PREVIEW 4:15 AM CDT

Yesterday, the Dallas Stars (16-16-3) unofficially waved the white flag of surrender on the lockout-shortened 2013 season and began looking to the future.

The team traded its leading scorer, future Hall of Fame right winger Jaromir Jagr, to the Boston Bruins and its second-line center, Derek Roy, to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for prospects and draft picks. Both Jagr and Roy are impending unrestricted free agents. In a separate move, Dallas sent young checking forward forward Tomas Vincour to Colorado in exchange for young defenseman Cameron Gaunce.

Crash-and-bang left winger Lane MacDermid, who was acquired from Boston in the Jagr deal, and offensive defenseman Kevin Connauton, who came over from Vancouver in the Roy trade, have been playing in the American Hockey League. MacDermid will join the Stars at the NHL level immediately. He has played three games at the NHL level this season after making his NHL debut in a five-game stint last year. Connauton has been assigned to the AHL's Texas Stars.

In addition to adding MacDermid to the NHL roster, Dallas has also recalled forwards Alex Chiasson, Matt Fraser, Colton Sceviour and Tom Wandell from the Texas Stars. The club has sent forwards Reilly Smith and Francis Wathier down to the farm club in Austin.

Of course, the Stars still have to play out the remaining 14 games of the current season. At this point, they are playing for drafting position. The team will no doubt compete as hard as possible but outside of Jamie Benn, Loui Eriksson and 40-year-old Ray Whitney, there are few bonafide offensive weapons on a defensively suspect club that overrelies on goaltender Kari Lehtonen.

Today is the NHL's official trading deadline. It remains to be seen if the Stars, who previously dealt captain Brenden Morrow to Pittsburgh in exchange for defense prospect Joe Morrow prior to yesterday's moves, sell off any additional talent. Gritty winger Eric Nystrom, another impending unrestricted free agent, is a potential trade candidate.

Tonight, the Stars are in Anaheim to take on the Pacific Division leading Ducks (24-7-5). Last game, Anaheim had little trouble dispatching the Stars in Dallas by a 4-0 count after the game was scoreless into the middle frame. Anaheim is 13-4-0 at home this season but the Ducks have lost three in a row on home ice.

The number one goal for the Stars for the remainder of the season should be to work to improve their porous team defense. Dallas has allowed three goals or more in eight of their last 11 games and in 15 of the last 22. Few have been Lehtonen's fault. The defense in front of him --forwards as well as defensemen -- simply isn't very good.


PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

STARS

21 Loui Eriksson - 14 Jamie Benn - 13 Ray Whitney
72 Erik Cole -20 Cody Eakin - 25 Matt Fraser
24 Eric Nystrom - 22 Colton Sceviour - 23 Tom Wandell
Lane MacDermid - 38 Vernon Fiddler - 60 Antoine Roussel

4 Brenden Dillon - 3 Stephane Robidas
33 Alex Goligoski - 6 Trevor Daley
27 Aaron Rome - 36 Philip Larsen

32 Kari Lehtonen
[31 Richard Bachman]



DUCKS (per dailyfaceoff.com)

9 Bobby Ryan - 15 Ryan Getzlaf - 10 Corey Perry
7 Andrew Cogliano - 74 Peter Holland - 8 Teemu Selänne
34 Daniel Winnik - 11 Saku Koivu - 65 Emerson Etem
51 Kyle Palmieri - 20 David Steckel - 39 Matt Beleskey

44 Sheldon Souray - 23 Francis Beauchemin
4 Cam Fowler - 55 Bryan Allen
5 Luca Sbisa - 6 Ben Lovejoy

30 Viktor Fasth
[1 Jonas Hiller]


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