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Tweets on Thoughts: Tanev, Methot, and the Rumors Surrounding Stars Trade Targets

Posted on by David Castillo

Silly season isn’t quite at our doorstep but at least the draft is. George McPhee fantasy kinged his Vegas Golden Knights, and just like that, a new NHL team is born. Born might be the wrong word. Concocted an alphabet out of burps because of dyspepsia is more like it. But at least they have plenty of picks.

Now it’s Dallas’ turn for a classic game of ‘will they or won’t they?’ Jim Nill will either answer questions about Dallas’ future. Or their window.

Trading 3rd Overall

There’s been a lot of smoke around Dallas trading 3rd overall. Who are these “pretty good players”? Since many fans are screaming inside, I’m glad your uvula asked.

It seems like a good move on the surface. Dallas has a team with Benn, Seguin, and Klingberg in their primes. They have a Bishop (Ben that is). They have rooks (like Julius Honka, Stephen Johns, and hopefully Jason Dickinson or Denis Gurianov to see Nill’s vision come to fruition). And they have picks. And not the kind where you’re liable to take Campbell over Fowler either.

Tanev is a great defenseman on a bad team. Kevin Bieksa once remarked Tanev could play “with a cigarette in his mouth” (an act that would make Mike Milbury’s head explode). Tanev would improve the blueline.

However, three issues: 1) while I think it’s unfair to call him injury prone (some were freak occurrences), the fact remains he has yet to play a full season. 2) Positioning. Dallas has a hard enough time figuring out who will play next to John Klingberg, Honka, and Stephen Johns. Trading for Tanev would require some gymnastics, and it’s hard to project how well any of these defensemen would play on their offside. Switching sides doesn’t just affect a blueliner’s outlet passing, but how they defend, as forward handedness disrupts defensive habits. And 3) The draft. But I’ll return to that later.

Unfortunately for Dallas, it doesn’t sound like they’ll get to answer these Tanev questions.

Benning likes to, umm, talk. So perhaps we should have seen the tackle from the get go. Dallas has bishops, rooks, plenty of pawns (sorry Nemeth and Oleksiak: still, never say never). What about a knight?

Marc Methot Rumors

Of all the rumors, Methot was been one of the more curious ones. On the surface, Methot sounds kind of perfect. He has been Erik Karlsson’s steady left hand man for years in Ottawa, granting legitimacy to the conventional wisdom that an offensive defenseman needs a defensive defenseman. Perhaps because conventional wisdom suggests that offensive defensemen are, by nature, riskier or less defensively inclined. But is this similar to the incorrect assumption that Emelin took care of Subban’s mistakes?

Granted, the counterpoint is that Karlsson didn’t spend much time away from Methot, so their WOWY sample sizes are limited. Nonetheless, the fact remains: why give up assets when Dallas could find the exact same player in Karl Alzner? Dallas still has to answer questions about the blueline’s left side, so it shouldn’t be dismissed. But if the cost is high, it shouldn’t be considered either.

Dallas’ Anaheim pick will yield a good young player. There are a crate of quality centers and defensemen in this draft. Not to much Oettinger and DiPietro to fix Dallas’ goalie prospect problems. Unless it’s part of a package for real quality, Dallas would be better off trying elsewhere.

There’s also the more important factor: according to Darren Dreger, McPhee thinks Methot could be Vegas’ captain, which is driving the price far too high.

Which takes us elsewhere in Easteros.

Travis Hamonic?

Hamonic might seem like a good fit on the surface. Unlike Methot, he’s younger and with a much lower cap- $3.8 million through 2021. Like, Methot, however, the asking price is high (two firsts in point of fact). And then there’s the “how good is he really?” question. Like Methot.

It wasn’t a good season for the Islanders. Hamonic especially. Here’s the part where I pump Shea Theodore’s tires. And here’s the tweet where I move on.

X-Factor, Thy Name is Draft Day

New Jersey potentially selecting Cale Makar would be considered a reach by some. Pronman, is, after all, only offering his opinion. This also doesn’t take into consideration New Jersey trading back in order to pick Makar if that, in fact, happens. Vegas is said to be high on Nolan Patrick – something about bloodlines I think. But NJ trading back to 6th overall wouldn’t guarantee Makar since Dallas apparently likes him, and Colorado would likely be in on the discussion as well.

The point isn’t to make sense of (the) Devils. It’s that Dallas is in a position to capitalize on a high pick in a weak dra-what was that? People calling this draft “weak” are being  foolish?

Thanks Hockey Graphs.

Back to the point, Dallas is in need of forwards just as much as they are defensemen. If Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick fall, isn’t this just as good as landing a great free agent forward, which they need?

Even if it’s not Nico or Nolan, can you let me whisper sweet twitter nothings into the public’s ear one more time about Cody Glass?

His numbers compared to Patrick aren’t bad either.

The other point of emphasis is that the draft is better than what the UFA forward class has to offer. Alexander Radulov is by far the most intriguing forward option. The asking price is high (sorry if I keep repeating myself):

Luckily for Dallas, they have $22 million in cap space (not counting where Niemi is headed). Not to mention, the Stars have been stocking Russian prospects like pierogies. Gurianov and Valeri Nichushkin (who Nill spoke to last week) would welcome their fellow countryman.

But after Radulov, there are a lot of aging wingers and centers.

Whatever happens, Dallas will be a better team next season. It’d be really difficult to accomplish anything else, to be frank. Now it’s just a question of how much better. Despite typical doubts about draft picks as “potential”, and “not a sure thing”, Dallas is set up well for the future. They’d be wise to start their progression back towards legitimacy the way great teams do: by drafting first, and signing contracts later.

Talking Points