SB Nation - Fabian Brunnstrom

Dallas Stars Roster Changes; Fortunus Called up, Brunnstrom & Peters to AHL

Brandon Worley — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:41:58 -0000

Maxime Fortunus (right) has been recalled from the AHL.

The Dallas Stars have made a series of roster moves today as they work to adjust to some injuries on defense, as well as try to get some returning players healthy and get some playing time in the process.

To start with: Nicklas Grossman did not play yesterday with a ~~"lower body injury"~~ groin injury and is listed as day-to-day, although it's looking like he will not be available tomorrow night against the Blues. Additionally, Karlis Skrastins was hurt last night blocking a puck and while it seems that he should be ready to go, the Stars need to be ready in case of they are a defenseman short at game time.

So Maxime Fortunus has been recalled from the Texas Stars. Fortunas is an AHL veteran who plays a very intelligent game and has a big shot. I actually wrote up a scouting report on Fortunus last season, which can be found here.

To make room for Fortunas, Warren Peters was assigned back to the Texas Stars.

Fabian Brunnstrom has been activated off IR, but the Dallas Stars are sending him to the AHL for a 'conditioning assignment'. To me, this is a great way to get Brunnstrom some confidence back as he comes off of injury. Since Brunnstrom has to stay on the NHL roster to go down to the AHL for a rehab stint, Brian Sutherby has been placed on Injured Reserve to make room.

With James Neal returning from suspension and Fortunus up with the NHL team, the Stars now have 12 healthy forwards and six healthy defensemen, with the possibility that Skrastins plays tomorrow night and Fortunus is a healthy scratch.

Hope that wasn't as confusing to you as it was for me to write. It all makes sense, however.

Press release after the jump:

Frisco, Tex. - The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has placed center Brian Sutherby on injured reserve, retroactive to November 12. Stars left wing Fabian Brunnstrom has been activated from injured reserve and has been sent to the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL), for a conditioning assignment. Dallas center Warren Peters has been assigned to Texas Stars. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus has been recalled on emergency conditions from the Texas Stars.

Sutherby, 27, has missed the last five games with a groin injury he suffered Nov. 12 at San Jose. He has skated in 17 games for the Stars this season, collecting five points (4g, 1a) and a +6 rating. The Edmonton, Alberta, native has appeared in 380 career NHL games, scoring 38 goals and 44 assists. Sutherby was acquired by Dallas last season in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 14, 2008.

Brunnstrom, 24, had been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 7, when he suffered a shoulder injury. He has tallied seven points (1g, 6a) in 17 games so far in 2009-10. The 6-2, 212-pound left wing has skated in 72 career NHL games, registering 18 goals and 18 assists. Brunnstrom played in the Swedish Elite League in 2007-08 for Farjestads BK Karlstad, collecting 37 points (9g, 28a) in 54 games. He was signed a free agent by the Stars on May 8, 2008.

Peters, 27, was recalled Nov. 19 from the Texas Stars. He played in two games for Dallas and scored his second career NHL goal against New Jersey on Saturday, Nov. 21. He has played in 16 games for the Texas Stars this season, notching seven goals and four assists for 11 points. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native has appeared in 365 career AHL games, collecting 65 goals and 53 assists for 118 points. Peters was signed as a free agent by Dallas on July 6, 2009.

Fortunus, 26, has played in 22 games this season for the Texas Stars recording three goals and two assists and 10 PIM. He collected seven goals and 12 assists in 58 games last season with Manitoba of the AHL. The La Prairie, Quebec native has appeared in 318 career AHL games, registering 80 points (23g, 57a). Fortunus was signed as a free agent by Dallas on July 3, 2008.

The Dallas Stars will host the St. Louis Blues Wednesday at American Airlines Center (7:00 pm, TV: Versus, Radio: Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket). Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 6:50 pm to see the entire ceremony honoring Brett Hull and his recent induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gameday Preview: Carolina Hurricanes @ Dallas Stars (7:30p)

Brandon Worley — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:22:30 -0000

Next Game

Carolina Hurricanes (5-12-5)
@ Dallas Stars(10-6-6)

Monday, Nov 23, 2009, 7:30 PM CST
American Airlines Center

TV: FSSW
Radio: KTCK 1310 The Ticket

Opponent's Blog: Canes Country

Complete Coverage >

Not much to say about this that hasn't already been said multiple times this season. The Stars are coming off a big win against a tough opponent, and now must try to carry the momentum over to try and win against a team that just isn't that good overall. Can they do this? The Stars are 1-5-3 this season following a victory so far this season, and they have yet to give a good indication they've figured out this whole "consistency" issue just yet.

