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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Offseason Questions

With several pending free agents and financial strain due to COVID-19, the Stars have a lot of questions to answer over the next two weeks. Plus, whether or not Dallas return to the Finals, top free agent targets, and more.

Like the rest of the NHL, the Dallas Stars have a very important two weeks ahead of them — potential trades along with free agency will shape how the team looks heading into the 2020-21 season as Dallas looks to bring home the Stanely Cup next season.

Perhaps the biggest question mark heading into the offseason is the fate of Anton Khudobin. The Stars don’t make it two wins away from the Cup this year without him, but what if he has priced himself out of Dallas?

Nill has publicly said he wants to re-sign Khudobin, while the goalie has been very happy in Dallas. There are sentimental reasons to get the deal done, but if Khudobin is looking for a longer-term contract (which he’s earned), it won’t fit with the Stars’ long-term plans.

The other issue is the financial crunch the Stars are feeling because of the pandemic... A potentially tighter budget may not make a fair deal in Dallas even feasible for Khudobin.

While the Stars have some cap space, they might have an “internal cap” they operate under in order to save money. That has led some chatter that the Stars might offload one of their big contracts, which is easier to do if it’s from the blueline:

If a big contract is really in play and could be moved without player consent, it’s from the top defensive pairing.

Nill doesn’t want to move either defenseman — he really doesn’t — but when you start going down the list of big contracts that could be realistically moved and net the highest return, it’s either [Esa] Lindell or [John] Klingberg.

Sean Shapiro answers more of your questions about the upcoming offseason here.

Stars Stories

It’s Q&A day, apparently, as Mike Heika also fielded some questions:

Do the Stars have another deep Cup run in them this next seasonm? Matt Larkin takes a look at both sides:

Around the League

Pierre LeBrun takes a look at goaltending situations around the league, including how the Stars and Khudobin:

Elliotte Friedman also touches upon the Stars’ potential offseason plans this week in his 31 Thoughts:

In keeping with the theme of questions, Down Goes Brown answers some more silly ones in his latest mailbag:

Turns out the story behind the Tampa Bay Lightning trading up to draft Brayden Point is pretty funny:

Dallas might not be looking for any more blueline help, but here are some of the top defenseman available:

How might bubble hockey look moving forward? Greg Wyshynski has some ideas?

Finally, here’s an inside look at the all-important art of name pronunciation:

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