Sorry for the lack of posts today I finally caved and spent the day at the doctor’s, and now I feel worse than before.
A couple of newsworthy notes: The Stars play tonight in San Jose. Big game here, in case anyone needed reminding. Sean Avery was picked up by New York, which is interesting considering John Tortorella’s previous opinion of Avery prior to taking over as the Rangers’ coach. Also, there’s some rumors starting to fly around the blogosphere that the Stars are openly seeing what worth Brad Richards, Mike Ribeiro and Jere Lehtinen could get in a trade.
The Stars aren’t trading Brad Richards or Mike Ribeiro, unless the biggest monster of a deal in a decade presents itself (which is highly unlikely). The past five games have shown just how much value Richards has to this club. Take away Ribeiro and what do you think will happen? He’s the team’s most talented playmaker with the puck and most nights he can be the dominant player on the ice. It’s not like the Stars are contemplating not making the playoffs and getting value in a firesale. This team still believes, and they still have a realistic chance, that they will make the playoffs. And when they do, with Richards, Tony Petersen and perhaps Brenden Morrow returning, then this team has the ability to make some noise once there. Trading off Ribeiro isn’t part of that plan. It’s also worth noting that Ribeiro and Richards have no-trade clauses.
Now Jere Lehtinen is another story. The sentimental side of me screams NO! when thinking about trading him, but the truth is that he will be an UFA this summer and he holds some nice, veteran value for teams that are higher up in the standing than the Stars. If the right trade presents itself, Les Jackson and Brett Hull are going to be hard pressed to turn it down without at least thinking about it. And if traded, Lehtinen could always return next year as a free agent. Do I think a trade happens? 40% chance at this point.
An interesting development: Several teams have placed some high-profile, veteran players on waivers including Miroslav Satan, Brendan Morrison, Aaron Voros, Eric Perrin, Gary Roberts, Martin Gerber, Erik Reitz, Jon Sim and Craig Adams.
Should the Stars pick any of these guys up?