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Fear. His. Mustache.
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It’s official! The Dallas Stars have
a second scoring line!
But before I tell you about it, watch this classic video game commercial featuring the most prominent new member of the Green Machine (as well as another old friend of the Stars).
Somehow, someway, General
Manager Jim Nill has done it again! For
the second summer in a row, the GM of the Stars has punched the accelerator on
the rebuild in Big D. The result: in
just two off-seasons, the former Detroit Red Wings head of scouting has
completely rebuilt the Top Six for the Stars.
Last year it involved a seemingly troubled young center in Boston and an
eighteen-year old phenom from the south of Russia. This time around, the men coming to don the
victory green are, shall we say, a bit more experienced.
On Tuesday morning, I received a very excited text from my Stars-loving friend,
Tanner. It was only one word: “YESSSSSS!”
but I knew exactly where he was coming from.
In yeoman’s terms, July 1st marked the start of the NHL’s version of
open season. It was, once more, the start
of free agent signings across the league, but with an added twist this year. July 1st was going to be crazier than ever because of a rule change that allowed teams to meet with pending unrestricted free agents before the signing period began. Thus, when the clock struck 11:00 am CDT on Tuesday, all hell broke loose, with signings going down simultaneously from coast to coast. So upon seeing that text, I had only to ask myself: who had the Stars acquired?
In 2013-14: 23 goals + 43 assists (both stats would have easily placed third on the Stars behind Benn and Seguin)
And now he's ours. And the best part, he doesn't need to be a superstar to have success on this team. No, he is here to complement our already lethal top line and make them even deadlier. They will do this by forcing the opposition to pick their poison, that is, the opponent's top pairing will be unable to defend back-to-back assaults from two top-tier scoring lines. That's the value of a second-line center that can create a true scoring line. Last year, the Stars did not have one. Next year, they will have a top line center on their second line. How Jim Nill pulled this off I will never know.
And the best part of the deal, the Stars got him for an extremely good price. Now, I have to say, my heart sank a bit when I saw that Alex Chiasson had been included in the package being sent to Ottawa, because the player known as "Toaster" had been a fan favorite ever since he made his debut. However, upon further analysis, I saw just how good a deal that Nill got for us.
To Dallas: C Jason Spezza
LW Ludwig Karlsson
To Ottawa: RW Alex Chiasson
2nd Round pick in the 2015 draft
LW Alex Guptill
LW Nick Paul
In acquiring Spezza (and the wrong Karlsson as far as Ottawa is concerned), the Stars parted with an NHL player, a draft pick, and two prospects. At first, that sounds like a high cost, but it actually is a mega-bargain. Chiasson has potential to be a top-six NHLer, but it simply isn't guaranteed. The 2nd-round pick is quite significant, as the 2015 draft is expected to be extremely deep and talented, but it isn't a first-rounder. As for the prospects, Guptill, a University of Michigan product, was rated as about 9th to 11th overall in the Stars prospect pool by Derek Neumeier and Huw Wales of DefendingBigD.com. Nick Paul, a player for the OHL's North Bay Battalion, did not make the most recent Top-25 list that those two put together. Thus, the consensus is that Ottawa, in only getting this much value for their captain and second-biggest superstar, got somewhat hosed by this deal.
Here's a link to Neumeier and Wales' prospect rankings on DBD.com.
The main downside for this deal for Dallas is the fact that Spezza's contract will expire after the 2014-15 season. If he leaves Dallas after this season, then the Stars will have essentially parted with this package for a one-year rental. Regardless, Jim Nill did not part with any of Dallas' top prospects to acquire a second-line center with top line capability. Jack Campbell, Brett Ritchie, Jamie Oleksiak, Devin Shore, Jason Dickinson, and John Klingberg all remain in the system. That makes this a truly special deal that doesn't come around every day. On another note, I honestly think that Nill and Company could re-sign Spezza to a multi-year deal here in North Texas. His current contract, which took him into his prime, pays him $7 million/year. A new deal would probably require him taking a pay cut to about $6.4-6.5 million over 4-5 years. The Stars will have plenty of salary cap space open after the upcoming season as the albatross (lousy) contracts of Erik Cole, Sergei Gonchar, and Shawn Horcoff will come off the books, freeing up $15 million to spend elsewhere. Acquiring Spezza AND signing him to play in Dallas long-term? This is a Stars fan's dream taking shape right before our eyes. Enjoy the show fans!
Maybe there was an even better part of this deal... the fact that it wasn't the only great deal that the Stars made. Stay tuned for another post devoted to the acquisitions the Stars made throughout the rest of the week!
Christian Bussler
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