On Feb. 28, the Dallas Stars made a trade for Chris Tanev that addressed a big need in a big way for a team that was already near the top of the Western Conference.
The other best teams in the conference, particularly the Stars’ main rival for the Central division, reacted during the course of the following nine days, which ended with Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
“It’s an arms race, particularly it feels like in our conference,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said at Friday’s morning skate in Anaheim. “Maybe I’m a little sensitive about it, but that’s what it feels like. When you look at it, it shouldn’t be a surprise. I think there are eight or 10 teams that really feel they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Everybody is kind of pushing their chips to the middle of the table in order to do that.”
Regarding what the Stars accomplished last week, opinions are still the same. The large fish on the right side of the blue line was Tanev. It is impressive that Stars general manager Jim Nill skillfully handled the transaction while sacrificing little in comparison to the return. One of Nill’s most significant trade deadline decisions in his ten years as the Stars’ manager, adding Tanev to the team solves a pressing need for the team.
The Stars trail the Winnipeg Jets in their division, but they lead the conference in terms of points percentage going into play on Friday. This implies that Dallas would face a Colorado Avalanche team that added Sean Walker to its blue line, which already includes Devon Toews and Cale Makar, if the playoffs started right now. They acquired Casey Mittelstadt in order to address a middle-of-the-road issue. In the postseason, adding Brandon Duhaime may be quite beneficial.
The Stars need to get past the Jets, who started their upgrading via trade in early February by adding Sean Monahan and completed it on Friday by teaming up with the New Jersey Devils to acquire Tyler Toffoli and Colin Miller, in order to avoid the Avalanche in the first round.
The Vegas Golden Knights are another. The reigning champions signed Anthony Mantha and Noah Hanifin before shocking everyone by acquiring Tomas Hertl from the San Jose Sharks at the buzzer. Mark Stone, their captain, will miss the rest of the regular season due to injury, but he might be available for the postseason. At the time of his injury, Stone led the Golden Knights in both assists and overall points.
Many fan bases are incensed at Vegas for the way it does business, but the Golden Knights, like the Tampa Bay Lightning for years prior, seize any chance to increase their cap space. Would the Stars have taken a similar course of action, putting Tyler Seguin’s team-high salary on LTIR and striking up more big-name deals? Maybe, but it is not how Nill conducts business.
Nill has always explained that part of his job description is to put the greatest roster on the ice in the here and now without sacrificing the future. Transactions can have an adverse effect on the future even when they reveal salary cap issues. The Golden Knights already own a first-round pick in 2024, but this summer’s draft will see them select again in the sixth round. They will not have any first-round picks in 2025 or 2026.
When Nill spoke after the Tanev trade last week, he expressed the importance of not just keeping top prospects Logan Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque and Lian Bichsel but also future first-round picks.
According to Nill, “it was one of the priorities.” “Transporting first-round picks is difficult. We have been losing picks in the first round, but we have not been moving any. I do not want this organization to realize that it has to rebuild itself in five or six years. We are making constant efforts to stay competitive and keep this going. In the previous two or three years, I had forfeited a lot of picks.
“Now, our scouts have done a great job but it’s a balancing act. I just want to make sure that we’re still — you want to be the best team you can be but you got to have the big picture, too. It was important to keep that first round pick.”
In an interview with media in Dallas after the trade deadline, Nill stated that the team’s preferred path for future improvements is Stankoven’s recent success following his recall from the AHL a few weeks ago. Could the Stars have strengthened their forward corps heading into the playoffs by adding a top-nine forward before the deadline? Yes, but at a price. Or they could just give Mavrik Bourque a call. Although Bichsel is not seen to be as NHL-ready as Bourque just yet, the same reasoning holds true for any further defenseman reinforcements after Tanev. The Stars called up Thomas Harley towards the end of the season using the same strategy as the previous year.
These kinds of actions, in Nill’s opinion, are strategies to improve the team now without compromising for the future.
It is crucial to keep in mind that the Western Conference is more than just a test for the Stars when it is described as such. The Stars are a part of this gauntlet. Stankoven joining the mix along with Seguin’s injury return will give Dallas a formidable top nine. The addition of Tanev gives the Stars a spot in the real top four. The Stars need Jake Oettinger to return to peak performance soon, but the goaltender depth chart was already established.
Players and coaches frequently repeat the cliche, “control what you can control.” That is what Nill and the Stars front office did when they went for Tanev. The Stars are not alone at the front of the pack because of the efforts of clubs around them; the Vancouver Canucks, who are currently the best team in the conference, and the Edmonton Oilers, who are a strong contender, are not even mentioned. They also did not lag behind, though. They should be able to continue playing games into June as a result.
(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
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