Dallas Stars: Assessing Both Sides Of A Potential Erik Karlsson Trade

On Tuesday night, the Dallas Stars were rumored to be the frontrunner in a potential Erik Karlsson trade. However, recent reports about the details of the trade have split Stars fans on whether it’s a good idea. Should the team try and make a move?

It’s the Fourth of July, Dallas Stars fans. You know what that means.

First off, it marks the five-year anniversary since Tyler Seguin was traded to the team by Boston in the 2013 offseason. And secondly, it means that it’s another day for general manager Jim Nill to make a big splash.

It’s never really been like Nill to conduct big offseason business on July 1. While other teams land their big fishes via free agency signings on the first day of the market opening, the Dallas Stars have become known for staying relatively quiet. Instead, they wait quietly in the shadows, assess what their opponents do, and then counter with a blockbuster move and “win the offseason.” You’ve heard this story before, right?

It’s not unlike Dallas to be quiet on July 1. And that’s why it wasn’t necessarily a shock when the Stars only made some subpar depth moves for three days ago. Instead of going after a superstar top six scorer or potentially landing John Tavares, Dallas instead signed Blake Comeau and Roman Polak.

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It was a curious move, but wasn’t one that should be significantly questioned. After all, you should know Nill’s style by now.

Following the first day of moves, Nill left the door open for more potential moves in the future.

“This is a good part of it,” Nill said about his 2018-19 roster. “We’re still talking to teams and still have to get some guys signed. And once again, there’s still lots of things that I think could happen over the summer. But this is a pretty good core of our team.”

Well, those “lots of things” could be happening as early as today.

On Tuesday evening, the Stars were linked as the frontrunner in a potential trade for Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson. Trading for one of the best defenders of this generation is no small matter. So obviously, Nill is in the middle of it all.

Trading for an incredibly gifted offensive defenseman? Sign Dallas up, right? Well, maybe not.

As more details about the trade began surfacing throughout Tuesday night, more Stars fans became uncertain about the deal. With the assets reportedly involved in the return price, would it really be worth it in the end for Dallas?

Some of the assets in the potential return included Julius Honka, Devin Shore, Radek Faksa, and draft picks. But the main name that threw up red flags for Stars fans was 2017 first-round pick Miro Heiskanen. According to reports, Heiskanen is the Senators’ main target. That has some Stars fans unhappy and ready to back out, but others are still insistent on taking the deal and getting it done.

We ran a poll on our Twitter page last night asking for the opinions of Stars fans, and the results were almost evenly split (at the time this article was written). It had over 500 votes and boasted a 56-44 split.

Those aren’t typical numbers for a sports fan base. More often than not, there’s a significant majority that either agrees or disagrees with a move the team makes. This situation looks to be different.

And with that being said, it’s only fair that we present the pros and cons of both sides. Should the Dallas Stars go after Erik Karlsson regardless of the return price? Or should they leave it alone and continue their pursuit towards 2018-19? “Go for Karlsson” or “Hands Off Miro.”

Here’s a look at both sides.