Dallas Stars Would Be Smart To Keep Greg Pateryn

The Dallas Stars have a defensive logjam and will have to do something about it before the season starts. Greg Pateryn proved down the stretch last year that he could be a valuable seventh man on defense.

The 2017 trade deadline was a busy time for the Dallas Stars.

Heading into the final week of February, the Stars sat at a dreary 23-27-10. They had just had a week off after winning a thrilling overtime game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the painful reality was quickly settling in: the 2016-17 Dallas Stars were not a playoff team.

Fans held out hope, working out absurd scenarios that would likely punch the Stars’ ticket (such as finishing the final two months of the season on a 15-4-0 run), but none of them had much reality to back them up. The Stars simply weren’t going to qualify for the postseason, and it was probably for the best.

So on February 24, with the trade deadline just five days away, Dallas did what any team not in the playoff hunt would do: they sold. They traded away some pending free agents that could help teams making a run at the Cup in exchange for pieces that would help them down the road.

Dallas Stars

They started by trading Patrick Eaves to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a first-round draft pick. The Stars also traded Johnny Oduya to the Chicago Blackhawks and Lauri Korpikoski to the Columbus Blue Jackets before the Wednesday deadline. All were suspected and even expected.

But one trade that left Stars fans bewildered. 48 hours before the deadline, Jim Nill traded defenseman Jordie Benn to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a fourth-round pick and defenseman Greg Pateryn.

It was a shocking move. While Benn wasn’t the most secure or valuable player on the team, he had signed a new three-year contract in the 2016 offseason and was the longest-tenured member of the Dallas defense. Benn was a skilled defender and reliable depth player over his five seasons with the Stars.

And with that, the right-handed Greg Pateryn joined Dallas and made his debut a few days later against the Islanders, tallying an assist in the game.

The 27-year-old played 12 games with the Stars, tallying three assists, a -2 rating, and 25 hits in an average of 17:31 on the ice. He has one more year left on his contract with a cap hit of $800K before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

But will Pateryn be in a Stars jersey that long?

The Dallas Stars had an incredibly productive 2017 offseason, strengthening themselves in every area. They added head coach Ken Hitchcock, goaltender Ben Bishop, and forwards Martin Hanzal and Alexander Radulov. They also traded for veteran defenseman Marc Methot to help balance out their young defensive group.

And with that trade came a minuscule issue. With the addition of Methot, the Stars now have nine NHL-ready defensemen on their roster. A typical NHL roster never exceeds eight defenders, and even that is a stretch. Seven is typically the best bet, giving a team six starters and one reserve as a last resort.

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Marc Methot, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Stephen Johns, Dan Hamhuis, and Julius Honka will likely be the six starters on opening night, which means that the last spot (or two) is up for grabs, with Pateryn, Jamie Oleksiak, and Patrik Nemeth as the candidates. It’s anyone’s guess which player(s) will fill the role.

But the Stars would be smart to keep Pateryn around for a few different reasons.

All three of these defenders share some common traits: they’re big, physical, and while they lack speed, they make up for it in playing a shutdown role. All three are more defensive-minded than offensive.

Pateryn’s situation makes him the wisest choice. His biggest asset (besides his size) is probably his intelligence on the ice. When he’s on the ice, he knows where to be and knows what the team needs out of him. He doesn’t overstep anywhere and stays cautious, making him a smart defenseman.

He’s also an excellent choice to be a depth defender. At the age of 27, Pateryn is just now entering his prime, and his role is pretty well set. He plays well as a seventh man, stepping in whenever needed and being able to match up well on any pairing with any defenseman. In his short time in Dallas, he proved that he can play that role effectively.

Meanwhile, both Oleksiak and Nemeth have shown an obvious struggle trying to play that role. Whenever they come back in the lineup after serving as the healthy scratch for a few games, they have proven to get off to a rugged start and take a few games to get back up to speed. Pateryn has shown that he has the ability to be up and running in his first game back.

Pateryn is also a right-handed shot, giving Dallas options on the right side. After four seasons as GM of the Stars, Nill finally seems to have balanced out his defense in terms of handedness, and Patyern could contribute to that balance.

He will also be a UFA at the end of the season. If this one year doesn’t work out and Pateryn struggles, the Stars will be able to cut ties with him after the 2017-18 year and move on. But if he proves his worthiness and fills his role well, Dallas could very likely re-sign him on a manageable deal, considering he is making less than $1 million a year at the moment.

Not to say that Oleksiak and Nemeth don’t have their own set of talents that they bring to the Stars, but this kind of role seems better suited for Pateryn.

Next: R.J. Umberger's Chances Of Making Stars Roster

The two longtime Stars defenders have spent the past 4-5 seasons in Dallas and have been unable to secure a starting job. The contract negotiations have become difficult, the roles have consistently changed, and neither defender has been able to establish themselves. It may be time to get one or both of them a fresh start in a new system that can give them the role they need.

But as for the Dallas Stars, Greg Pateryn could be the perfect “seventh man” on the blue line next year.

It looks like trading Jordie Benn did have a bright spot after all.