Dallas Stars Land Real Catch in Patrick Sharp

The Dallas Stars have had a show-stopping offseason so far: Antti Niemi’s out of the blue signing in addition to all of the draft weekend commotion, followed by Nill’s clever and stealthy trade for Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns, and finally Johnny Oduya’s signing. The dust from all the upheaval and excitement seems to be finally settling. Now that pretty much all the Stars’ defensemen have J names and we’re all convinced that hockey players know how to do summer better than the rest of us, let’s get a little better acquainted with one of Stars’ newest players and consider what he has to bring to the table in Dallas.

Let’s start off with the bare-bones facts, speed dating style. Patrick Sharp is sitting across the table from you, with five minutes to tell you everything you need to know about him. What does he say first? Does he go the plain and simple route, tell you he’s a Winnipeg native drafted 95^th overall by the Flyers in 2001, a three-time Stanley cup Champion who’s spent 10 years in Chicago helping to establish the Blackhawks’ so-called dynasty? Does he pull his gold medal from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics out of his back pocket to show you (because if Patrick Sharp speed-dated, why wouldn’t he bring his Olympic medal along for the ride)?

Or, because we are rolling with the speed-dating scenario, does he find some smooth and charming way of telling you (without coming across as too stuck on himself) that Victoria’s Secret really wanted him to be Chicago’s sexiest athlete in 2009 but he settled for being one of the “50 Most Beautiful Chicagoans” in 2011 instead? Does he nonchalantly bring up the fact that he dethrones Tyler Seguin as “most attractive guy on the Dallas Stars” according to Tyler himself, the same guy whose in-the-buff photoshoot for the ESPN body issue hit the shelves earlier this month?

Okay. Realistically, neither of those scenarios would happen because, sorry, we’re not speed-dating Patrick Sharp. But, if given a brief opportunity to tell you the most vital facts about himself, Sharp would probably not focus on any of these things. Olympics and IIHF Worlds Championships, being voted the All-Star Game’s MVP in 2011, winning the Calder Cup with the Philadelphia Phantoms- the accolades don’t seem to be in the forefront of Sharp’s mind. Maybe the 33 year-old’s 12-year NHL career has taught him about the essential building blocks of a winning team. And individual prestige is not in that equation.

During his 13 game scoring drought in the ’14-’15 postseason, Sharp told the Chicago Tribune that his lack of goals in the playoffs hadn’t gotten in his head. Instead, he asserted that “as long as we’re winning games and our line is contributing, it doesn’t matter who scores”and that winning is more about “being responsible and being good every shift.” Sharp’s disinterest in personal distinction is reminiscent of Stars Captain Jamie Benn, who didn’t seem to take the Art Ross trophy as any sort of solace after missing the ’15 playoffs. Sharp’s humility and mindset of striving for consistency are good indicators of the type of leadership that Jim Nill is expecting him to provide for the team.

Of course, he does have plenty of accolades to bring to the table; as Nill said in the press release about the trade: “Sharp’s track record speaks for itself.” And there’s no doubt that these accomplishments place Sharp in the Stars’ top six forwards, with Lindy Ruff even stating that he could round out the first line as a right winger. Obviously, trying to determine anything concrete about the Stars’ lines in advance is, well, ruff- I mean, rough, but it’s not that far out of left field to see it as a possibility.

Former Blackhawks teammate Kris Versteeg said that Sharp “adds a whole dimension of speed that backs D-men off and makes other players dangerous,” and that Sharp’s style had improved their third line. Imagine, then, the possibilities for the Stars, whether they place Sharp with Benn and Seguin on the first line or potentially with Spezza and Hemsky on the second line. Dallas’ offense, second in the league in scoring last season, can only profit from Sharp’s contributions.

So maybe all of that would take more than five minutes to say. But if that’s what Patrick Sharp shared about himself during his allotted five minute speed dating pitch, it’d be hard to call him anything but a keeper. Nill claims that Stephen Johns was the “main part of the trade” that brought both players to Dallas, but the Stars definitely gained an elite and knowledgeable forward in addition to the promising defensive prospect.

You can never really tell for sure what’s written in the stars for certain players during an upcoming season, but here’s to hopefully watching Dallas’ relationship with Sharp blossom and grow into something beautiful that will give us all butterflies and warm fuzzies. What do you predict for Sharp and the Stars this season- is it gonna be forever, or is it gonna go down in flames?

Next: Dallas Stars Injuries: Hemsky, Nichushkin, Jamie Benn Update

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