It’s no secret the Dallas Stars are on the hunt for a number-one, stay at home defenseman, a position that nearly every team in the NHL needs to be successful. With the playoffs coming to an end and the trade barrier being lifted, the Stars could trade for an established big-name player: Brent Seabrook.
Currently number seven for the Chicago Blackhawks, Seabrook is a powerhouse on the back end. His notable accomplishments to date include gold medals at both World Juniors in 2005 and the Olympics in 2010 for Team Canada, as well as winning the Stanley Cup with the Hawks in both 2010 and 2013.
More than that, though, Seabrook displays the physicality the Stars could use on the blue line as well. The 6’3″, 220 pound man is a force to be reckoned with on the ice defensively, while his offensive abilities aren’t to shabby either seeing that he’s scored forty points between the regular season and playoffs thus far.
The logical question is whether or not it’s realistic that the Stars could acquire Seabrook for next season. He signed a five-year, $30 million contract back in 2011; however, next season is the last year of his terms and the Hawks will be in a bit of a salary cap situation at that time.
Chicago’s dynamic duo of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews signed massive eight-year, $84 million contracts that will keep both playing for the Hawks until the end of the 2022-2023 season. Both contracts will begin at the start of next season with $10.5 million in salary cap hits a piece.
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In other words, the Hawks will be forced to shed some players in order to remain within the salary cap limits being that $21 million is dedicated to two forwards. While that’s not so great for Chicago, it proves to be the perfect opportunity for teams like Dallas to negotiate for players like Seabrook.
Who would the Stars have to part ways with to acquire him? That’s a loaded question that really depends on what Chicago would want. Obviously, they would be looking for players with smaller contracts, but who the Stars would trade is really up in the air.
The best bet is that Chicago would want one of Dallas’ many defensive prospects, possibly Jamie Oleksiak or Julius Honka, but they could also covet up and coming forwards like Curtis McKenzie or Brett Ritchie. While I think the former is more likely because the Hawks have a fair share of forwards, trades are almost always a surprise.
In addition to the established prospect or two, Chicago would most likely also want to acquire some draft picks purely because they’re going to want to set themselves up for the future. Which picks the Stars would trade is really anyone’s best guess because it depends on the caliber of the player or players that go along with it.
All in all, if the Stars can somehow manage to obtain Seabrook as their number-one defender the team will be one to watch out for. If not, the quest will continue.
Would the Hawks trade Seabrook to the Stars despite them being in the same division? Leave your thoughts in the comments and, as always, thanks for reading!
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