Are the Dallas Stars complete? With the NHL’s trade deadline looming March 4, that is the critical question.
It is a very specific question, too. General Manager Jim Nill and Coach Pete DeBoer are not asking what might help or which teams have assets to flip. They are not looking at pieces and contracts that might move and progress a rebuild, capture multiple draft picks, or support a playoff push. Those are the goals of the plebeian seeds, the suckers in the 9-hole trying to inch their way into a pair of playoff home games and a Stanley Cup-shaped lottery ticket. In the immortal words of Lou Brown: “We’re contenders now.”
“Complete” is doing the heavy lifting here. As of March 4, the Athletic gives the Dallas Stars a 16% chance to win the Stanley Cup. Those are the best odds in the league, tied with the Edmonton Oilers, just ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes (14%) and Florida Panthers (13%). Those odds mean this deadline is about finishing the project, and that means more options are in play than might be in a normal year. Once upon a time, the Dallas Stars traded Jarome Iginla.
Inflammatory? Sure. To be clear, the point here is not to suggest Lian Bischel is suddenly in the shop window. Then again….
Actually, no. What I’m saying is that it’s unlikely Chris Tanev is the last addition to this year’s roster. Right now, Nill is wondering when Evgenii Dadonov might contribute again, whether or not Tyler Seguin’s lower-body injury might linger, or what might happen if, Lord Stanley forbid, Miro Heiskanen goes down again. There are probably a million other nasty scenarios as well. Things that might slide by in a year when the Stars are just really good but become urgent when the stakes get really high. Were it not for two knee injuries (Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner if you’re old enough), is Dallas working on their third or fourth championship instead of a second?
The difference this postseason might be Sean Walker as a second right-handed defender to ensure both Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen play on their strong sides. It could be cap space carefully accrued – remember Logan Stankoven’s half-dozen paper transactions over the past week – and used to insert Mavrik Bourque into the suddenly less threatening Matt Duchene/Mason Marchment duo. Obviously, the Stars are ride-or-die in front of Jake Oettinger, but there is a conversation to be had about Scott Wedgewood’s -7.6 goals saved above average.
Each of those moves would be something of a moonshot, but think about the last time Dallas played for the Stanley Cup. Denis Gurianov sent a water bottle lid into orbit, their backup goaltender did not want to go home, and Corey Perry scored an overtime game-winner.
Nill did the thing Dallas needed when he grabbed Tanev. It was the play this team had needed to make since the offseason. But to get to the promised land, the Dallas Stars might need more than normal.
Weird stuff wins Cups.