Joe Nieuwendyk: If I were him for the summer.

Sheldon Souray.  He's 34, expensive and not durable at all. 

If I'm Nieuwendyk, I'd be looking to sign Volchenkov and then I'd try to acquire someone like a Brent Burns or a Ryan Parent.  Both are young, good on the point, have tonnes of potential and can play a good 2-way game.  I'd also try to draft Gormley.  

We have the pieces to acquire a top defensive prospect.  Both Benn and Wandell have shown that they can play center, and perhaps one of them could be the number 2, making Ribeiro expendable.  Morrow may be the captain, but the Stars have a different face for their franchise and his name is Brad Richards.  Morrow is 31, if I'm not mistaken, so he's at his prime.  But with a history of injuries, given his style of gritty play, how long before he'll go the way of Ryan Smyth, a player just a few years his senior?  I think Neal is better, and we're pretty solid with lefties, so Morrow would be a name that I wouldn't hesitate dangling around in trade talks.  Fabian Brunnstrom hasn't played too well so far, but he's also been given lousy minutes for most of the season, and is usually delegated to the depth checking lines.  Not amazing for an offensive-type player.  I'd qualify him and then see what he can do on a top 6 line.  Maybe if all else fails, we could move one of our prospects (Vincour or Lindgren anyone?) and maybe a defenseman and try to acquire another right hand shot winger, like a Versteeg.  Personally, I think we could also benefit from standing pat there, and making room for a guy like Chiasson or Glennie to step in.  I think both have great potential.  

Trading is a difficult game.  Sometimes we have to give up something, to get something and you can't get quality without giving some away.  Morrow and Ribeiro may be endeared by the Stars faithful, but we have to make necessary changes in order to be successful.

And on a side note:  Was I the only one angry and confused with the re-qualification/extension of Petersen and Ott?  Sure, they're decent at what they do.  But Petersen takes away opportunities from a younger player like a Sceviour and I kind of thought Ott's asking price was too steep by Dallas' standards.  Then suddenly they extend his contract and give him a nice raise. He's ok and all, but why pay him like a top 6 and then play him on the bottom 6?  It doesn't make sense to me.