Dallas Stars Must Continue Aggressive Approach At NHL Trade Deadline

The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline is a little over two weeks away. And though the Dallas Stars have already been extensively involved in the trade game, their recent success makes it all the more necessary that they stay aggressive over the next two weeks.

The Dallas Stars currently sit in a playoff spot with 57 days to go in the regular season. While that may not sound like an incredibly relevant achievement with two months to go in the regular season, it’s something that the Stars can boast.

Holding onto a playoff spot in the NHL is an impressive feat, but only after a certain point in the regular season schedule. For example, a team sitting in a wild card spot through 15 games isn’t necessarily impressive. That team barely holding onto a spot could easily be the team that loses 35 of their final 67 games and misses the playoffs by a wide margin.

It’s simply too early to tell at that point, so the standings don’t carry extensive weight. But as soon as the All-Star Break ends, the standings become the primary focus overnight. Every team settles into post-break play and prepares for the race to the playoffs in their respective conferences. Standings begin to mean more and more and leave every team doing mental math for two months as they try to avoid falling out of contention while also hopping the teams ahead of them.

The All-Star Break was two weeks ago. Now, we’re over one week into the month of February. Every team is back in action and preparing for their final 25-30 games. And for all but a handful of them, that preparation is centered around potential playoff implications.

And that’s where the focus lies for the Stars. They exited their long break on Jan. 30 with a 1-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres and haven’t looked back since. In their past six games, Dallas is 5-0-1. That includes three critical wins against Central division opponents (Winnipeg, Minnesota, and Nashville) that have helped propel the Stars back into third place in the Central standings.

“I think we look at the standings fairly often. It’s nicer to look at after a win than it is after a loss; that’s just the way it is. But, I’m always more concerned with how our team is playing and how we’re growing. The frustrating part sometimes is you don’t see enough growth and then you do see growth and you get excited about how good we could be. Trying to get to that level where we start to see what we are on a daily basis is when we’re not going to have to worry about looking at the standings. We’re just going to know where we should be and we’ll be there.” – Jim Montgomery on Jan. 12

So yes, holding sole control of a top-three divisional spot after trudging through a four-game losing streak last month is an impressive mark. It’s something that should be viewed as a positive step in the right direction as the Stars try to avoid missing the postseason for a third consecutive year.

But as the Dallas Stars continue their surge and begin laying out their blueprint to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one league-wide event sticks out: the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline.

The trade deadline has been an intriguingly perplexing time for the Stars over the past few years. At the 2014 deadline, they made a few minor moves that looked like “sells” but ended up helping Dallas force their way into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 2015, they did some light selling as playoff hopes began to crumble. In 2016, they added Kris Russell in hopes that he would help the Dallas defense complement their league-best offense. The 2017 deadline was a fire sale, with the Stars selling four starters in Patrick Eaves, Jordie Benn, Johnny Oduya, and Lauri Korpikoski and simply looking towards the future.

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And then we have the confusing struggle that was the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline. After scanning the market, GM Jim Nill decided that his 2017-18 Stars team, one that had built a recent surge going into the deadline and owned a comfortable playoff position, was fine where they stood.

That mindset didn’t pay off and Dallas fell victim to their own decision-making as they collapsed in the final month of the season and fell out of the playoff picture entirely.

But that’s in the past. And as the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline approaches, the Dallas Stars find themselves in a similar spot. They are riding a hot streak, picking up 11 of a possible 12 points since Jan. 19, and currently sit third in the division. Everything seems to be clicking as the Stars have found a winning formula to buy into, and they are finding ways to win regardless of the opponent, location, or situation. That’s a hard skill for any team to learn, and it’s an even harder one for them to possess on a consistent basis.

Now, Jim Nill has already been hard at work in fixing his team through the trade market this season. Back in November, he traded a seventh-round pick for defenseman Taylor Fedun. It was initially seen as a depth move for the organization, but Fedun was called up a few days later to the NHL and has been on the Dallas Stars roster ever since, making a quick and impressive impact on the third pairing.

