Jim Nill Could Be Aiming To Bring Trifecta To Dallas Stars

Alright, it’s almost time. No turning back. We’ve avoided it long enough. The NHL offseason is almost here.

But before the free agency market goes live, we have one more hurdle to clear, being the NHL Draft. The first round of the draft will premiere tonight at 7 PM ET. Rounds 2-7 will take place tomorrow morning starting at 10 AM ET. The draft is being held in Sunrise, Florida at the BB&T Center, home of the Florida Panthers.

All of the general managers have made their way to Florida by now and are anxiously mingling with each other, trying to figure out potential trades and draft picks.

Well, I have some potential news for you, Dallas Stars fans. More than likely, something big is going to happen before the draft starts.

There has been plenty of talks revolving around the Stars about their hunting of a few specific players, mainly being goaltenders. There are three main goaltenders on the trading block at the moment, and they are Cam Talbot, Robin Lehner, and Eddie Lack.

The GM’s of each of these players have made it imminent that they are looking to trade away the player before the draft begins. This is mainly so the team could get an extra pick or two in this year’s draft and not have to wait or lose the immediate value of the player.

If the Stars are aiming for any of the three goalies, I feel like it’s Cam Talbot. Last night, Sportsnet reported that the Stars had been granted permission to speak with Talbot, though four other teams were given the same grant.

The other four teams are the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, and Edmonton Oilers. While the Stars can’t offer Talbot a guaranteed starting role like the Sharks, Sabres, and Oilers, they can offer him a quick chance at playoffs.

But enough of that. Let’s look at the trifecta I’m talking about. This is something the Stars have not seen within their organization in a long while, which is why it would be even crazier and more impressive if it happened this year.

What I mean by a trifecta is the possibility of picking up a superstar forward, superstar defenseman, and superstar goaltender in a given offseason.

In the past two seasons, the Stars have been able to pick up parts of the trifecta, but never the whole pie. In 2013, the Stars acquired a superstar forward in Tyler Seguin, but only gained aging veteran Sergei Gonchar on defense and mediocre goaltender Dan Ellis in the crease. In 2014, the Stars traded for superstar center Jason Spezza, but went flatline in the defensive recruiting department and only picked up Anders Lindback for goaltending, which turned out to do more harm than help.

But this year, Nill has a chance to complete the trifecta, and build a Cup-contending lineup as an effect.

The Stars have been rumored looking at all three sides of the puck. Though the Patrick Sharp rumor turned out to be a false “hope,” the Stars may be inclined to hunt down another forward that could mold into their top six. Or you could even count Patrick Eaves as the “superstar” top six forward, but that is only if he re-signs.

In addition, we all know the infamous Brent Seabrook, Dion Phaneuf, and Adam McQuaid rumors. The Stars do need a top four defenseman, but none of these rumors have been blown up officially yet. So no one even knows if Nill is hunting either of these players.

Lastly, we already know that the Stars are substantially deep in goalie rumors. There’s a very good chance that by the time you lay your head down tonight, the Stars will have a new backup goalie.

Next: Dallas Stars Three Excellent Trade Options At Backup Goalie

But Jim Nill is known for making his trades as subtle and drastic as possible. In the 2013 offseason, Nill pulled off a blockbuster trade for Tyler Seguin on July 4th. The best part was, there were no prior rumors floating around about this. This made the trade that much more stealthy.

In the 2014 offseason, there were rumors floating around about the Dallas Stars possibly going for a second line center. There were also rumors that Jason Spezza wanted out of Ottawa. But there was no real correlation between the Stars and Spezza. As June approached it’s end, chatter began to surface that the Stars would be shooting for Jason Spezza, Paul Stastny, or Joe Thornton. So in the end, the Stars did pick up Spezza, but there was no certainty that he would be their man until July 1st around 9:30 AM.

So, could Jim Nill end up pulling off the magnificent trifecta? We’ll have to see. Either way, it’s time to buckle up. The Dallas Stars are on the road to some potentially big changes. And those changes could be just minutes away. Stay on the edge of your seat. That’s all I can tell you.

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