Dallas Stars Must Keep Eye On Central Division Trade Deadline Activity

The Central division standings are tightening up around the Dallas Stars as the playoff race rages on. With that being said, the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline could be somewhat Central-heavy. As a result, the Stars will need to keep a sharp eye on the division’s pace.

The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline is just a few days away, and time is of the essence for the Dallas Stars.

Will they make a move to boost their offensive woes? If so, who do they target? And if they are brewing up a trade, who or what might they offer in return?

As the wheels continue to crank and the debates and fan-construed deals rage on in the pre-deadline frenzy, the Stars have an important task at hand. But it doesn’t solely involve using the deadline to their advantage in an attempt to upgrade their lineup for the playoff push. It also has to do with keeping a sharp eye on the rest of the Central division over the next few days.

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The 2018-19 regular season has reached the point where fans can usually begin picking out which teams are playoff contenders and which teams are out of the running. With each team having 23-25 games left on their slate, the time for teams near the bottom of the race to make a comeback is quickly evaporating.

But in the Central division, there’s not really any point in trying to eliminate a team from the playoff race right now. For example, the Minnesota Wild sat in the second Western Conference wild card spot going into last night; this morning, they find themselves in last place in the division overall.

The Central race has become airtight over the past few weeks of action. The St. Louis Blues have surged from last place to third with an 11-game win streak, the Blackhawks are 8-2-0 in their last ten and find themselves tied for the final wild card spot. The Avalanche and Wild have struggled over the past month but have done enough to keep themselves afloat in the race.

And then there’s the Dallas Stars. After losing five of their past six contests (1-4-1), the Stars watched their third place spot in the Central turn into the first wild card spot in the West. The Blues have surged past them, leaving a substantial gap over a handful of days.

But, the fact of the matter is that the Stars are still in a playoff spot. With the on-and-off inconsistency shown by the rest of the West, Dallas still rests in decent standing. That’s no reason to get complacent, though.

And that’s where the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline comes into play. It’s one last significant league-wide event that offers each team a chance to improve before the final month of the regular season. Whether that improvement is for the current season or for the future, it’s the last opportunity to make a deal before the offseason.

That’s important to remember. Each of the 31 teams in the NHL is currently doing their homework, deciding whether they are buyers, sellers, or neither. Those decisions will affect the trade market in one way or another, but it will most significantly affect the teams aiming to be buyers.

The Central division could end up forming a sizable part of the buyer market. But that’s nothing new.

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As the 2018 Trade Deadline neared back in Feb. 2018, the Stars found themselves in a similar position: holding a playoff spot but sitting close to the playoff wall. Any team in that position typically makes a trade or two in order to increase their odds of powering through the final month of the season and qualifying for the playoffs.

But the Stars stood pat. They stuck to their lineup while the rest of the Central division improved by striking deals at the deadline. As a result, the Stars sunk out of the playoff picture while the Jets, Predators, Wild, and Avalanche surged ahead.

This time around, the entire division could be involved in a buying fashion. Now, there are a few teams that, from the outside looking in, probably couldn’t make a serious run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some of the Central challengers still have some glaring flaws that could be quickly exposed in the first round of the postseason.

But the standings say that they can still make it in. Nine points separate third from last in the Central ranks; only three points separate fourth from the bottom. And with the Stanley Cup Playoffs being historically known for their unpredictability, the “anything can happen” mindset could very well be running through spots 3-7 in the division.

And that’s where the Dallas Stars have to stay alert. The deadline offers an opportunity for teams to fix their flaws and round out their weaknesses in preparation for a final push. If the rest of the division ends up taking a swing at improvement, the Stars will need to keep pace.

GM Jim Nill is keeping a stern eye on the market and is looking at potential deals right now. He knows what is at stake and he knows where his team could use new assets. He also knows that he shouldn’t make a deal simply for the sake of being involved. The move needs to be properly calculated and needs to make an impact on the Stars’ lineup.

But if the rest of the Central division is on the move in an attempt to get better over the next few days, the Stars will need to play their cards in an efficient way. The Blues are buyers now. The Blackhawks look to be in a similar position. The Wild and Avalanche are on the playoff border and may look to add another spark to push their way through the final few weeks or may look to sell outright. Minnesota is already involved after making a move on Tuesday night by trading Charlie Coyle in exchange for Ryan Donato and a fifth-round pick.

But the Central division race is as tight as one might ever expect it to be this late in the season. no team is out of it yet, and that could make the next few days incredibly interesting.

All the Dallas Stars have to do is keep an eye on the rest of their divisional challengers and act accordingly. Sounds easy enough, right?