Dallas Stars RFA News

by JCWM2 on Jun 29, 2009 6:13 PM CDT Comment 4 comments

[Note by Brandon Worley, 06/29/09 10:28 PM EDT ] Thanks to JCWM2 for posting this news. We'll have an in depth look at the Stars' roster, UFA/RFA situation and budget concerns tomorrow morning.

According to comment made by Mike Heika on his blog, the Stars have given Mark Fistric and Aaron Gagnon both qualifying offers, while John Lammers has not, and Tobias Stephan was said to be "out of the picture". He also mentioned that Chris Conner is considered a Group VI UFA.

Group VI UFA - 25+ y/o player with 3+ professional seasons and less than 80 games played (28 for goalies).

This definitely helps set my mind at ease when it comes to the status of Mark Fistric and the Dallas Stars.

This is a user-created FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Defending Big D. FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable hockey and Dallas Stars fans.

0 recs | Comment 4 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

So

Please excuse my ignorance, but this RFA/UFA thing always confuses me. So does this mean that come July 1st that Conner won’t be a Dallas Star anymore? Did he not accept his offer, or did we not even give him one?

by Kent K on Jun 29, 2009 9:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Not exactly, and it is confusing.

Conner is a Group VI UFA:

Group VI UFA – 25+ y/o player with 3+ professional seasons and less than 80 games played (28 for goalies).

That means that he becomes a full fledged Unrestricted Free Agent on July 1. He wasn’t a RFA to have a qualifying offer to be made. He can be re-signed just like any other UFA, but he’ll test the open market.

The Stars had the option to re-sign him before now of course (just like any other potential UFA), but starting on Wednesday he can sign with any team he wants. The Stars will let him see how much he’s worth to other teams and go from there. Remember, the Stars have a very limited budget this year.

Defending Big D: A Dallas Stars blog on SBN: easy to use, free to join.

by Brandon Worley on Jun 29, 2009 9:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fistric

Honestly, I believe it would have been better for the Stars to look elsewhere. No offense to Mark, and correct me if I’m wrong, but he has had a history of being out of position and also lacks the speed needed for our type of defense. Sure, he can hit, but our defensive core has morphed from the hard-hiting, take-no-BS defense we had in our glory days of Hatcher and Matvichuk, into a speedy defense with a core around Robidas, Daley, and Niskanen. I think that Fistric is not fast enough, and if we wanted some grit on defense, we should sign some other defensman, may it be via the draft or FA that can hit better than he can. Idk, but that’s just my opinion.

by Dwade03 on Jun 29, 2009 10:38 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I understand

What you’re saying, but Fistric is the cheapest and most effective means of having a physical defenseman. He’s only 23 and despite being out of position on occasion, he does all the right things to let him develop and get ice time in the NHL. With players like Niskanen, Vishnevskiy, and Daley (who is most effective when he is concentrating on offense), we need players like Grossman and Fistric to be the bangers and hit-belters of the back end.

While Fistric may not fit as your ideal defensive-minded defenseman, he has strong potential and more than you could get for the same price through free agency. I don’t see him ever getting any higher than a second pairing unless he picks up his game, but I think having him on the back end does more good than harm.

by JCWM2 on Jun 30, 2009 3:15 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs