Stars Mailbag: Calder Cup Champions

Last night, professional hockey wrapped up for another year. The NHL season concluded last Friday with the Los Angeles Kings winning their second Stanley Cup in three years, while the Texas Stars defeated the St.John’s IceCaps to capture the Calder Cup. It was the Texas Stars first championship in their five year existence.

Now that the professional hockey seasons have wrapped up, all clubs will look forward to next year. The NHL Entry draft is quickly approaching and it will be very busy with the plethora of rumours currently swirling. Stars fans should be excited as the Dallas Stars will be very involved in all trade talk around the league. The Stars have a few holes that will need to be addressed heading into next season. GM Jim Nill has said that he believes improving the team will likely come through trade or draft, instead of gambling on free agents.

Blackout Dallas received lots of tweets regarding questions that fans want addressed. Here are the answers to a couple of them.

Do you think the Stars should target Tyler Myers and swing a blockbuster trade?

Tyler Myers is a very interesting study. He is a 24 year-old defenseman with a very respectable cap hit of 5.5 million over the next five seasons. The Sabres held their fire sale last season when they dumped Thomas Vanek, Ryan Miller, and Matt Moulson. They may not be done as rumors swirl around their young stalwart on defense. When Myers broke into the league in 2010 he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie. In that same season, he finished third in rookie scoring with 48 points in 82 games. Since his rookie season, Myers has had a tough time finding his groove again. He has only put up a high of 37 points since his rookie season, while combining for a -18. Having said all that, I believe Tyler Myers would be a great fit with the Stars. He is a young defenceman who is still learning. Myers has struggled the past few seasons on a team that has been at the bottom of the NHL consistently. Myers likely needs a change of scenery from Buffalo. Dallas would act as a real nice restart. He has familiarity with former Sabres coaches and current Stars coaches, Lindy Ruff and James Patrick. Myers also played junior hockey with Stars captain Jamie Benn for the Kelowna Rockets in 2008. The Dallas Stars would seem like a perfect place for Myers to recharge his career. If Sabres GM Tim Murray does make Myers publicly available, I’m confident that Stars GM Jim Nill will be waiting on line 1.

Which second line centre do y’all think is the best fit in Big D?

Of all the potentially available centres this offseason, I think a deal for Ottawa Senators captain Jason Spezza would fit the Stars needs best. He is in the prime of his career at age 30, he has great speed that would fit the Stars offensive system very well, and he’d also add youthful experience to a team that is still learning about the finer points of winning.  For more information about why the Stars should target Jason Spezza, read my previous article here.

With the Hall Of Fame class being announced very soon, is #9 going to make it in on the first try?

Mike Modano will be elected into the hockey hall of fame in his first attempt. Few players have meant more to the game of hockey than Modano has. He cultivated the game of hockey in the great state of Texas, while piling up an astonishing 561 goals and 813 assists for 1,374 points.  He was one of the best players of his generation. He will always be remembered for creating the iconic image of his hockey jersey flapping in the air.

That’s all the time we have for now. Make sure to get your questions in early for next week’s post! As always Tweet us @BlackoutDallas, like us on Facebook at FSBlackoutDallas, or leave a comment below.