow assets quickly.

In the NHL you have to grow and build through the draft. So while Vegas may take your bad contract, it’ll likely be a deal that will cost you a draft pick and Vegas will be a busy team at the NHL Entry Draft in Chicago with several extra picks.

In that same mindset the Golden Knights could also draft a couple players that seem like head scratchers at first.

Consider this hypothetical: Vegas takes a player like Jaromir Jagr, who isn’t part of a long-term project. But Jagr moves the needle and when the trade deadline roles around and a team is looking for a veteran presence, Vegas can flip him for more picks.

The Stars would like to have the Valeri Nichushkin situation figured out sooner than later, but the reality is this might not be completely sorted out until the middle of the summer.

There are several factors to consider, and many of them start in Russia. With the KHL going through a contraction and salary caps being lowered, does Nichushkin’s KHL team still want him next season? Are the Olympics a factor? And does he actually want to return to the NHL?

The Stars can’t allow Nichushkin’s situation to hold them captive. They have to make moves like he’s not coming back and if he does it’s gravy.

They will certainly listen to offers, would be foolish not to.

Everything has a price. The only player that would be a non-starter for a conversation in the Stars organization would be Jamie Benn.

I’ve yet to meet Scott Burnside, but I’ve read his work for a while and everyone I’ve spoken to has a glowing review for the former NHL lead writer at ESPN, who officially joined the Stars on Thursday.

For the Stars I think this is as much a marketing decision as it as media one. Burnside has a massive following and last time I checked he has more Twitter followers combined than all of the current members of the Stars typical media contingent (myself included).

There are going to be more eyeballs on the Stars because Burnside is writing about them. And when he works on a national trend or bigger-picture story, it will be on the Stars website and those who typically ignore Dallas will be subjected to a guerrilla marketing of sorts.

Personally, I’m looking forward to sharing a press box with Scott and hopefully he lets me pick his brain a bit during the season.

https://twitter.com/BobSchaller/status/870420023323402240

Dillon Heatherington and Gavin Bayreuther both look like future NHLers after joining the Texas Stars late this past season.

Heatherington was the return in the Lauri Korpikoski trade and could play in the NHL next season in a limited role. He’s not ready for full-time duty, but in a spot opportunity or in case of a call-up he would be serviceable.

Heatherington could possibly be ready for full-time NHL duty in the 2018-19 season, but he’d had to take some strides in his game.

Bayreuther, who signed as a college free agent, has a better long-term future but won’t be ready for the NHL next season. He still has major steps to take on the defensive end, but his playing style and offensive vision will be a big part of the Stars mobile defense in a couple years.

Jim Nill is very serious about trading the No. 3 pick and he’s considering all of his options. I also don’t think it’ll actually take “wowing.” Rather Nill will try and raise the price of the pick — that’s why he’s spoken publicly about it — and find the best option.

If Dallas makes a trade involving No. 3 it will likely come in one of two forms:

1. A one-for-one deal for a roster player that will make the Stars better next season. This will likely be a player still in their early or mid-20s (so not a player past their prime). I don’t know if it would net you a so-called elite player (those don’t move easily), but it could bring back a very good piece.

2. Packaging the No. 3 pick and a current player (maybe Cody Eakin or one of the goalies) to move back within the top 10 and get roster player for next season. I think this is highly likely, because one prospect the Stars are very high on projects more in the five through 10 range than the top three.

In general free agency isn’t going to be the best approach to fixing the Stars defense. Of the pending UFA’s the one I like most is Brendan Smith, but I look at him as more of a depth signing than a top-pairing blue liner in Dallas.

Karl Alzner is an interesting case because the market is set for him to capitalize. The defensive UFA market is comprised of older players past their prime and a group of players, like Alzner, that will demand a larger paycheck than their realistic value.

Signing Alzner is also a sign Dallas would be committing to him as one of their top defensemen. With the expansion draft greasing the wheels on other potential moves, their are better options available via trade (especially with the assets Dallas has in hand heading into the draft).

