The Dallas Stars made a big splash on July 4th, the day before free agency officially began. Trading for Tyler Seguin and Shawn Horcoff were the big moves that were part of a significant turnover on the NHL roster for the Stars, and the thought was that the team could be just as active on Friday when free agency would actually begin.
Instead, the Dallas Stars were incredibly quiet — signing Dan Ellis to a two-year contract and standing pat for the better part of the opening day of NHL free agency.
“We accomplished a lot of our goals yesterday,” said Stars general manager JIm Nill. “A couple of things we looked at today. Other than that, we’re pretty set with our roster.”
The Stars traded Loui Eriksson to the Boston Bruins on Thursday in exchange for centers Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley, adding veteran center Shawn Horcoff in a separate deal with the Edmonton Oilers. It was a big move forward for a team that needed big help up the middle, and the Stars have a much different complexion as a team than they did when the season ended in April.
“The roster has been turned over,” said Nill. “We had some weaknesses we wanted to address. Center ice was one of those we had to look at and we’ve added three guys to that position in the last two days, which is important for this organization. Tyler Seguin is a great young talent and we’re looking forward to adding him to the team and him being a part of the franchise moving forward. Rich Peverley is a good player, plays all positions, very well rounded player. Shawn Horcoff is going to add a veteran presence to the dressing room and on the ice.”
As it stands, it’s unknown exactly what Nill and Lindy Ruff have envisioned for this roster and where each player will be placed in the lineup. As it stands, it seems as if there is a hole at right wing and only a few young players set to fill in on the top six on the right side but at the same time — Nill says he’s putting together a versatile team where players are able to move around as needed.
“We’re looking forward to training camp, it’s going to be a good competition for some of these young kids,” said Nill. “There’s a lot of flexibility, too. Rich Peverley has played left wing, center, right wing. We got a lot of guys that shift to different positions, so we have a lot of flexibility as well.”
There are still some players available, including Damian Brunner, and while Nill said that they’re happy with the roster he also would not completely rule out any moves in the next few days. With the first big wave of free agent signings out of the way, teams can look for prices to come down a bit as rosters start to settle out. Even if no other moves are made, it certainly seems like the Stars are prepared to move forward with the roster as it is now.
Development camp continues tomorrow.