In Jim Nill’s recent Q&A with Stars season ticket holders, he addressed the upcoming trade deadline and whether he plans to move any of the team’s young talent.
“We’ve got four young defensemen, five or six young forwards,” Nill said, per NHL.com. “We’ve got three or four guys in the top-20 scoring [Travis Morin, Brendan Ranford, Jason Dickinson] and another guy who’s out for the season in Devin Shore who was leading the league in scoring.
“When I talk about trades, when we got to make trades, that’s who everyone wants and I’m not giving them up. That’s too big a part of our future.”
Kathleen shared the video of Nill’s talk in Sunday’s links, but his remarks are particularly interesting in light of this note in Elliotte Friedman’s most recent 30 Thoughts. When talking about which teams are searching to add on defense at the trade deadline, Friedman had this to say.
…On defence, it was Los Angeles, Montreal, Pittsburgh, San Jose and Tampa Bay. No Dallas was interesting, especially since I linked Dan Hamhuis to them last week, so you wonder about your intel. But they didn’t get as many mentions.
For more on Nill and what might happen before 3 p.m. EST on Feb. 29th, head to the link. [NBC Sports]
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The Stars pulled off a 5-3 win in Winnipeg last night, thanks in part to a two-goal night from Jamie Benn. The team now sits in first place in the Central Division. Yay! [SportsDayDFW]
You can relive all of the fun with Stars Rewind.
Mike Heika held his weekly chat on Monday and chimed in on plenty of issues, including whether he’d ship Julius Honka and a few picks out to San Jose in exchange for Sharks defenseman Brent Burns. [SportsDayDFW]
Sean McIndoe counts down his “riskiest” trade deadline options, which includes Jonathan Drouin. McIndoe draws a few comparisons between Drouin and Tyler Seguin, and points out that a Seguin/Dallas sort of resolution would be the best possible outcome for Drouin. [Sportsnet]
The trades continue to trickle in as the deadline approaches.
The Buffalo Sabres have traded Mike Weber to the Washington Capitals for a 2017 third-round pick. #TradeCentre pic.twitter.com/XT0UerEdNP
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 23, 2016
The rest of Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts examine everything from Montreal’s handling of P.K. Subban to the Avalanche’s resurgence. [Sportsnet]
Players like Devils forward Lee Stempniak and the Maple Leafs‘ Brad Boyes are potential trade targets that don’t come with big price tags. [The Hockey News]
The Canadiens inked forward Paul Byron to a contract extension yesterday.
#canadiens Paul Byron: 3 years / $3.5M total #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) February 24, 2016
Mandalay Sports Media has acquired the feature life rights to John Scott’s story, and sportswriter Mitch Albom (Tuesday with Morrie) has signed on to pen the script. This means you’re going to have to decide whether to fork over $10 bucks to see the flick in theaters. [Deadline]
Did you think we were done with trade speculation? I hope not, because here are 10 more potential trade deadline targets. [Puck Daddy]
Darren Dreger offered this update on Mikkel Boedker and his future with the Coyotes.
It’s believed Arizona has backed off a previously tabled offer to extend Boedker, which further supports the likelihood he will be traded.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 23, 2016
There’s been plenty of talk about Eric Staal’s future (Robert even debated whether he would be valuable in Dallas), but TSN’s Travis Yost wonders whether everyone’s been focusing on the wrong Hurricanes forward. Enter Jeff Skinner. How would you guys feel about having the 23-year-old on the Stars? [TSN]
First-round picks are a hot commodity come trade deadline time. [SI]
Vote hot or not based on this glimpse of Canada’s World Cup jerseys.
How about a little taste of the Canada #WCH2016 jerseys from @adidas? On 3/2 you’ll see them all w/ full rosters. pic.twitter.com/SEWw44ueTC
— NHL (@NHL) February 23, 2016
Over at ESPN, Pierre LeBrun shares the latest trade deadline rumblings, including that former Stars defenseman David Schlemko could be on the move. He also addresses Andrew Ladd’s future in Winnipeg and speculates on whether Loui Eriksson will continue to sport a Bruins jersey. [ESPN]
And finally, here’s Tyler Seguin under attack from Antoine Roussel.