Before I start your daily trade rumor session, I want to just express my views on one thing.
For me, discussing who might be traded or who might be coming here is all fairly meaningless until you put those things together in a workable package. Saying “trade Brenden Morrow” or “trade Stephane Robidas” or “trade for Jeff Carter” doesn’t really mean anything until you say what for so you can work out if the return is worth it.
And that’s where I think this column by Richard Durrett falls a little bit short. In it, he does a really good job of making his case why he believes the Stars should be willing to move some veteran assets – namely Steve Ott and Nicklas Grossman.
But he doesn’t say what they should move them for, and to me that’s just as important. If you want to use the pieces you get in return to build around 26-year-old Loui Eriksson, 28-year-old Trevor Daley and 28-year-old Kari Lehtonen, all players he mentions as pieces of his core, then it doesn’t make any sense to trade for draft picks that won’t be in the NHL until they’re 30, at least to me. But if the idea is to flip a 34-year-old for a 22-year-old who might be in an overstocked position on his own team, then that’s more reasonable.
So without the anticipated return, the slew of “The Stars Should Trade This Dude” stories that are and will be out there ring a little false to me.
To Durrett’s credit, though, the case he lays out for why the Stars should make a trade and the quotes he got from Joe Nieuwendyk are solid, and it’s definitely worth a read. Here’s some examples of the quotes.
“It’s dangerous to work that way,” Nieuwendyk said this week. “You can’t just say, ‘OK, you’ve got a bag of money. Go buy some players.’ History shows that doesn’t equate to success.”
….
“We all want to make the playoffs and would like to think this team has the character to make a push for the playoffs,” Nieuwendyk said, “but I also have a responsibility to have discussions with teams, and I think you have to keep an eye on the future.”
After the jump, more on today’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, even more trade mongering and catching up with the little kid snowed by Alex Ovechkin in the playoffs a few years ago.
- With a very busy stretch and lots of travel in the near future, the Stars didn’t practice on Wednesday. But coach Glen Gulutzan said changing lines would be “shuffling cards” while the real problem is effort and not necessarily combinations. [DallasNews.com]
- Jamie Benn appeared on ESPN 103.3 on Wednesday. If you can get through the cringe-worthy theme song at the beginning, there’s a pretty decent interview behind it. Also, and this is just a curiosity of mine, why can Canadians who live in America pronounce Modano correctly while Canadians who live in Canada can’t? Inquiring minds want to know. [ESPN Dallas]
- Sheldon Souray hasn’t been a huge contributor lately, but he’s still light years ahead of where he was at this point last year. [The Globe and Mail]
- The Stars are apparently up for a Dallas Business Journal award. The article says the award “recognizes the top deals and honors top dealmakers” in DFW, so I assume it’s about the sale. [Dallas Business Journal]
- As a friendly reminder, the Stars have the Hockey and Heels promotion coming up on Feb. 23. If I didn’t live in the silly little Ozarks, I would absolutely be there. [Defending Big D]
- If you ever wondered why there seems to be way too much passing on every team’s 5-on-3 power play, this article does a pretty good job of laying out the basic defensive strategy and then shows why passing creates holes in that triangle. [Backhand Shelf]
- Sidney Crosby is still not symptom free, so I hate subjecting you to news that’s still not really news, but this article does a really good job of laying out how this soft-tissue neck injury mimics concussion symptoms. Again, we still don’t know he doesn’t have a concussion on top of a neck injury, but it’s still interesting reading. [ESPN]
- If there’s a bright side to the whole Zdeno Chara-Max Pacioretty saga from last year, other than the much safer rounded stanchions, it’s that Pacioretty has done a lot of good for the hospital that treated him in the aftermath of his broken neck. [Montreal Gazette]
- Meet the enemy, part the first: The Blue Jackets did the Stars a big favor by beating the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, and here’s how our friends over at The Cannon saw it. [The Cannon]
- Meet the enemy, part the second: Vinny Prospal signed a 1-year, $2.5 million contract extension on Wednesday, but the most interesting part was the reporting that there was a handshake agreement that Prospal will get a job with the organization when he chooses to retire. So, um, does that violate the CBA? [Puck Daddy]
- Around the Pacific Division, the games: Dear San Jose Sharks. You suck for losing 4-3 to the Calgary Flames. No love, Stars fans. Also, Corey Perry got away with being Corey Perry and then scored the game-winner in the Anaheim Ducks 3-2- overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes. [San Jose Mercury News/Puck Daddy]
- Around the Pacific Division, the trade mongering: Brenden Morrow isn’t the only captain in the division who is the subject of trade rumors. Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes knows the ground he and his team stands on is rather shaky at the moment. [Canadian Press]
- The Montreal Gazette was on a roll with fun stories on Wednesday. In this one, they catch up with the little kid in the Montreal Canadiens uniform who was snowed by Alexander Ovechkin a couple years back after he got to meet the Russian superstar. Also, I think it’s hysterical that many adult fans got all worked up about the “danger” and “disrespect” while the kid himself thought it was cool to be on YouTube. [Montreal Gazette]
- There may not have been any practice, but Glen Gulutzan did speak to the media for a little bit on Wednesday. When he mentions “guys not feeling well,” it makes me think that horrid DeathFlu is still working its way through. Shouldn’t that have a shelf life of less than a month?