2014 NHL Trade Deadline: Dallas Stars Quiet So Far; Rumored to be Interested in Tim Thomas

[Ed. note: Thomas has been traded to Dallas. More to come shortly....]

With a little less than an hour left until the trade deadline, the Dallas Stars have been very quiet so far after their courtesy move of Stephane Robidas to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

As always, there are a zillion possible reasons for that, from not liking the prices for buying or selling pieces to not finding the right fit to still working on things and haggling til the last second to simply liking their team. Only the remaining 40 minutes or so will really tell us.

But there is some smoke rising that the Stars may be looking for a backup goalie, with most of that smoke centering around one Tim Thomas of  the Florida Panthers.

Here's where the first wisps of smoke came from:

Doesn't sound like Tim Thomas will be united with Lou.. #Panthers talking to a few teams including #Stars

— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) March 5, 2014

And then some logs were added to the fire

Also hearing DAL in on Tim Thomas

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 5, 2014

Thomas is likely being displaced in Florida by the newly acquired Roberto Luongo and his Twitter account. The Stars are quite possibly in the market for a backup goalie after Dan Ellis had yet another inconsistent game in his inconsistent season, especially since they are in a race where 2-4 points may very well make the difference.

Thomas' numbers aren't exactly sparking this year with a .909 save percentage and 2.87 goals against average as he returned to the NHL after a self-imposed hiatus, and in fact they are in the ballpark of Dan Ellis' .908 and 2.75. But Thomas plays behind a much weaker team and, perhaps importantly, has a ton of big-game experience during his time with the Boston Bruins.

Will the Stars make a move to get a goalie or anyone else? Will the Islanders be able to move Thomas Vanek or the Sabres trade Matt Moulson? We'll know soon.