Don't Do Anything Stupid! (Trades)

by lovesthestars on Jan 16, 2012 1:32 AM CST

The Stars don't have enough depth to make a trade. If they're going to go after someone like Perry, or any other big name player, they're going to have to give someone like Benn, Morrow, or Goligoski up. The Stars aren't in a good enough position roster wise to make a trade. Having Toby Peterson playing the point on the powerplay says a lot about our "depth". You know you're sucking the hind tit when he's on the point. To make a big trade on the deadline you need to have guys on your roster that you can live without. That's not the Stars.

The Stars do not need to trade Brendan Morrow. That would be like ripping the heart out of the team. He is very capable of winning a Stanley Cup, as was Marty Turco. They just haven't, and didn't, have the guys in front of them. You just don't trade guys like that.

This is how the Stars line up should look. There will be blank spots. Those are the positions they need to fill. I might have left a few players out.

1st Line: Jamie Benn/ ____ /____

2nd Line: Loui Eriksson/ Mike Ribeiro/ Michael Ryder

3rd Line: Brendan Morrow/ Vernon Fiddler/ Radek Dvorak

4th Line: ____/Steve Ott/ Adam Burish

1st Pair: Alex Goligoski/ _____

2nd Pair: Sheldon Souray/ Trevor Daley

3rd Pair: Nicholas Grossmann/ Stephan Robidas and let's throw Mark Fistric in here somewhere, too.

In my opinion, these are the only guys they have with on their roster with any real NHL talent. Notice how I left guys like Nystrom, Tom Wandel, and Toby Peterson out of the line up. In any other organization they'd still be playing in the AHL. The only reason we have those guys is because of the ownership situation. And now that that's settled, you can say goodbye to them. Let's look at what is there, though.

First Line

Let's face reality. Reality is that they have no first line talent, except Jamie Benn. Mike Ribeiro is not a first line center and Jamie Benn isn't either. Benn is a left wing. In the off-season they need to sign a playmaking center if they can find one. I don't think there is anyone that talented in the organization, they'll need to sign that guy in the off-season, or trade for him next season. As for right wing, Michael Ryder isn't a first line right wing. They desperately need to sign someone to play that position this coming off-season.

Second Line

The Stars have a second line that can compete in the NHL. You can have Morrow or Ryder playing right wing, Mike Ribeiro can center that line, and Loui Eriksson can play left wing. That is a very competitive line in my opinion.

Third Line

The Stars also have good checking line, too. I think as the future moves along and the Stars get deeper you'll see Morrow playing on this line, which will make it even better. The combination of Morrow, Fiddler, and Dvorak will make this line very potent. Each of these players are good for thirty to forty points a season. You need that type of point production on your third checking line.

Fourth Line

In reality, this is the line that Steve Ott should be playing on. He's a very good player, but he's not first or second line caliber in my opinion. He's a third or fourth line guy. Adam Burush is the epitome of a player that is hard to play against. They need one more guy who can play on that line, another player like Ott and Burish who play in the opposing teams' faces.

First Pair Defense

Goligoski is the puck moving defenseman we've needed since Sergei Zubov took off for the Rodina. But he needs to paired with a guy who can stand in front of his own net and be mean. Think Derian Hatcher. I think Jamie Oleksiak will become that guy if everything I've heard is true.

Second Pair Defense

On this line you have Souray and Daley. Both of them can move the puck and score. And Souray is another player who's big and can be mean.

Third Pair Defense

Robidas and Grossmann are two true shutdown defensemen and so is Mark Fistric. No improvements needed here.

So, that's where they're at. There is no one they can trade. They need all of these guys that I've mentioned on their squad if they're going to make a run at the Stanley Cup over the next few years. The front office just needs to be patient and not do anything rash at the trade deadline.

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.

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Comments

I disagree on the first line.

Benn is not our only player with 1st line talent. Eriksson is as good as any 2 way forward in the league. Now of course if we pick up a good player then we could afford to leave Eriksson on the 2nd line.

