GDT: @ PIT

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

What difference does it make? Despite our crappy play, we are still hanging on to playoff position.

Yes, we would prefer to be a higher seed, yes, at some point we need to find ourselves to both go into the playoffs, and go into the playoffs on a hot streak. I believe history shows teams playing well at the end of the season do well in the playoffs.

As to Jamie, I will offer up as a reason for poor play.....trying to protect the dollar value of his new contract by not getting hurt.

 

[Troy McClure]

What difference does it make? Despite our crappy play, we are still hanging on to playoff position.

Yes, we would prefer to be a higher seed, yes, at some point we need to find ourselves to both go into the playoffs, and go into the playoffs on a hot streak. I believe history shows teams playing well at the end of the season do well in the playoffs.

As to Jamie, I will offer up as a reason for poor play.....trying to protect the dollar value of his new contract by not getting hurt.

He gets paid the same whether he's hurt or not.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

I think there is usually some out for a career ending injury. Don't know, but don' think the full value of contract is guaranteed/assured in n h l.

 

[BrettHullsToe]

On the bright side, this was our most active GDT thread in quite some time.

On the not-so-bright side, the GDT curse continues!

 

[Magic Mittens]

We'r definitely winning more with no GDT's. Damn you guys!

We need some serious depth scoring

 

[Troy McClure]

We'r definitely winning more with no GDT's. Damn you guys!

We need some serious depth scoring

That's going to mean overpaying more free agents this summer or trading. There's no help on the horizon because this team flat out sucks at drafting/developing offensive talent.

 

[Kcb12345]

That's going to mean overpaying more free agents this summer or trading. There's no help on the horizon because this team flat out sucks at drafting/developing offensive talent.

God I hope Robertson turns out okay. I feel like the team would be better off with Gurianov/Hintz up here right now over Elie/Ritchie. I know neither are having huge seasons by any matter but both could already be better depth options. Clearly Elie, and especially Ritchie, are not going to work out up here.

 

[Smelling Salt]

That's going to mean overpaying more free agents this summer or trading. There's no help on the horizon because this team flat out sucks at drafting/developing offensive talent.

It leads to a mix of anger/depression for me.

I'm guessing the team won't look much different next year.

+Heiskanen which is an assumed plus
+Nichushkin which is a huge question mark. Him under Hitchcock if Hitch sticks around though...LOL...if he thought Ruff was bad

Then after that there is...Honka? I'd like to see what Hintz can do. Hell I bash Gury but lets see what he can do. But I'm not sure how that will work if the love affair with Shore and Ritchie continues.

Alot of the Nill apologists on /r/DallasStars are still clinging to the Seguin trade so you can't say a negative thing about him. A pickup of a cheap forward at the deadline even gets mocked because "we aren't going deep anyway" so Nill shouldn't trade "assets". What f***ing assets? You think the team is going to be so much different next year and will be primed for a run then? It's ridiculous.

I wonder if the best change that will have the biggest affect is a new coach.

 

[northstars]

It leads to a mix of anger/depression for me.

I'm guessing the team won't look much different next year.

+Heiskanen which is an assumed plus
+Nichushkin which is a huge question mark. Him under Hitchcock if Hitch sticks around though...LOL...if he thought Ruff was bad

Then after that there is...Honka? I'd like to see what Hintz can do. Hell I bash Gury but lets see what he can do. But I'm not sure how that will work if the love affair with Shore and Ritchie continues.

Alot of the Nill apologists on /r/DallasStars are still clinging to the Seguin trade so you can't say a negative thing about him. A pickup of a cheap forward at the deadline even gets mocked because "we aren't going deep anyway" so Nill shouldn't trade "assets". What ****ing assets? You think the team is going to be so much different next year and will be primed for a run then? It's ridiculous.

I wonder if the best change that will have the biggest affect is a new coach.

With Pateryn gone next year that's addition by subtraction assuming Honka draws in.
Also hoping Miro makes the team starting next year to fill the void left by Hamhuis. If Miro doesn't start right away Heatherington could fill-in until he's ready.
Nichushkin will be a huge upgrade offensively over Ritchie and I expect continued improvement of Shore.
Roussel will likely be gone so I would slot Dickinson in as 3rd line left winger next to Faksa and Pitlick.
I hope Lehts is open to resigning for 1 year at significantly reduced salary
Buy out Spezza
Good chance Hanzal is placed on long term injured list and/or retires freeing up additional cap space
Sign 1 or 2 very capable depth scoring forwards through free agency
Bring in a new coach that employs a more balanced attack.

