Dallas Stars: Four Potential Targets At 2019 NHL Trade Deadline

Only two weeks separate the NHL from the 2019 Trade Deadline. This year, the Dallas Stars could be one of many teams involved in the frenzy as they gear up for the playoff race. But which players might they target? Here are four realistic options.

The Dallas Stars need to make a move at the NHL Trade Deadline if they want to be considered a legitimate challenger.

This was the message that reverberated around the Stars organization exactly 365 days ago. One year ago today, Dallas endured a humbling and somewhat shocking 6-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at the American Airlines Center on a chilly Sunday afternoon. It was one of only three times in 2017-18 where the Stars allowed more than five goals in a game and marked their worst loss of the season.

In addition, it also helped wipe clean the five-game win streak that the Stars had used to start the month of February, including wins against Minnesota, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.

The game was really over before it even truly got going, with a 21-28-6 Vancouver Canucks team tossing the Stars around and outdoing them in almost every aspect of the game. The Canucks dominated for the entirety of the contest and shut out the Stars for just the fourth time in 57 games. In the process, they also thrust the the Stars’ biggest weakness into the spotlight: the need for offensive firepower and depth scoring.

With the need being obvious, the looming 2018 NHL Trade Deadline seemed all the more appealing. It looked as though it was necessary that the Dallas Stars be a player in the deadline frenzy if they wanted their hot streak to translate into a potential postseason spot. They were good, but they needed more.

But GM Jim Nill avoided the deadline altogether. He didn’t find a deal worth making and instead stuck to his lineup. You probably remember how the rest of the story went down.

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That lineup turned in a 7-9-4 record following the deadline, tumbled into a rut in the most critical part of the regular season, and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs by three points. An inability to fill a void created one critical error in the plan, and everything unraveled as a result.

That meltdown is now buried in the past under a heap of frustration and discontent. But dang it, if the past doesn’t always find a way of catching up.

Monday morning marks two weeks before the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline settles in. The Stars recently won five games in a row to help kick off the month of February, but lost their most recent game to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday afternoon. In the loss, one of their main struggles once again stood out: offensive consistency and depth scoring power.

And now, here they sit. With the deadline in 14 days, the Stars once again have a chance to be a player in the trade market and potentially save their season from a fate similar to last year’s. So far, Jim Nill has not allowed that opportunity to slip from his grasp.

On Jan. 14, he traded Devin Shore to Anaheim in exchange for Andrew Cogliano, with the hope that the veteran forward would make the Stars faster and more aggressive in the offensive end. So far, it’s worked.

Two weeks later, Nill reacquired Jamie Oleksiak from the Pittsburgh Penguins in hopes of injecting some size and physicality into the Dallas blue line. That trade also seems to be working in the team’s favor so far.

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But there is a need for more. Nill knows that. He knows that the Dallas Stars sit 29th in the NHL in scoring and are well behind where a playoff-caliber team should be in the goals department. He knows that the team needs second-line scoring help. And, he knows that this is the best time of year to find said help. Last year, he didn’t find any, and it cost the Stars their season (along with a handful of other factors). This year, he’s already been looking for ways to improve his club.

Just like last season, there is the potential to make a deal that will spark this team in the postseason race. The Central division race is getting tighter, and every available point already seems to matter a little more. That’s where a trade deadline acquisition can be of noteworthy assistance.

So, how does Nill attack this one? After all, there are plenty of names floating around the market. On top of that, there could be more buyers than usual, which could spark bidding wars and cause prices to fluctuate to undesirable levels.

It’s a tightrope that the Dallas management will have to navigate. And with Marc Methot (knee) on long-term injured reserve and players like Martin Hanzal (back), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches), and Tyler Pitlick (wrist) potentially joining him, the Stars could have some serious cap flexibility to work with at one of the most important times of the year.

All of that leads us into this Monday morning discussion with the deadline two weeks out. The Dallas Stars need help if they want to solidify their title as a playoff contender. The teams around them in the standings will likely be getting aggressive as the deadline nears, so it’s up to Dallas to keep pace.

The Stars may need a few things, but scoring help reigns supreme on their to-do list. There are a handful of forwards currently sitting on the market, but not every one of them fits the Dallas Stars as you might think (or hope).

Artemi Panarin would provide a massive boost to the Dallas Stars offense, but the asking price would be astronomical. On top of that, Panarin and the Columbus Blue Jackets currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan division and look like a playoff challenger. So, why would Columbus trade him away when he’s much more valuable in their lineup as they make a postseason push?

Meanwhile, Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel are trying to figure out their futures in Ottawa. All three are free agents after this season and could very well be looking for a fresh start elsewhere, so it might not be smart for the Stars to break the bank on a deal for one of them.

While it’s fun to play armchair GM and dream about the inevitable “what if,” there’s a certain sense of reality that must come into play during trade season.

Simply put: the Dallas Stars have needs that the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline can help fill. But, there are certain candidates that just aren’t realistic.

However, there is a decent list of viable targets that Nill could take aim at.

Let’s take a look at four sensible options that Dallas could look into before the 2 p.m. CT deadline hits on Feb. 25. Whether the price will be right or not in the end is a different conversation. But, as of right now, here are four players that could make a sizable impact in the Stars lineup just in time for the playoff push.