Dallas Stars: FA Defenseman Market Has Very Few Options
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars have a lot to deal with this offseason, and one topic of discussion is to potentially build up the defense. If they are aiming for that, it seems that trading will be the only viable avenue to use, considering the free agent market is so scarce.
Four UFA defensemen. This situation has turned into the main event for the Dallas Stars. With the rumors of buying out and/or trading either goaltender being put to rest (at least for now), the Stars can settle all of their focus on the decisions that will have to be made between these four defensemen.
Alex Goligoski, Jason Demers, Kris Russell, and Jordie Benn are all on their way out as UFA defensemen, and are all in search of top-dollar extensions. Meanwhile, the Stars are running close to the cap and realistically will not be able to bring all four defensemen back.
As I’ve stated before, letting all four defensemen walk would be a ludicrous idea that would more than likely ensure another blue line implosion, similar to that of 2014-2015.
The guess is that the Dallas Stars will aim to re-sign one of the first three names and potentially bring Jordie Benn back as well, considering he will probably be the cheapest of the group. That means they will allow the other two regular starters to walk.
Of course, there are plenty of mixed reviews on this topic. Some believe the Stars should bring back Goligoski, others side with Demers, and a select few think Russell is the way to go.
Whatever the case may be, the Stars have a critical decision in front of them that must be dealt with. On the bright side, releasing two of these UFA defensemen will free up some much-needed cap space, meaning that Dallas will have plenty of space to play with.
But the potential downside is that the Dallas Stars’ defense would look something like this next season. Let’s just use Goligoski as an example:
Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg
Patrik Nemeth – Jordie Benn
Look familiar? That’s probably because from March 22 up until April 7, this was the Stars’ defensive pairing. While Kris Russell was sidelined for a lower body injury and Jason Demers was nursing an arm injury, the Stars ran this defensive pairing for seven regular season games. They went 5-2-0 in the span, giving up an average of 2.14 goals per game.
Those statistics are not bad at all. In fact, they are rather impressive on such short notice.
When you look at it that way, it seems as though the Dallas Stars lineup would not only survive, but also thrive in the season ahead.
That may be true, but there are too many questions still up in the air to make that conclusion.
Even if the scenario turns out favorably, like the one above, the Stars may still be in the hunt for something else. They may be hunting for another veteran defensemen or a fresh, new face to tag on the blue line for the long run. The only problem is, they probably won’t find what they are looking for in the free agent market. If they are looking to bring in any new d-men, it will more than likely have to come through trade, which would surely have repercussions.
Right now, the upcoming UFA defensemen list throughout the league is rather thin with high-quality talent. Aging veterans on the decline and fresh, relatively unknown names seem to dominate this year’s stock.
Assuming that the Dallas Stars will not have a ton of free cap space to work with, their only viable and logical options would be names like Roman Polak, Christian Ehrhoff, or Ben Lovejoy. After Lovejoy’s performance with the Penguins this year, he will more than likely return to Pittsburgh. The other two names mentioned simply are not the type of long-term defensemen the Stars are looking for.
Of course, Dan Hamhuis is still floating around as an option. There were talks that the Stars were trying to acquire him this past year at the trade deadline, but went with Russell instead. Hamhuis is only 33 and has some years left in the tank, but the high price will probably drive the Stars away.
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All in all, this is just not the year for UFA defensemen. The Dallas Stars may very well be giving up two or three of the top ten best UFA defensemen on the market this year. It’s simply not a strong year.
Does this mean a trade is out of the works? Absolutely not. Stars general manager Jim Nill knows how to work out an enticing deal, and we could definitely see him bringing a solid defensive piece of the future to the team. But it does not look like he will be able to simply sign one, as he did with Johnny Oduya last offseason.
This of course means that if the Dallas Stars are set on bringing a new face to the defense, there will have to be some sort of sacrifice. Whether that means one of the currently overstocked forwards, a couple of young prospects, or even a current defenseman, it depends on who they are trading with and how much is required.
Next: Stars Cannot Let All Of Their UFA Defensemen Slip Away
The Stars have a lot of directions they can go this offseason, and it may be difficult to keep up with. So make sure to keep an open mind and open ears as the offseason draws closer. Things are about to get crazy.