If the Stars manage to do all these things I would think they would have a fantastic year!

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Was thinking along the exact same lines last night. After years of signing short term UFA D while waiting for the kids, it looks like we need to sign a Stone, Kane, Grabner type at somewhere under $5M to get some depth scoring.

Haimus, Roussel, and a few others gone or re-signed cheaply. (Kari at $1.5M and maybe that doesn't even free up enough cap room)

And we still need to hope Hintz, JD, Nuke and/or Robertson steps up similar to Janmark a few years ago, Pitlick now. And hope for Hanzel coming back (or being jettisoned to LIR) AND no more fall off from Benn, and continued success of Rads and Seguin.

That is an awful lot of ifs for us to vault to true contender status. Nil blew most of his salary cap wad on acquisitions, and it turns out to be not enough. Granted, we now have 3 (Methot, Hanzel, Bishop) of his 5 acquisitions (save Rads and Pitlick) out for long periods with injury. Most contributed for many games, though.

I am not for firing Nil. Building a contender is always an iffy business. Some fans are quick to replace every struggling player, and perhaps the GM, but these are often turned out to be lateral moves, at best.

Gainey made all the right moves in 1997-9, acquiring UFA in Verbeek, Chambers, Belfour, Hull, while trading for Zubie, Sydor, Skrudland and Keane. They all worked out to a large degree, but that is never assured. I see potential paralells in Rads (Hull) Methot (Chambers) Bishop (Belfour) and Verbeek (well, no real comparables) Also, our drafted stock was Mo, Lehts, Hatcher, Matty, etc. We might have some comps on D, etc.

Jury is still out on Nill, as there is only one true measure of success and we aren't there yet.

 

[Troy McClure]

If this team doesn’t make some noise in the playoffs, I’m ready to declare Nill a failure. I don’t need a Cup to call a GM a success, but if his five year plan results in a team with one series win to show for it and a draft record best described as subpar, then that’s a failure.

Gaglardi isn’t willing to spend every penny available, but he’s certainly spending enough to be a contender. Nill has all the tools he needs, but the results haven’t been there.

 

[Ragernschnapple]

I'm no Hitch fan but its obvious he sees the same thing from Benn that we do and is demoting him down the lineup because of his lack of gamesmanship. Its no surprise after every game he calls out his top players. Seguin has been a revelation and Radulov is love, so I'll leave you to figure out what message he's trying to send to whom.

He knows this team doesn't win if we don't get Beast Mode Jamie but for whatever reason we don't get that anymore, so he's trying to push his buttons by calling him out postgame and demoting him from his buddy's line.

Honestly if this decline of his continues I wouldn't be shocked if he loses the C in a year or two over someone who works harder night in and night out.

Any coach decides to strip Benn of the C in Dallas loses the team, and then his job

 

[Troy McClure]

Any coach decides to strip Benn of the C in Dallas loses the team, and then his job

Really? Do players care who the captain is?

 

[Ragernschnapple]

With Pateryn gone next year that's addition by subtraction assuming Honka draws in.
Also hoping Miro makes the team starting next year to fill the void left by Hamhuis. If Miro doesn't start right away Heatherington could fill-in until he's ready.
Nichushkin will be a huge upgrade offensively over Ritchie and I expect continued improvement of Shore.
Roussel will likely be gone so I would slot Dickinson in as 3rd line left winger next to Faksa and Pitlick.
I hope Lehts is open to resigning for 1 year at significantly reduced salary
Buy out Spezza
Good chance Hanzal is placed on long term injured list and/or retires freeing up additional cap space
Sign 1 or 2 very capable depth scoring forwards through free agency
Bring in a new coach that employs a more balanced attack.

If the Stars manage to do all these things I would think they would have a fantastic year!

If Hitch is still the coach Heatherington will pass Honka on the depth chart. Hitch doesn't like small players. Only way Honka ever plays regularly under Hitch is if Nill forces him.

 

[Ragernschnapple]

Really? Do players care who the captain is?

I think so. Good Captains standup for teammates. Benn's done that many times. That earns lots of respect. I think most Stars players would see it as a slap to the face if he were stripped of the C, as would Benn. He's everything you look for in a Captain. I really think he's playing hurt.

