Going into the offseason, the Dallas Stars’ two biggest needs were a new goaltender and a veteran defender. But it’s slowly becoming more relevant that the Stars might need serious help on the right wing.
Just one month from today, each of the 30 NHL teams will submit the list of players that they have chosen to protect and the list of players that are available to be drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights.
In other words, the NHL is one month away from changing forever. It’s scary, yet exciting for the future of the NHL. But for the 30 current NHL franchises, it’s simply one more thing in the agenda that makes the offseason even more stressful.
Not only do front offices have to worry about how to improve their team in time for the 2017-18 season, but they also have to willingly give away one of their players in the draft. And for a lot of teams, making the decision on who to offer up will be quite the chore. The Dallas Stars are no different.
There’s some tough decisions that have to be made in terms of who they want to expose. Fans can speculate and hypothesize all they want, but it’s up to Jim Nill and Co. at the end of the day. How they go about it is a complete mystery.
And once the stress of the expansion draft is over for the Stars, they must next worry about a busy free agency period and a full shopping list.
Going into the offseason, the Dallas Stars were in an awkward position. Though they turned in an atrocious 34-37-11 season and 79 points just one year after winning the Central Division and falling one win short of the Western Conference Finals, they are still in good position to contend next year. All they need is a little bit of tweaking.
SenShot
This offseason could fix all of their problems. It was clear that the Stars needed two things going into the offseason: a skilled starting goaltender and a top-four defenseman that could help balance out a young core and provide depth. The Stars knew that, the entire NHL knew that, and it had been clear since the beginning of the season.
And Nill hopped on the ball early by trading for Ben Bishop last week and signing him to a long-year deal, effectively scratching off the first part of the list. The second part is still up in the air, but you can be assured that Nill is already looking into it.
But there seems to be a third need on their list that has become increasingly relevant over the past month: more right wingers.
It’s crazy how quickly the Dallas Stars’ right wing staff has deteriorated in one mere season. Going into the 2016-17 season, the Stars had a plethora of forwards who had significant right wing experience: Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky, Patrick Eaves, Brett Ritchie, Jiri Hudler, and Adam Cracknell, to name a few.
Eaves is now gone and Sharp, Hemsky, and Hudler are pending free agents. While it is still a mystery if Dallas will re-sign any of the three, there’s a good chance that none of the three return. Sharp had hip surgery that might push him to retirement and take him down from his former level of performance, Hemsky is pushing 34 and has dealt with some injury problems during his time in Dallas, and Hudler had a nightmarish first season with the Stars.
It’s a pretty safe bet to say that Dallas is parting with Hudler. If Sharp and Hemsky are both medically cleared and can still perform at a high rate, the only way they will return is on a rather significant pay cut from their current earnings (Sharp – $5.9 million, Hemsky – $4 million).
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So if the projection does follow through and all three go elsewhere, the Dallas Stars will be left with two natural right wingers: Ritchie and Cracknell.
Those are slim pickings compared to last year’s depth. That gives them at least two spots that must be filled to front a playable lineup.
While Cracknell had a surprisingly strong year (one that ended with career numbers across the board) in his first season in Dallas, his value is found on the fourth line as a depth forward. That’s where he makes things happen for the team.
You could make a case for Ritchie to be on the right winger for the second line next to Jason Spezza, but his skills could be used greatly on the third line alongside Antoine Roussel and Radek Faksa.
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With those two filling in your bottom two RW spots, there is still two open holes on the top lines.
They could go internally and either call up prospects or convert players to the wing, but that would not solve much. The Dallas Stars have a good offensive force, but it obviously took a big step back last season. They need more scoring depth to solidify their forward core, and that’s going to come from a natural winger that has been in the league for a while.
Now that the right wing is an evident need for the Dallas Stars, where do they go? Should they test the trade market, even if it means losing another valuable piece in exchange? Or should they wait until the free agency market opens up and try competing with other teams to sign some of the top RW’s (that is if they are even still available)?
With the expansion draft serving as a large obstacle for teams with quality pending free agents, the Stars would be smart to act here soon with a trade for the rights to an expiring UFA (or two).
Could Patrick Eaves make a triumphant return? Will either Justin Williams or T.J. Oshie be available for trade? The Stars definitely need someone who can play top line minutes and provide balance for Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, and all three of the names mentioned above could provide that. Heck, Eaves has already proven multiple times that he is capable.
There’s also been recent talk about a trade for Edmonton Oilers RW Jordan Eberle, which could serve as a nice filler for the top line.
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Whatever the case may be, the right wing is definitely something that the Dallas Stars need to focus on this summer. Improving in all three areas of the ice in one offseason would be unbelievably beneficial. The question is whether or not the Stars’ front office will be able to get all of the moves completed.
The clock is ticking.