In January, he traded for forward Andrew Cogliano to boost the Stars’ speed on offense and also reacquired Jamie Oleksiak to add size to the blue line. Both moves have paid off so far, as Dallas looks both faster and more physical on defense.

There are still some voids that need filling, though. They could use offensive help, particularly with second-line scoring. At the moment, Dallas sits 28th in the NHL in goals for per game at 2.59. An bottom-five team in terms of league scoring doesn’t usually get a team very far in the playoff race. On top of that, the Stars might be smart to add another defenseman for the second pairing.

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Dallas is in a good spot right now, but with two months left in the regular season, there is plenty of time left for things to not go according to plan and turn into a meltdown. As a result, it’s up to Dallas to prepare for any potential disasters ahead of time.

That’s where the deadline comes into play. And though Dallas has experienced impressive success over the past few weeks, that’s all the more reason to be aggressive between now and Feb. 25 when the deadline hits.

The 2019 Trade Deadline might be one of the most unique in recent memory for one reason: the number of buyers. At this point in a typical NHL regular season, there are usually anywhere from 7-9 teams who have read the writing on the wall and accepted that they are not playoff contenders. As a result, they begin the “sell” protocol and open their roster for potential suitors looking to add talent for a run at the Stanley Cup.

But, at this point in the 2018-19 campaign, there are maybe four teams that can be counted out. For reference, the Los Angeles Kings currently sit dead last in the Western Conference; but even so, they are only five points back of the final wild card spot.

As a result, there could very well be more buyers and less sellers than in past years. That typically plays into the hand of a seller, who can up the price as more teams come calling. It’s supply and demand. The Dallas Stars will have to play this situation smartly, being careful not to overpay. But at the same time, they will need to be aggressive enough to where they stay in the running for a top target along with the excess of other buyers.

In addition, the Central division is arguably the strongest division in the NHL. It’s chock-full of teams with strength and depth on the ice. Those teams are complemented by aggressive front offices who are never afraid to pull the trigger on a trade or free agent signing if they expect it to make their team better.

“I think that’s what we say about the Central. Everyone talks about how it’s gotta be the hardest division in the league, if not sports. But when you come down to the last 30 games or so, you’re playing playoff games already.” -Tyler Seguin on Feb. 1

Last season, almost every Central division team in playoff contention at the deadline made a trade to bolster their roster. While they did, the Dallas Stars stood pat. One month later, they had slipped while multiple divisional foes were surging with their recent additions. In the past few days alone, the Nashville Predators have made three separate trades, acquiring pieces in an attempt to round out their weaknesses.

Staying competitive in the Central includes consistently piecing together a challenger and adding pieces when the opportunity presents itself. The deadline is that opportunity.

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In addition, the playoff race is still airtight. While Winnipeg and Nashville have built a comfortable margin between themselves and the playoff wall, the Stars are still working on it. They are 28-21-5 on the season with 61 points. While they sit in third place in the division, Minnesota is just four points behind in the first wild card spot. The St. Louis Blues, who looked left for dead just a month ago, have surged back into the mix and sit in the second wild card spot with 55 points and two games in hand on the Stars. Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Chicago all find themselves within two points of that final wild card spot as well.

The Western Conference is going to be a dogfight for all but four or five teams until the end of the regular season. That’s where rounding out the roster and putting the team in the best possible situation to compete down the stretch is crucial. Nill has to make sure his team is ready to compete and succeed in all areas of the game.

Also, this team is arguably as well-rounded as it has been in a few years. The defense is putting up historically good numbers, including the second-lowest GA/GP in the NHL at 2.54. Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin are both top-ten goalies in terms of save percentage and goals against average in the entire league right now. And while the offense still needs some help, they are managing and scoring when needed.

This roster has most of the makings of a playoff challenger. They have proven that they can compete, outdo, and even defeat some of the best teams in the NHL. That belief can take a team far in the playoffs. The roster is set to make a run, but still needs a few pieces. Now is as good a time as any instead of letting another year go to waste without even so much as a chance in the postseason.

The message is an aggressive one for Nill and his staff ahead of this 2019 NHL Trade Deadline. They know that last year’s deadline silence turned into a disaster and that they cannot afford to make the same mistake again.