 

[northstars]

If Hitch is still the coach Heatherington will pass Honka on the depth chart. Hitch doesn't like small players. Only way Honka ever plays regularly under Hitch is if Nill forces him.

My suggestions include new coach

 

[Ragernschnapple]

My suggestions include new coach

I read that. I agree with you. Just read Assuming though. Guess you already knew Hitch won't necessarily play Honka. My bad.

 

[Azzuri]

I think there is usually some out for a career ending injury. Don't know, but don' think the full value of contract is guaranteed/assured in n h l.

You're incorrect, contracts are guaranteed in the NHL. If the player goes on LTIR then Insurance covers their salaries. The only way a play loses their money is if they retire or willingly void their contract.

 

[Kcb12345]

Jamie Benn is far from the issue with this team. Honestly it has to be frustrating for the top guys to have literally the entire offensive load on their shoulders every single game. If we had depth scoring right now covering up for their absence lately we wouldn't have anyone complaining about Benn. Jamie Benn generally has a stretch of games every year just like this one, and my brother has been pointing out since before the Seguin trade that he has always had a lazy looking style of game. It's just how he plays and yes he needs to pick it up, but this is certainly not on him. This team needs depth, and unfortunately it needs to come from our own system of prospects. Guys like Nichushkin, Gurianov, Hintz will hopefully all be up here next year and already in my opinion are better depth options than Elie/Ritchie/Smith who are all pure 4th liners with next to none offensive ability. We need a young player to step up next year in a big way. My money is on Dickinson, but I would absolutely love to see Hintz or Gurianov have a great rookie season if they make the team (if they don't that's ridiculous). Roussel, Ritchie, Elie, and arguably Shore should all go next year (Elie back to the AHL most likely). Out of that group I'm fine with Shore returning.

As for Spezza, I can't see him being bought out, but God I wish he'd have a bounce back season. Even if he just gets 40 points I'd be thrilled. Sadly though, he just clearly doesn't have the speed nor vision anymore to really be productive, and the players he plays with aren't smart enough offensively to have chemistry with him at all.

I could realistically see us signing Michael Grabner to a cheapish contract in the off-season, although it's not ideal. Time for our young guys to have a chance before they're ruined anymore

 

[Troy McClure]

If Hitch is still the coach Heatherington will pass Honka on the depth chart. Hitch doesn't like small players. Only way Honka ever plays regularly under Hitch is if Nill forces him.

What I’m going to enjoy is Honka getting scratched most of next season also. You know it’s coming. He’s going to enter next season still essentially an NHL rookie. Then Heiskanen joins the team. There’s no way in hell Hitch is playing two inexperienced d-men every night.

 

[Ragernschnapple]

What I’m going to enjoy is Honka getting scratched most of next season also. You know it’s coming. He’s going to enter next season still essentially an NHL rookie. Then Heiskanen joins the team. There’s no way in hell Hitch is playing two inexperienced d-men every night.

Agreed. With Klingberg, Lindell, Johns, and Methot locked in, one spot goes to Heiskanen, the other will be a veteran Hitch pushes for. I expect a Honka trade in the offseason for forward help. Heatherington will be our 7th D-Man. No idea who that veteran will be, but I won’t be surprised if they resign Pateryn, And NOBODY wants that.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Things change fast. Who would have thought a year ago that we would trade depth in D for depth at FW?

 

[Kcb12345]

Things change fast. Who would have thought a year ago that we would trade depth in D for depth at FW?

No one expected this situation with Hanzal and for Spezza to go from a consistent 60 point player with us (60 point pace) to a 25 point player over one season. With that we have no true 2nd liners other than maybe Janmark, who ideally should be on our 3rd line with Faksa and Pitlick.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

A first line, two third lines and a fourth line, bordering on AHL/fifth line NHL material. Sort of reminds me of the early 2010's in Dallas.

I do think Janmark is a second liner, though.

 

[Kcb12345]

A first line, two third lines and a fourth line, bordering on AHL/fifth line NHL material. Sort of reminds me of the early 2010's in Dallas.

I do think Janmark is a second liner, though.

Yep. And Faksa and Pitlick are ideal good depth 3rd liners, but the fact that we literally have no 2nd line kills us, and our 4th line players are barely even AHL 2nd/3rd liners.