I don’t think Joe will trade for any big names just to make up for the injuries. If any trade happens before the deadline it will be a small acquisition. I think Joe will wait till the offseason to make a big splash.

"The Dallas Cowboys announced they have released Jerry Jones."

by T-rom on Jan 16, 2012 8:07 AM CST reply actions

Totally disagree with being patient

For 15 years I have followed the Dallas Stars. I watch EVERY game. I follow this team and the sport of Hockey DAILY.
I went to see the Stars play Colorado on Saturday and my wife and I sat next to this guy who was bragging about where his Season tickets used to be. He was explaining the sport of hockey to a few gentlemen that came with him. He called out every players first name.
“Come on Trevor!”,“Let’s go Jaime!”,"Way to turn that puck over Sheldon! and so on… but where I got really “pissed” off was when he said a half a dozen times out loud, " Brendon, You haven’t had a good game all year!"
I was freaking angry and confused. Are we talking about the same Dallas Stars Hockey team? Are you kidding me?
My point is that everyone has an opinion and alot of them are out there. Same with this blog. We cant afford to “be patient and wait”! Even when Ribeiro & Benn come back we will fall short of making the playoffs with the current roster. We are hurting in a couple of key areas.
The bottom line is WE DO have prospects and we do have draft picks to work with. I can guarantee that Joe wants to win NOW and he knows that there are going to have to be some changes. Get used to it . That is the problem, fans don’t like to see certain players leave. This is a business not a social club. Everyone on the team has a price tag! Everyone! Even Benn! I didn’t say that the price tag was reasonable though.
I cant wait for a few player changes that will come shortly.

by deerslayertx on Jan 16, 2012 10:15 AM CST reply actions

Yup

I wasn’t the guy sitting there, and I hate loud fans like that, too. I was sitting in front of two guys who looked like they were in a punk rock band in the 80s the other day. They were loud and obnoxious. What’s worse is when you’re sitting next to someone who thinks he knows everything.

Once they’re off the salary cap floor they can start making trades. But, until then, they need to work with what they have. They don’t need to start trading draft picks like Campbell, Oleksiak, and Larsen for someone like Corey Perry and Jerome Iginla. You trade for people like that when you’re a playoff team, not when you’re sitting at tenth place in the Western Conference and you have the lowest payroll in the NHL.They have no one to trade.

by lovesthestars on Jan 16, 2012 11:56 AM CST reply actions

while i partially agree with you

there are way more prospects in the system than the 3 you named, guys like klingberg, nemeth, chiasson, glennie, and smith are just a few.

its foolish to think all of these players will be wearing stars uniforms in the future. we also have the ability to know these prospects better than any other team that is scouting them. if we can make a package of them to grab a player that could eb witht he team for the next 5-10 years, itd be a pretty good idea

by Long Island on Jan 17, 2012 1:20 PM CST up reply actions

No

Let’s face reality. Reality is that they have no first line talent, except Jamie Benn.

I dont want to live in a world where Loui Eriksson isn’t a first line talent.

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by Josh Lile on Jan 16, 2012 12:26 PM CST reply actions

Patience!

This team is too far from the Stanley Cup to think you are going to trade your way to a Cup in the next 18 months. Once you bottom out like the Stars have done over the last 3 years, you need to rebuild through the draft. It takes a substantial nucleus of young talent that has already reached the NHL, to which you add key pieces to finish out the roster. While I do not agree entirely with the assessment of a couple individual players in the original post, the overall concept is spot-on.
Look at the Penguins and Blackhawks. They were at rock bottom, but each had an amazing core of young studs gathered over 5 years of drafting early. Then they added key free agent signings and some trades, and won Cups.
The Stars may make trades, if Joe N has players that do not fit into his overall plan to get those that do, but they need a couple strong drafts and the maturation of several bigger talent prospects into NHL regulars before they are in a position to have any realistic expectation of contending. Otherwise we will become another Calgary, Columbus, NYI … that just shuffles players around without a realistic plan, and endures a decade of mediocrity.

by denniso on Jan 16, 2012 12:41 PM CST reply actions

I agree with what you're saying...

but Pittsburgh and Chicago (and Washington for that matter) all got top 3 draft picks. Unfortunately for us we play well enough to make the playoffs, but we don’t play poorly enough to get the first or second pick in the draft, which will make it harder to build through the draft alone.

by imacdane on Jan 17, 2012 11:01 AM CST up reply actions

No doubt...

it is easier when you select at the top of the draft. It also helps if your #1 pick is not suspect, a la Glennie. But our situation is not unworkable.

