The Dallas Stars are a little over a month away from facing another offseason on their path to building a Stanley Cup caliber team.
The main question building up to July 1st is whether the Stars will be making noise or sitting back and watching.
Since Jim Nill arrived as the new GM of the Dallas Stars in April of 2013, the Stars have faced two offseason opportunities. Nill has made big moves in both opportunities. In 2013, he snagged Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley, and Ryan Button for Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, and prospects. In 2014, he snagged Jason Spezza and a prospect for rookie Alex Chiasson and prospects.
So, as the 2015 offseason approaches, it’s up in the air whether or not the Stars will aim for a big move or not.
On one side, the Stars could use a top four defenseman and possibly need a qualified backup goalie who can bring consistency to the department should Jhonas Enroth leave. But on the other hand, the Stars proved from March 1st to the end of the season on April 11th that the team they have now could make a deep playoff run. All they need is a faster start to the season.
Whatever ends up happening, let’s take a look at the three players who, should Nill make a trade, would possibly be at the top of his list to deal. Now this in no way means that these are his go-to players to trade, but are simply players that have a favorable scenario that would draw a team to trade for them.
Next: Alex Goligoski
April 8, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Dallas Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski (33) moves the puck against Anaheim Ducks center Rickard Rakell (67) during the second period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Alex Goligoski came to the Dallas Stars as a part of the so-called “infamous” trade that sent Matt Niskanen and James Neal to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The thing people forget is that Goligoski is still on the Stars at this point, while the Penguins have dealt away both Neal and Niskanen.
Goligoski finished the season with four goals and 36 points, good enough for third among Stars defensemen. He is the second oldest member of the Stars blue line, and understands how the game works. With a Stanley Cup under his belt and eight years of experience, the 29-year-old is a great addition to any blue line.
“He’s one guy that just strives to get better. At the end-of-year meeting last season, he wanted to improve in some areas, he wanted to tighten up some parts of his game, and I think that’s the sign of a guy that never says ‘I’m good enough.’ ” -Lindy Ruff
But the best part about Goligoski is his dedication to always get better and his perseverance. For the majority of the season, he dealt with a nagging injury that made him a game time decision for a couple of games. In the end, Goligoski played 81 of a possible 82 games. Not to mention, he’s a workhorse. Goligoski, even with an injury trying to slow him down, led the Stars in average ice time this season at 23:49.
“You just have to put the days behind you, good or bad, and be ready to come to the rink every day and work,” Goligoski said. “As cliché as it sounds, it’s become a fun part of my life.”
Goligoski’s cap hit rests at $4,600,000 and he has a year left on his contract. If the Stars traded him away, they would need to be trading him to a team with a good amount of cap space to use. But, by the looks of it, who wouldn’t want Alex Goligoski on their team? I say trading Goligoski would be a last resort, and only do it if a big name opposing player is involved.
Next: Colton Sceviour
Feb 13, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars center Colton Sceviour (22) during the game against the Florida Panthers at the American Airlines Center. The Stars shut out the Panthers 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Colton Sceviour started out his second “full” season with the Stars on a rough path. After only tallying three points in his first 23 games, he finally began to find his game.
He was the go-to scratch every so often, switching with a few different Stars players. Sceviour had a four game point streak at one point in late December, and ended the year with nine goals and 26 points through 71 games.
Sceviour, 26, could find a win-win situation in a trade as well. He could move to a team that is on the rise and gain plenty more playing time, instead of sitting on the Stars who almost have too much offensive time and not having very much opportunity. Sceviour’s average ice time went down 2:10 from 2013-2014, and that’s even with 45 more games.
Sceviour has a cap hit of $650,000 and has a year left on his contract. Good option if the Stars needed someone to trade to an ailing team in need of offensive spark.
But, this is all hypothetical. If Sceviour stays, he will only resume his chemistry with Vernon Fiddler and help carry the Stars bottom lines along through the season. It’s simply all up in the air.
Next: Jyrki Jokipakka
Feb 22, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Dallas Stars defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka (2) against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Stars 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Jyrki Jokipakka came to Dallas as a bit of a surprise. After the Stars defense sort of stumbled out of the gate in late October, rather than calling John Klingberg up at the time as Stars fans were expecting, Jim Nill brought Jokipakka into the mix.
