RALEIGH, N.C. — The Stars just keep chugging along. After Thursday’s 2-1 win in Washington, the Stars are now 6-2-1 in their past nine games. One regulation...
, the Stars are now 6-2-1 in their past nine games. One regulation loss came in the final minute , and the other was courtesy of one of the best goaltending performances in recent memory .
For example, before recalling Riley Tufte, they had enough cap space to bring up Anton Khudobin because they’ve accrued enough in the first two months of the season. That wasn’t the case in November, when they had to sign Matt Murray to an NHL contract. By the time March rolls around, depending on how the Stars manage the salary cap, they should have more space to work with.
As long as the Stars find a way to create cap space, whether through a trade or the slow trickle of accruals throughout the season, they can find pieces on the market. I’d expect Jim Nill to make a move of some sort. At some level, I’m sure the Stars hope that Seguin can drive that line himself, much like Benn has done on the third line. But as long as that isn’t happening, they’ve got to find an alternative solution. Pete DeBoer has talked about that line needing someone who can dig pucks out and do the dirty work to set up Seguin for shots.
The best option is, unsurprisingly, the most expensive one in terms of acquisition cost: Vancouver’s Bo Horvat. Horvat recently put the kibosh on any public comments about his contract status, and figures to be one of the biggest fish on the market at the trade deadline. He’s on an expiring contract that carries a $5.5 million cap hit, and he’s fourth in the league with 21 goals.
Ivan Barbashev would be a cheaper option, but with less offensive punch outside of an outlier 26-goal season a year ago. For the same reason as O’Reilly, I wonder if Barbashev isn’t a realistic possibility either for the Stars. This was an issue that the Stars hoped they would have: how does the defense look when the offense is once again one of the best in the league? They are currently fifth in the league in goals scored per game, and sixth in the league in goals against per game.
Suter has had rough moments this season, and has looked slow and out of place against speed on the rush, particularly on Connor Dewar’s shorthanded goal for Minnesota, and Jesper Bratt’s rush up ice in New Jersey. Some of his turnovers are head-shakers. He’s been on the ice for some notable goals against, including the late one in Pittsburgh.
Suter’s power play time is being eaten into by Lundkvist. When Lundkvist re-entered the lineup 10 days ago, he rotated with Suter during practice on the second power play unit. In New Jersey on Tuesday, it was the first time this season that Lundkvist was the first defenseman on the second unit, and not Suter.
“We want to play up-tempo, we want to play fast, we want to dictate. In order to do that, you have to have legs and energy, both defensively and offensively. Everybody on this team is taking a haircut.”One, that he was bad last year. He was not. Among the Stars’ eight defenseman last year, he was top-three in major possession categories: shot attempts, shot on goal, goals and scoring chances.
The contract is certainly too long, as four years was a massive investment in a 36-year-old at the time. It was the only way the Stars were going to sign Suter, and they had to bite the bullet in order to acquire him. The no-move clause is similarly cumbersome, ensuring that the only way out of the tail end of the contract is a buyout.
Who knows what the path looks like moving forward for Suter and the Stars? But it’s clear the Stars coaching staff is trying to tweak his role and usage.— cell phone operator What’s one decision that’s been made since you’ve been here that you would have vetoed?
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
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