STARS BIG SPLASH REFLECTS STABLE OWNERSHIP
Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill has earned kudos for the series of moves he has made over the last year that have systematically turned the club into one of the fastest-rising teams in the National Hockey League. From hiring Lindy Ruff as coach, making the blockbuster trade for Tyler Seguin and making yesterday's deal for Jason Spezza, Nill has taken bold but well-reasoned steps for bolstering his team.
Yesterday, in addition to making the Spezza trade, Nill went out and added a capable second-line winger in Ales Hemsky, found a new backup goaltender (Anders Lindbà¤ck) for Kari Lehtonen and added a capable veteran checking line player in Patrick Eaves. All that he sacrificed at the current NHL level to land Spezza was Alex Chiasson.
Let's not forget, however, that none of this would have been possible without the Stars finally having had stable ownership in place for a couple of years. Tom Gaglardi's acquisition of the team and the decision to bring back Jim Lites as team president and CEO marked a critical change of direction that got the once-proud franchise back on the right track. The hiring of Nill as general manager and the appointment of longtime Buffalo Sabres bench boss Ruff as head coach helped to accelerate the process.
For a few years, the on-ice "pesky Stars" identity -- the undermanned, underdog team that scrapped its way within a whisker of the playoffs on an annual basis despite a bare-bones budget -- was endearing. At a certain point, however, Dallas needed to either get its ship righted with capable people both at the C-level and in hockey operations or continue down a painful path that would not have ended well.
In all of this, I do feel a bit sorry for Joe Nieuwendyk. I thought he did a pretty good job as the Stars general manager under some extremely difficult constraints. Nill, whom I feel has thus far been an outstanding GM, has nevertheless had the benefit of being allowed to spend much more money than was ever made available to Nieuwendyk while the club was going through its bankruptcy and court proceedings that enabled Gaglardi to take control as owner.
The events of the last year have been the fruits of that transition to put stable ownership in place. Taking a look at the Stars' roster right now, Nill has given Ruff a very formidable group of forwards.
The young top line of Seguin, team captain Jamie Benn and Valeri Nichushkin dominated at times last season and figures to get even better as Nichushkin matures as an NHL player and the club's two franchise players start to hit the primes of their careers. As a second line, Spezza and Hemsky form the crux of a unit who could present some serious matchup problems for other teams that would otherwise focus all of its energies on containing the damage done by the Seguin line. As of now, veteran Erik Cole could be the third piece on the Spezza line.
In the meantime, there are many other valuable support pieces. With all the talk about the one-two punch in the middle, Cody Eakin makes for a fine third-line center. Add to that scrappy role players like still-unsigned restricted free agent Antoine Roussel and late-blooming Ryan Garbutt and the Stars bottom six also stacks up well against most other clubs in the NHL.
When healthy, Lehtonen has been one of the NHL's most underrated goaltenders in recent years. He had a bit of an up-and-down playoff series against Anaheim last year, but also didn't get much defensive support at times against one of the NHL's most dangerous lineups. Lindbà¤ck underachieved in Tampa Bay but is a decent backup option as a reclamation project who is still in his mid-20s.
The one major area of concern I still have with the Stars -- something that I think will still hold them back from being a major threat to go deep in the playoffs -- is that the blueline mix needs to changed. The Stars defense corps still lacks physicality (with the exception of Brenden Dillon) and still tilts a bit too much toward being undersized.
The Stars have an abundance of promising young defensemen in the farm system. It is possible that the likes of Jamie Oleksiak (entering his third pro season) or Patrik Nemeth (who did not look out of place in his NHL games last season) could step up into top six roles. However, there is no one who seems immediately ready to absorb a top-three role. In the meantime, the NHL veterans who are in place can individually be described as ranging from capable to adequate players but they are collectively suspect.
Teams throughout the NHL are eager to upgrade their bluelines, so the Stars have plenty of company in that boat. Even so, Nill will have his work cut out for him to ice something close to a championship caliber defense corps in the immediate future. What is more likely is that the Stars will continue to track the development of their young defensemen and essentially try to make due with they have in the interim at the NHL level.
The next steps in Dallas' evolution will be the hardest ones to take. It is comforting that lack of committed ownership and a willingness to spend competitively on the right players will not torpedo those objectives anymore.
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The information below is repeated from yesterday's blog updates:
STARS ACQUIRE SPEZZA (11:15 AM EDT)
The Dallas Stars acquired their much-desired second line center today when they acquired Jason Spezza from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Alex Chiasson, forward prospects Alex Guptill and Nick Paul and a 2015 second-round pick. Dallas also acquired minor league forward Ludvig Karlsson in addition to Spezza.
From a Dallas standpoint, this trade represents a tremendous upgrade. The team is now very strong through the middle with Tyler Seguin, Spezza and Cody Eakin anchoring the first three lines. The primary risk factor right now is that Spezza is an unrestricted free agent next summer and is already carrying a $7 million cap hit.
"There has not been any talks that I know of," Spezza told TSN. "I am open to anything but I am not worried about getting an extension right now. I feel good with where my game is right now, and I think I am real good fit [in Dallas]. I'm excited to get started."
Chiasson is a nice complementary player. The spectacular start to his NHL career (nine goals in his first 10 games) perhaps raised some people's expectations to an unfair level, but he is a hard-working forward with size who can score a bit if he works with the right playmaker.
Guptill and Paul also both have potential to play in the NHL and have good size. Guptill was a very good collegiate player at Michigan while Paul has improved steadily at the OHL level. Neither is likely to become a major impact player in the NHL but both have the tools to have roles in the not-too-distant future.
STARS SIGN HEMSKY (1:00 PM EDT)
Another significant roster move: The Stars have signed unrestricted free agent winger Alex Hemsky, who played with Jason Spezza in Ottawa. In a single day, the Stars have added two pieces for the second line to support the top line trio of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Valeri Nichushkin.
The Hemsky deal is a three-season contract, carrying a $4 million cap hit.
STARS SIGN LINDBACK
The Stars have signed former Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Anders Lindbà¤ck to a one-year contract for $925,000. Lindbà¤ck will serve as the backup goaltender to Kari Lehtonen.
The towering Lindbà¤ck was highly regarded a few years ago when he was Pekka Rinne's young backup in Nashville but more or less flopped in Tampa when he had the opportunity to become a starter. When the Bolts acquired Ben Bishop, who took the starting job and ran with it, Lindbà¤ck did not do nearly as well as Bishop when he got chances to play. A potential restricted free agent this summer, Lindbà¤ck became unrestricted when the Lightning declined to present him a qualifying offer.
As a one-year reclamation project who is still just 26 years old, Lindbà¤ck is a viable backup option for Lehtonen. The Big Finn remains the Stars' undisputed top goaltender.
STARS SIGN EAVES
The Stars added to their bottom-six forward depth by signing veteran Patrick Eaves to a one-year contract. The 30-year-old winger is expected to contribute on the penalty kill and in checking situations at five-on-five.
Best known for his four-plus season stint with the Detroit Red Wings, Eaves finished last season with the Nashville Predators and has also played for the Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes. He has battled some injuries in recent years.