Alzner is also in a spot where he’ll be looking for a longer contract. He’s 28 and it’s time to take advantage of the market that’s in front of him, and that’s a bidding war I wouldn’t want to be part of as the Stars.

Dan Hamhuis was actually one of the Stars best defensemen this season. Early in the season he struggled when paired with John Klingberg, and I think that’s the lasting image in everyone’s mind.

Hamhuis, however, actually played a fairly consistent and reliable game in the final half of the season. It was just overshadowed by the rest of the struggles in Dallas and he’s far from a flashy player.

General managers are rather conservative when it comes to offer sheets. There is a real fear that if you offer sheet an RFA someone else will offersheet your RFAs in spite and drive up their value.

If the Stars (or any team) were going to send an offer sheet, these five pending RFAs could be prime candidates. But all would ultimately have that offer met by their current team.

I’d love that deal if I’m the Stars. But the Arizona Coyotes would want more than the No. 3 pick.

https://twitter.com/jonastagramxo/status/870087218445996032

Jamie Oleksiak.

The Chicago Blackhawks are the easier answer, but it seems like they are trying to work out a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights to solve their problems.

And if Dallas was going to make such a move with Chicago it likely would have been for Scott Darling before they eventually acquired Ben Bishop.

The Anaheim Ducks are close to the cap and are going to have protection issues in expansion. Last week we discussed a potential deal for Jakob Silfverberg.

I like Cal Peterson’s game. The Notre Dame goalie and Buffalo Sabres prospect can become a UFA on July 1, and if he makes it that far without getting signed by Buffalo he’ll have many suitors.

The Stars should be among them, but I don’t know why Peterson would sign with Dallas. The Stars just locked up Ben Bishop for six years and Peterson will be 23 in October. By the time Bishop’s contract is up he’ll already be 29, and I think he’s the type of player that would like an NHL starting role earlier than that.

The Stars also don’t have the best track record with developing goalies. If I were a young goalie looking at my options I would prefer a location that’s had a history of developing goalies and there is a pretty clear path to the NHL starter’s net within two or three years.

I’d be on board with that trade.

You do have to worry about the ownership factor and the executive rivalry between Dallas and Vancouver getting in the way of any Stars-Canucks swap.

Depends on how the Stars do out of the gate. Winning is fun and makes a system makes sense. Losing early could really be a downfall to Hitchcock’s style that wears on players.

Slim to none. He’s a head coach in the KHL with HC Sochi.

I do think he’ll have his number in the rafters sooner than later.

I thought he might have a front office opportunity with the Buffalo Sabres, but I’m not surprised Lindy Ruff hasn’t been hired yet. It’s still early in the offseason.

Really depends on the coaches. If Curt Fraser is back the power play will look similar, but maybe tweaked slightly.

The penalty kill should look different and have more structure with a new assistant coach running that system. I think the Stars will also put more emphasis on actually battling in front of their own net.

On a similar note, I think you’ll also see the Stars properly play 2-on-1s defensively under Hitchcock.

Ruff was the reason behind the ill-advised slide and dive approach to breaking up odd-man rushes, and I think that should go out the window.

Matej Stransky would have been a call-up late this past season, but he had a facial injury and there was uncertainty whether he’d be able to play so Mark McNeil got the call-up. Stransky ended up playing that weekend in the AHL, but was closely monitored by the coaching staff — he was essentially healthy enough to fight through an injury in AHL, but not healthy enough for his NHL debut.

Stransky’s skating has always been an issue, but it’s been improving and he’s turned into a bit of a goal scorer in the AHL. But can he skate well enough and keep up with the pace of the NHL?

I’d like to see him get an NHL game next season, it be a nice reward for his hard work in the AHL. But I don’t see it happening. The numbers game isn’t in his favor and you have to think the Stars won’t be nearly as injured this season.

