Dallas Stars New Additions Still Not Threatening Cap

When the Chicago Blackhawks claimed the Stanley Cup on June 15, 2015, many teams began to prepare for the offseason ahead. But GM Jim Nill was already making plans to upgrade his team for a third straight year.

On June 27th, he made his first move. In the midst of the second round of the NHL draft, the Dallas Stars announced a trade. By giving their seventh-round pick to the San Jose Sharks, they obtained the negotiating rights to veteran goaltender Antti Niemi. Bringing Niemi in, the Stars now have a one-two punch with starting caliber in the crease.

Fast forward two weeks to July 10th. After making it known that the Stars were “more than likely done” with their offseason activity, Nill threw a curveball and officially announced a blockbuster trade between the Dallas Stars and Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. This trade sent D Trevor Daley and F Ryan Garbutt to the Blackhawks in exchange for F Patrick Sharp and D Stephen Johns. The Stars added extensive depth on their offense with this trade, along with gaining a valuable future piece for their defense.

Just five days later, the Stars planted one last seed in their ultimately successful offseason by adding veteran defender Johnny Oduya to the roster. Oduya had been a Blackhawk for four years, and had won two Stanley Cups in that time. His skill introduced to an otherwise young Stars blue line will be a great teaching model as well as a significant upgrade.

With the 2015-2016 season just around the corner, it seems that the Dallas Stars have gained a complete team. Though this was the belief last offseason before the Stars went the opposite direction, this season is simply begging to be a big success. After it, the Stars will run into something they’ve yet to hit, and that is a big offseason.

Now, the first thing to be understood is that the NHL cap can be very tricky. Rarely are there definite scenarios, and the numbers are constantly changing due to multiple different factors. So this is only a potential situation. It could end up becoming a factor, it could disappear before the season begins.

But the Stars still have plenty of space at the moment. After all the big offseason moves, they have still retained some breathing room.

Success always comes at a cost, and the Blackhawks are a prime example of this. After putting together an all-star roster this past year, the Hawks won the Stanley Cup. But then the offseason rolled around, and it was clear they would have to rid themselves of a few contracts in order to stay within the cap boundary. As a result, the likes of Sharp, Oduya, and Brandon Saad were lost. The Stars could possibly be the next team to fall victim to this scenario, but we can only hope it comes in wake of a Cup.

With the three big players brought to Dallas this offseason, the Stars added about $9.05 million to their overall cap. But the fact that they did have the money to spend due to their conservative ways over the past few seasons further shows Jim Nill’s brilliance.

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