If you can pick up gems in the 5th round or elsewhere, you can make up for these issues. Also signing late-developing amateur free agent gems (Dillon, Fraser) helps. Then you have to have a sound development philosophy and system. The Stars are showing patience, picking lots of college-bound and euro players with their later picks, giving them more time to assess what they have. Gone are the days of shared farm teams, and now we have the same system the Stars play being drilled into the prospects at the AHL level.

Bottom line, with the salary cap, you cannot build a cup winner without the bulk of your success coming from the draft. I see good things being done by the Stars that gives us hope for the (not so immediate) future.

by denniso on Jan 17, 2012 12:44 PM CST up reply actions

Saying that they are only 4 blank spots away from having a contending roster doesn't do your point much justice.

Eriksson is a 1st line winger and Larsen has proven that he belongs in the NHL and should be in our top 6 defensemen.

The Stars have prospects/picks/young guys that are tradeable if you look to trade them to the right teams with the right kind of cap and/or expiring contracts situations. On the flip side, guys that are older and more proven can be traded to Cup contenders for things like additional picks and prospects. It’s all a balancing act. He’s not going to shop guys like Benn, Eriksson, or Goligoski when he’s making his phone calls. Star caliber guys can be had for less than that. Look at the trade that landed Brad Richards. Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen, Jeff Halpern, and a 4th rounder.

Waiting til free agency to address some of these issues is the last thing that Joe should do. He’s not going to be trying to trade our highest level prospects for just peanuts. If someone like Larsen, Oleksiak, or Campbell does get traded, expect a top 3 forward or a top pair defenseman to be coming back the other way. That’s how the game is played.

by Travis Drybread on Jan 16, 2012 1:46 PM CST reply actions

They were able to trade away Smith, Jokinen, and Halpern because they also had Ribeiro, Modano, Lehtinen, Morrow, Hagman, etcetera. We don’t have that kind of depth anymore.

I think I can concede the point that Eriksson is a first line left wing, but on this team he’s not. They already have Benn, who has the potential to be better than Eriksson. As for Larsen, he has not proven that he’s a top six defenseman. This was his first real season in the NHL and he’s only scored two points in nineteen games. You need to do more than that if you’re going to be considered a top six defenseman in the NHL.

And as for making a trade, they don’t need to trade their best prospects for an elite player. A lot of teams try to fix themselves that way and it just doesn’t work more often than not. Build your organization from within.

by lovesthestars on Jan 16, 2012 5:56 PM CST up reply actions

Disagree

with a lot of that. Nystrom even if he hadn’t scored so many goals, he looks very much like an NHL player to me. And there aren’t any playmaking centers in FA that I recall. Haven’t looked at the list in awhile. FA is a crap crop, as usual the last few seasons. Either have to keep Benn there or make a trade, and we don’t have the pieces to get a top guy. Also, Goligoski doesn’t need to be in any first pairing, he’s not good defensively. At least his offense is coming lately. Also, at this point in his career Dvorak is a 4th liner on a contender. Although so is Fiddler. Fiddler is a very effective player but he doesn’t bring scoring.

by StarzenheimerSchmidt on Jan 16, 2012 2:04 PM CST reply actions

I think on this team with Ott and Burish on the fourth line, they could do well on the third. But, if they were playing for Pittsburgh or Boston, yes, I agree with you totally.

by lovesthestars on Jan 16, 2012 5:58 PM CST up reply actions

wait a second...

So you are saying Nystrom and his 13 goals have no place on this team right now? I understand that he is only here because we had to add a player, but should we really be so quick to dismiss a player who is 4th on our team in goals?