I really am happy to see what the team did last night. It was definitely unexpected after such a pathetic effort in Nashville in an equally important game.
The 4 point swing pretty much keeps them in playoff contention, but hope is still close to lost even if you're the most optimistic person.
During a 15 game stretch in December, Dallas went 8-3-4 to make up 6 points on 9th place, and for about 15 minutes New Year's Eve night they were in 8th place.
The reason last night was huge is that 7 points out, rather than 11, is huge with 12 games remaining before the deadline. It gets dicey though ... 5 of those games are against teams in the Top 3 in their division, with the exception of Tampa Bay, you'd consider 4 among the best teams in hockey. 6 games are against teams in a Wild Card spot or just 4 points out. Only Buffalo, is a team totally out of contention. I'd say the Wild Card games are going to be more fierce and dire than any of the other games.
The other plus is Dallas really only needs to gain 3 or 4 points over 12 games to stay withing striking distance of 8th. December Dallas played over their heads, and they're obviously not as bad as they've been. In reality ... they're a team that's barely staying over .500 likely. Can that stay and play above .500 for an extended period of time ... not just up to the playoffs, but also beyond? I have some serious doubts, but it's not impossible.
At this point, I'll be pretty disappointed if Dallas doesn't at least move Robidas (should be healthy before the deadline) and Whitney. Robidas adds value to the team sure, but they're already learning to get use to him not being around. It's time to move on ... Robidas essentially confirmed that about wanting to pursue a Cup, and Dallas should grant that wish and add some assets.
If they're 2 or 3 points back after the next 12 games, I could see them holding onto Fiddler. They don't exactly have a guy to step in for him like they do Whitney and Robidas. That said, I think the smart play would be to dump him, especially if the value is as high as some are reporting.
Regardless ... I think we'll still see some sort of sell off no matter what happens moving forward, and at the very least it will be 2 or 3 of these 3 names.
I'd still like to see them go a bit bigger on the sell off, but Cole is probably staying at this point. He's playing too well, and he fits their style. My guess is he's played his way on the next year's team at this point with Nill knowing he could potentially move him next season.
I wonder though ... if they can do the unlikely and gain back enough ground ... if Nill will push any major defensive changes off until the summer.
