Okay, so technically, this is kind of a Minnesota Wild story. I’m just sort of culturally appropriating it, you know, like the Wild when they named Mike Modano to their 2016 Stadium Series Alumni team. It’s Stars-adjacent, in other words. Obviously, this is a summer piece, and Expansion Draft related. This is me taking a moment to appreciate what the Stars have in GM Jim Nill.
It started last week, with the expansion draft approaching, and word (courtesy of Bob McKenzie) that the Wild might be looking to deal Jonas Brodin. The Wild, you see, were up against it in terms of their Expansion Draft Protect list and looking deal something lest they lose a valued player for nothing. The Stars were rumored to be involved, which put the whole thing on my radar. Of course, being the Wild, Minnesota got nothing done, and wound up having to protect Brodin at the expense of Matt Dumba.
Consider this: each available player represents a situation created by his team’s management group.
There are stories like that throughout the league, just skim the list. In net, Vegas could opt for tenured-albeit diminished/diminishing goalies with Stanley Cup Finals experience (Marc-Andre Fluery, Cam Ward, Roberto Luongo) or up-and-coming youngsters (Petr Mrazek, Malcom Subban, Philipp Grubauer).
The crop of available defensemen follows a similar pattern. Minnesota left Matt Dumba exposed, Anaheim is dangling both Josh Manson and Sami Vatanen, and the Ottawa Senators could lose Marc Methot. Interesting forwards include James Neal (Nashville), Reilly Smith (Florida), or Ryan Strome (New York Islanders).
Don’t believe me? Go waste a morning on SBNation’s excellent Expansion Draft Team Builder.
The point here isn’t to lambast or examine any of the individual players available. Consider this: each available player represents a situation created by his team’s management group. Whether it’s a no movement clause (Fleury) or talent elsewhere on the roster (Vatanen), teams would not simply make assets available without cause. GMs across the league have made bets, in other words, and are now facing some of the consequences.
Meanwhile, Dallas’ big decisions mostly ended in question marks. It’s Antoine Roussel’s well-defined ceiling versus Cody Eakin’s no-good-very-bad season versus will Valeri Nichuskin ever play in the US again? Sure, the Stars might lose one year of Dan Hamhuis, but otherwise it’s a choice between giving one more year to Jamie Oleksiak (you cannot teach size) or to Stephen Johns (is he legit dynamic or Trevor Daley “dynamic”).
That’s not even considering the crease. On his own, Ben Bishop could be a pretty tidy piece of business, but look at the timing. Getting Bishop done prior to the Expansion Draft puts pressure on Dallas’ rivals. WIthout Bishop lurking as available, do the Knights snag a guy like Brian Elliott and upgrade a new goalie from nice-to-have to oh crap for the Flames? He also keeps Dallas out of Free Agency.
The Expansion List is also a window into what the rest of the league is willing to deal. Does James Neal make the Stars a better offense? If there answer there is yes, all of the sudden the Stars can offer a Vegas team unlikely to compete in the near term a better long-term asset. Nashville might have more immediate motivations, which could lead to a less palpable deal.
Speaking of deals, yes, Vegas has undoubtedly made or is in the process of making arrangements to protect some of the high-value assets on the Expansion List, but those are going to be Knight-friendly. In other words, instead of losing Sami Vatanen for something, the Ducks might have to pay to keep him in the flock.
Look again at Dallas’ list and ask yourself: does losing any one of these players doom the Stars’ season? Once again, Jim Nill and company have created an opportunity to exploit, and for that, Stars fans should be thankful.