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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Solving The Stars’ Goaltending Logjam

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

If you were a Dallas Stars fan while they were riding Kari Lehtonen until he broke, it may be hard to believe your team has come to this: The Victory Green Gang has too many NHL-quality goaltenders.

It may be just as hard to believe that having Ben Bishop, Anton Khudobin, and Jake Oettinger in their ranks could become a problem sooner rather than later. But other than the obvious cap issues, the logjam can cause development problems in the net pipeline and asset-management issues in other areas.

It’s far better for the Stars to manage the challenge before it starts managing them. The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks has explored several options, from the passive to the aggressive to the downright imaginative.

Clearly, there was a certain amount of hope in the 2021 expansion-draft scenario. But Khudobin’s play suffered the knock-on effects of both COVID-19 and a Stanley Cup Final run:

…Khudobin struggled during an inconsistent season in which he had a .905 save percentage, 2.54 GAA and was pulled five times. He turned 35 earlier this month, and has two more years left on his contract that has a $3.333 million cap hit. That’s not an enticing package for a team starting from scratch.

Add in that the Stars will have a quality forward (probably Jason Dickinson) exposed in the draft, and Seattle has better options in Dallas. Plus, there’s a host of goalies available for Seattle, either during expansion (Adin Hill, Jake Allen or Braden Holtby) or unrestricted free agency (Antti Raanta, Chris Driedger, Jaroslav Halak, Petr Mrazek, Philipp Grubauer, Jonathan Bernier or Mike Smith).

But what if you want to hold on to what you’ve got? It’s not an academic question, as the need for re-signing Khudobin in the first place illustrates:

What if Bishop isn’t ready to command the full workload of a No. 1 goalie, or if he suffers a setback? It’s not a situation that the Stars obviously want, but it’s something that’s arose through Bishop’s years in Dallas, as he’s missed time injured in each of his three seasons in Victory Green….

Even if Bishop’s knee is fully healthy, the Stars may be wary of Bishop’s injury history, especially as he turns 35 years old in November. The best insurance against an injured Bishop might be two backups in Khudobin and Oettinger.

Matt has much more – including an actively stupid scenario that you’ll never see in real life, probably, maybe. [SportsDayDFW]

Stars Stuff

If you don’t follow the Dallas Stars Foundation yet, the time may be now. They always have cute kids…

…but they’ll also add in some doggos as a signing bonus.

Around The Leagues

Stanley Cup Roundup

  • The Carolina Hurricanes came storming back, and now they have a 3-2 series lead over the Nashville Predators as well as a 3-2 win in overtime. [Canes Country]
  • And the Toronto Maple Leafs are on the verge of advancing after Jack Campbell earned his first Stanley Cup shutout, 4-0. [NHL]/

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Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

Riley Damiani had a pretty epic season, and the AHL wants you to know about it.

Finally

An early summer doesn’t mean you can’t have your daily dose of Jason Robertson. Enjoy.

Talking Points