The Dallas Stars made a mistake at the trade deadline in 2016 in doing close to nothing at all. 2018 cannot be the same.
If you have the mental toughness and the tear ducts to, flash back to 2016. The trade deadline is looming and the Dallas Stars are sitting pretty at the top of the Western Conference, and contending for the President’s Trophy as the National Hockey League’s top-ranked regular season club.
It was Dallas’s best season since their 2005-06 Pacific Division conquest, and culminated into a triumphant Central Division title on the final night of the campaign. And, well, nobody outside of Dallas will remember it.
It was a wonderful season with three 30 goal-scorers, a 58-point sophomore John Klingberg, and Hart Trophy (MVP) finalist Jamie Benn. It doesn’t matter in the end – the Stars fell in embarrassing fashion in Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues at American Airlines Center by a score of 6-1.
They didn’t have the lineup strength they needed, and that’s mostly to do with a future-first attitude causing general manager Jim Nill to stay put for the most part at the trade deadline. It’s this trend that cannot continue in 2018 as the February 26 deadline approaches.
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The only acquisition for the Dallas Stars, who eventually fought off a myriad of injuries to place first in the West and second in the NHL’s, was then-Calgary Flames defenseman Kris Russell, shipped over from Alberta for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock, and a second-round NHL Draft selection (Dillon Dube).
Nill and crew felt “the future” was of the utmost importance, and needed to be protected in exchange for a potentially miserable end to a magnificent season. Well, guess what, now is the future (even if you felt so then, you really feel so now).
We have, at the max, three more years to win a Stanley Cup; that is the Stars’ entire window. Tyler Seguin is a pending unrestricted free agent, Jamie Benn will soon be entering his 30s, Alexander Radulov will not always be this skilled and speedy, John Klingberg won’t score 75 points every year, and so on.
Dallas’ best prospects are a defensive, albeit mobile defenseman (Miro Heiskanen) and a few decent forwards never projected to pop over 60 points (Denis Gurianov, Roope Hintz, Riley Tufte). There isn’t a future when your present is Benn, Seguin, Radulov, and Klingberg.
Dallas Stars
You never know what can happen with Benn or Radulov; they could get hurt next year and never return to their elite offensive form. Seguin could leave in free agency. Klingberg is a solid 60-point defenseman, but his absurd stat line from 2017-18 will not hold.
Jason Spezza is quickly deteriorating. The lockdown pair of Dan Hamhuis and Greg Pateryn will almost certainly be elsewhere in the league come next year. Ken Hitchcock is getting way up there in age, at 66 already, and could retire any moment from here on out.
The Dallas Stars have no time to waste. All of the moving parts of this season lead to an epic trade deadline buying spree, and while the cost might equal the size of the deals themselves (prospects, roster players, draft picks), it’s a neccesary maneuver.
That forward could be Mike Hoffman, Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard, Patrick Maroon, Evander Kane, Max Pacioretty, Thomas Vanek, or Gustav Nyquist. There are no wrong choices in adding a forward amongst these men as long as Nill and the men in the front office approve; the only wrong choice is no choice at all.
To Jim, if you’re reading this (he isn’t, but I’m blessed to say I’ve met Mr. Nill), don’t pull another 2016. We need to try, and in the absence of trying is to ask for failure.
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The Dallas Stars will need that push, whether it’s a superstar addition or a spark plug bottom-six player. Most importantly, they need to show that they will be assertive and not lay back just to perhaps win in the future.