I also like Maxime Lagace. He was one of the best stories of the 2015-16 season for the Texas Stars. Here was an undrafted goalie that was almost sent to the SPHL during the 2014-15 season before proving he could be an AHL option.

He then played extremely well in NHL training camp this season and looked like he could be a future NHL option. But as soon as expectations were attached the wheels fell off.

If a similar situation happened with a forward or defenseman I’d hold onto him. You have the roster spots to do so and can take on projects. But the Stars need to find a goalie prospect that can step up and it’s time to see if Philippe Desrosiers or Landon Bow can be that guy in the AHL.

With the exception of the Penguins goalie situation — they’ll need to get Marc-Andre Fleury to waive his no-movement clause for the expansion draft — both teams in the Stanley Cup Final are in a pretty good spot to hold onto their top assets this summer.

I imagine that Nashville will go with the 8+1 protection scheme to protect their top-four defensemen and it works out well that a couple other key players (including captain Mike Fisher) are pending UFAs that they can sign after the expansion draft.

You could ask about Pontus Aberg, who made some noise in Game 2 when he turned Olli Maata inside out. I’ve always liked his game with the Milwaukee Admirals and he should be exposed in the expansion draft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx70Z7h4HDU

Pittsburgh is in a similar situation. The players I’d like to go after in theory will be protected in the expansion draft and I don’t see why the Penguins would part with them.

Don’t see a motive for the Predators to make that trade.

I think there is a better chance of acquiring Calvin De Haan, who is at risk of being exposed in the expansion draft and could be available.

You’d probably have to add decent prospect or a roster player to make it work. But I don’t think Edler is worth that trade for Dallas.

Wouldn’t mind seeing Dallas go after Alex Galchenyuk, good top-six winger. But I’d have to see the cost first.

The Stars are high on Cale Makar, I don’t know if he’s top-three pick worthy. But he could be the player Dallas picks if they trade back within the top-10 selections.

Timothy Liljegren is hard to judge after a tough season, which included a lengthy bout with mono, but could be a steal for a team in the teens. Gabriel Vilardi was impressive at the Memorial Cup, if I’m picking between him and Casey Middestadt (who should also be a top-10 pick) I go with the kid who impressed in the OHL.

(However, I wouldn’t take any of these players at No. 3).

https://twitter.com/BobSchaller/status/870421316758720513

As soon as 100 Things Stars Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is ready for pre-order I will be posting a link.

Right now the book is still in the interview process, and I’m looking forward to sharing several of the stories when it publishes in October 2018.

I’m going to flip this question and throw out a suggestion for the NBA, which I think is missing out on an opportunity.

Why don’t they start the NBA season on Christmas Day? The NBA already owns the holiday and it would put even more fanfare into the start of the season. The NBA Finals would then be held in July, a notoriously slow time for sports, and would be the center of all sports conversation.

The NBA would also avoid the NFL in this case, avoiding head-to-head competition amongst the two top-viewed spectator sports in the United States.

Ok, back to hockey…

Having Travis Morin back on an AHL contract is a good deal for the Stars. Morin is a great leader and example for prospects, and he’s being compensated well for that on this AHL deal.

Not a deal that I’d be willing to make. Nolan Patrick is the No. 1 pick in this draft, but he’s not worth giving up multiple assets to acquire if the Stars are truly in the midst of a quick rebuild.

Technically the California Golden Seals are part of Dallas Stars history, bring back those skates for a game.

Last one I can remember was back in 2009 when Jason Spezza was caught with an illegal stick.

Pantera.

He’s been forced to watch every Mets game since 1962. I’m actually shocked it took him this long to lose his mind.

I’ll let Instagram answer this one.

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Comments

  1. General question about the expansion
    draft: as I understand it, Vegas has
    to draft 30 players (1 from each
    team), but only 20 of those players
    have to eventually be under contract
    for the 2017-2018 season, correct?
    What happens to those potential 10
    players who were drafted by Vegas,
    but didn’t sign? Do they just become
    free agents?

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