Amidst all of the fun re-signings and new players, the Dallas Stars community experienced some heartbreak today. They lost two dedicated and proven soldiers from their offensive corps.
You have to give to get. That’s a lesson that applies to many different scenarios in life and can definitely influence the NHL and its teams.
That’s one lesson that the Dallas Stars learned today, perhaps more strongly than in multiple years past. The Stars lost two of their most dedicated soldiers in Colton Sceviour and Vernon Fiddler due to free agency negotiations.
The Stars entered the offseason with eight pending UFA’s and a bit of cap space trouble, so the writing was on the wall that not everyone would be returning next season. Some of the names that were on the “goodbye list” for sure included Travis Moen, Jason Demers, and Kris Russell. But for the rest of them, things seemed up in the air.
Sceviour had been with the Stars since they drafted him in 2007, and he had been playing at the NHL level on a regular basis since 2013. The forward was just entering the prime of his career, and was filling the role the Stars needed him to as a fourth line grinder that can score on a semi-consistent basis as well as help out on special teams.
Out of all of the Stars’ free agent forwards, it seemed as though Sceviour was the most likely to return. He had proven his worth and talent to Dallas over the past three seasons and it looked as though Dallas had found the perfect fourth line forward that could play any of the three positions whenever they needed him to.
He signed with the Florida Panthers within the first few minutes of the market opening on a two-year deal with a $950,000 AAV. His AAV with Dallas was $650,000. The Panthers gained a proven and determined player with a can-do attitude. Florida is shaping up to be a very dangerous team next season.
Vernon Fiddler, on the other hand, might sting a tad more for the majority of Dallas Stars fans. Fiddler joined the Stars through free agency before the 2011-2012 season, so he’s been through quite a bit. The last two years of the rebuild, new jerseys and a new logo, plenty of new faces coming in and out of the locker room. Fidds remained one of the consistent players on the roster throughout the span.
Serving primarily as a fourth line center as the young kids ran the offense in the top lines, Fiddler did his job well. Like Sceviour, he was an effective grinder that played on the penalty kill and was always a reliable fourth liner with a plethora of hockey knowledge. Fiddler just hit age 36, and the fan favorite is slowly toiling towards the end of his career.
That being said, it was hard seeing the Dallas Stars fall short of the Stanley Cup this year, because many knew that game seven of the second round of playoffs was probably the last one Fiddler would ever partake in while wearing a victory green jersey.
There were plenty of reasons to bring both players back, but in the end Jim Nill just had a different plan. He is building the Stars into what he believes will be a championship contending team, and the fans believe in him, no matter how much it may sting.
At the end of the day, hockey is still a business. Becoming emotionally attached to players like Fiddler and Sceviour (non-franchise players) is almost a guarantee for heartbreak. It’s tough to see them go, especially knowing how close the Stars were this past season.
But those guys will forever live on as Dallas Stars. Their names may be off the roster and their locker stalls may be taken by new players, but it does not mean the memories go away too. Both of those players gave it their all on the ice, and that’s why the fans came to love them in the first place.
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It’s off to new things for both sides now. We wish the best to Fidds and Scevs and thank them for their years of hard work. Both were great guys on the ice and in the locker room, and I’ll definitely miss both of them.
Continue to trust in Nill. He knows what he’s doing, and it’s not an easy process. But it will be sooner or later once the Cup kicks in, right? We’ll see.
Next: Stars Bring Veteran Patrick Eaves For Another Year
Overall, it was a pretty crazy, roller coaster type day. The Dallas Stars are done for now, but that does not mean that they are finished for the offseason. Continue to check in and stay updated. A bright future awaits the boys in green.