As expected, the 23-year old himself struggled to learn the ropes as quickly as Stars fans wanted him to. Jokipakka gained his first two NHL points just seven games into his career, but it wasn’t so much the focus on points as it was on defensive practice.
Jokipakka was partnered with Trevor Daley for the majority of his 51 game stint, and the pair was on and off. Jokipakka sometimes found himself in a tough situation, and that situation ended up in the opposition’s favor. He would skate with his head down and take vicious blows. Some called for his send-down to the AHL, and Jim Nill complied for a while.
Towards the middle of the year, Nill had a system set up where he would interchange Jokipakka and Jamie Oleksiak between the NHL and AHL. That system died out soon after, though, and Jokipakka ended up being the man to retain the NHL position.
Jokipakka is a homegrown player, and can only go up from here. If the Stars were to trade him away, it would be to a team that needs an extra touch on their already dominant blue line.
But, Jokipakka’s situation has a side effect. That is, he is a restricted free agent come July 1st. That means a lot of things can happen with his contract negotiations. Most likely, he will end up in Dallas for at least another year. But the odds of Nill signing Jokipakka and trading him in such a short span of time is slim. That’s why there’s probably a good chance the Stars will retain him, at least until a few games into 2015-2016.
Next: Players Falling Just Short Of Trade Talk
Mar 28, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Dallas Stars defenseman Trevor Daley (6) skates against the Vancouver Canucks during the third period at Rogers Arena. The Dallas Stars won 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Stars fans also had their minds on a few players being traded that won’t end up being dealt. These players are listed below:
Trevor Daley:
Many Stars fans refer to him as the “best/worst defenseman” because of his play this past year. With a career high 18, Trevor Daley led Stars defenseman by a long shot in the goal scoring department and finished second among them in points. But his -20 on-ice rating is a scary sight. This turned many against Daley.
Daley is the oldest veteran on the Stars blue line now, and still contributes on a nightly basis. His trade value would be extremely high for a team in search of a capable defenseman to help run their power play.
But Daley recently had hip surgery and will be out until around training camp. No team is going to want to trade for a veteran with a risk of not being ready for the season. The Stars will be able to use him next year, most likely to their advantage. He also has a clause in his contract, limiting his trade options to certain situations.
Live Feed class=inline-text id=inline-text-6Detroit Red Wings: Trevor Daley retires, moves into Penguins front office /
Ales Hemsky was brought in on a 3 year, $12 million deal in the previous offseason and had many high expectations set for him. With being a right handed forward and having great chemistry with fellow newcomer Jason Spezza, the bar was high.
Now at the end of the season, Hemsky is not what people thought he would be. In 76 games, Hemsky scored 11 goals and 32 points, along with a -8 rating. Most expected at least 50 points out of him.
But the problem which was hopefully fixed was that Hemsky had a bad hip for most of the season. He had surgery around the same time as Daley, and will be recovering until training camp. So same scenario as Daley, and Hemsky should come back all the more stronger for next season.
Travis Moen:
Travis Moen wasn’t really a huge factor for the Stars this year. After gaining him in the trade that sent Sergei Gonchar to the Montreal Canadiens, Moen went 11 games before registering his first point with the Stars, also being his first point of the year.
Moen seemed to have caught fire towards the end of the season, though. In his final four games, Moen tallied three points. But Moen is not someone being hunted for.
If Moen is traded, he would be a tag on in a blockbuster deal. The Stars will most likely be getting Moen back, and will more than likely be using him as their 13th forward. He will be one that can sub in and out based on his own along with everyone else’s performances.
Next: Conclusion
As I have said in plenty of prior articles, I don’t see Jim Nill making any big moves this offseason. Sure, some would be more than welcomed, like a top four skilled defenseman. But there just isn’t any talent that the Stars could sacrifice in order to gain other talent in a logical deal.
The Stars are good where they are now, but here are three options that could be moving on July 1st, if Jim Nill resorts to it.
