Dallas Stars Could Have New Trading Partner In Ottawa

It’s no secret that the Dallas Stars goaltending has been subpar for the past couple of seasons. It’s either the starter turns into the workhorse while the backup slacks off, or vice versa. Stars fans haven’t seen both goalies play consistently since Kari Lehtonen backed up Marty Turco in the 2009-2010 season.

Two seasons ago, the Dallas Stars qualified for the playoffs with Kari Lehtonen leading the charge, starting the most games of any goaltender in the league that season at 64. The reason was simply because the Stars could not trust their shaky backup story.

Now, after two seasons straight involving trading backups, it’s become clear that something needs to be done and quick if the Dallas Stars want to be a serious playoff team.

It looks as though the Ottawa Senators may be presenting the Dallas Stars with another opportunity for the second straight offseason.

This past Saturday, the Ottawa Senators announced the signing of Boston University goaltender Matt O’Connor. O’Connor was one of the most highly sought after undrafted college free agents after this season. He helped carry the B.U. Terriers to the Frozen Four and compete in the National Championship game. He finished the season with a 25-4-4 record, along with a .927 save percentage and a 2.18 goals against average.

Ottawa made this big move just a few weeks after their miracle run came to an end in the first round of the playoffs. After finishing the season on an amazing 21-3-3 charge, the Senators snagged the first wild card spot, but eventually fell to the Montreal Canadiens in six games. Nonetheless, their future is bright, and this is largely owed to the newfound success in the crease, Andrew Hammond. Hammond finished the season with a .941 save percentage and a 1.79 goals against average and was one of, if not the hottest goaltenders in the NHL.

Along with Hammond, the beginning of the Senators had two other goalies in their arsenal. Those two goalies were Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner.

So, the Ottawa Senators have presumably three NHL goaltenders on their hands. See the problem?

With this in mind, the Senators are likely to clear the roster of one of these three goaltenders. Here is a look at each of their statistics through the 2014-2015 season:

Andrew Hammond 20-1-2 .941 SV% 1.78 GAA

Craig Anderson 14-13-8 .923 SV% 2.49 GAA

Robin Lehner 9-12-3 .905 SV% 3.02 GAA

So with three decent goaltenders on the market, the Stars could potentially be in the running to snag the loose link.

As it looks right now, there is an extremely probable chance that the Senators will re-sign Hammond and turn him into a full-time NHL goaltender. He’s proven himself greatly in a short amount of time. Anderson is probably their most consistent goaltender at the moment, even though he is on the downhill slope at the age of almost 34. Lehner has dealt with a couple of temper issues and moreover concussion issues, which is not what you want to hear about a 23 year old.

In the given scenario, it seems almost clear that Lehner would be the one to unload. But this would have to come through trade.

So, this would turn out to be a plausible scenario as long as we get past some “ifs”. First off, the Dallas Stars have two goaltenders right now in Kari Lehtonen and Jhonas Enroth. Lehtonen may not have had the best season, but the fact is that he is staying in Dallas, at least until next season.

Enroth is the question mark. His contract expires July 1st and he becomes an unrestricted free agent. In a recent article from Sportsnet, Enroth was quoted saying that he is ready to look around as an FA in order to maybe find a place where he will play more. The article made it seem that Enroth was ready to leave Dallas, but Enroth was quick to respond to the article and criticize it for not expressing the entire interview.

So, if Enroth walks, the Stars will need a backup. This may lead to Jim Nill going to the AHL and calling up either Jack Campbell or Jussi Rynnas. Once again, two big ifs.

If Nill decides against that, then he may be in the market to trade for Lehner. At this point, Lehner’s stock can’t be very high, so if Nill works a little of his magic, he may be able to pull off another Spezza-like deal. Who would’ve guessed it would be the same team?

Our good friends over at Senshot (the Senators Fansided site) put up a good article talking about their goaltending scenario. It is explained better over there, so give it a look.

Next: The Ottawa Senators Overstock In The Goaltending Department

But in the end, this probably won’t happen. But it is nice to have options and ideas, right?

Next: Jamie Benn Making The Most Out Of His Current Handicap

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