The Dallas Stars pie approach to summer free agency
Saad Yousuf of The Athletic: Jim Nill‘s last two offseasons serve as a blueprint for what this offseason may hold.
“There’s only so much money to go around,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said to The Athletic. “It’s like a piece of pie. You sit at a table and there are four people sitting there and (if) the first person takes half a piece of pie, guess what? There’s less pie for the other people. That’s the simple way to put it.”
Dallas has negotiations ongoing with Miro Heiskanen. While Heiskanen’s agent plays the waiting game to gauge a good AAV, Nill has work to do but no deadline yet. July 28th may become that hard deadline, however.
Dallas wants peace of mind. Balanced urgency is needed. Sitting back will set this team further back. That is why soft deadlines become hard deadlines. The Stars need to make moves so the clock actually is ticking — just unofficially.
Could there be blockbuster trades this summer?
Scott Burnside, John Vogl, and more from The Athletic: Again, several possible blockbuster trades could happen over the summer. Jack Eichel of the Buffalo Sabres is the most obvious.
So, neck surgery or no neck surgery? Eichel wants it and Buffalo does not. Kevyn Adams also does not have to trade Eichel. Vegas, Los Angeles, and the New York Rangers come to mind as destinations. As for the return, Buffalo has numerous holes to fill. Let’s leave it at that.
Seth Jones may also be on the move. It comes down to the Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers may have an edge with a contract extension plausible.
Evgeny Kuznetsov and the COVID among other missteps have been interesting but an expected paltry return just to get cap space does not seem worth it. This is one likely to not happen now.
Johnny Gaudreau, when he is on his game, is one of his best. It seems this move may be made after the 2021-22 season. This is one to keep an eye on but Anaheim, Philadelphia, and even New Jersey have been rumored here.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson remains out there. However, it still feels too difficult to find a fit other than maybe Edmonton. The feeling is he stays in Arizona.