Follow the jump for more on the Stars and a look at Carolina.

The Dallas Stars:

Once again the Stars will be without James Neal, who is serving the second of his two game suspension tonight. It looks like Marty Turco will be back in net, and we're assuming the lines will pretty much be the same. We've yet to get an update from the skate today, so no word on if Fabian Brunnstrom or Brian Sutherby are available. Brunnstrom has been skating and shooting, but has yet to take any hits in practice so I'm not counting him in just yet. Currently, both are listed as out. Expect lines to be:

Wandell - Richards - Eriksson
Ott - Ribeiro - Lehtinen
Morrow - Modano - Benn
Barch - Peters - Petersen

Against New Jersey I was pleased with this combination and it looked like the Stars had the most balance among the four lines we've seen this season.

Here are some notes on the game courtesy of Andrew's Dallas Stars Page:

* The Stars are 1-5-3 in games following victories this season.
* Carolina is the only team in the NHL without a road win (0-7-3) this season.
* The Stars have given up five power play goals in the last two games.
* The Hurricanes are 6-26 on the power play over their last five games.
* Carolina is 17-23 (73.9%) on the penalty kill over the past six games.
* The Stars are 8-33 (24.2%) on the power play over their last seven games.
* The Stars are 5-1-0 when leading after one period this season and 8-1-0 when leading after two periods.

The Carolina Hurricanes:

Easy opponent right? Just five wins this season, should be a cake walk for this team that beat the Devils on Saturday, right?

Well, the Canes are 3-0-2 in their past five games and have two straight wins. From Canes Country, who poses the question of whether Eric Staal should be moved to wing:

When Staal joined his teammates for the pregame skate Saturday morning, he was skating as a winger on Brandon Sutter's line. There has been some talk that the team might try moving their leading goal scorer for the past four years, to wing.

Should they risk it?

This is a move that should not be taken lightly. Staal has scored 153 goals over the previous four years for an average of 38 goals per year. Only Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier, and Dany Heatley have lit the lamp more times in that same period.

But the center has not been able to match his career best numbers he put up in 2005-06, the year that playmaking forward Cory Stillman was on his line. Could he have even better results playing alongside a prototype, playmaking center? Would it be better for the team if he moved?

Key Injuries:

Carolina: RW Scott Walker (upper body) and G Michael Leighton (groin) are questionable. C Eric Staal (upper body), G Cam Ward (leg) and C Michael Ryan (concussion) are out.

Dallas: LW Fabian Brunnstrom (shoulder) and C Brian Sutherby (groin) are out.

Stars Place Brunnstrom on IR ; Recall Peters

Brandon Bibb — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:55:13 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Browse more photos »

Per Press Release:

FRISCO, Tex. -- The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has placed left wing Fabian Brunnstrom on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, retroactive to Nov. 7. The team has also recalled center Warren Peters from the Texas Stars - Dallas’ primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Brunnstrom, 24, has appeared in 17 games for Dallas this season, scoring one goal and six assists for seven points. He has missed the last three games for the Stars with the injury.

Peters, 27, has played in 16 games for Texas this season, scoring seven goals and four assists, including two goals last night vs. Rockford. He had an active five-game goal streak (6-1-7) and a six-game point streak (6-2-8) at the time of his call-up. Peters was assigned to Texas on Oct. 9 after a stint on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone, suffered in a pre-season game at St. Louis on September 19. The 6-0, 198-pound center signed with Dallas as a free agent on July 6, 2009.

Dallas hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at American Airlines Center at 7:30 pm (FOX Sports Southwest, Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket).

Stargazing: Stars Look to Regain Form against Stiff Competition

Brad G — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Bill Boyce - AP

Dallas needs more of this. Three times a game, not two.

Browse more photos »

Stargazing is a daily assortment of Dallas Stars and Texas Stars news, and whatever other random ramblings are bouncing around inside our heads.

The upcoming trio of games is starting to look more daunting with each day the Stars have off following their loss to the Coyotes in Glendale. Pardon my gloomy outlook on the pending contests this week, both home and road, and please consider the following before you pass any judgment my way:

The Red Wings have won six of their last seven games. They've scored nine goals, three goals, and seven goals respectively in their last three outings. They're as well rested as the Stars are with three days off, but without the travel, and Henrik Zetterberg is the NHL's top "Star of the Week." Then take the Columbus Blue Jackets, winners of four of their last five games who will be waiting in Dallas for the Stars to return whilst they battle the Wings on Wednesday. If two Western Conference teams rolling along quite nicely isn't enough trouble, there's always the New Jersey Devils who come to the American Airlines Center on Saturday night. Apparently they're the NHL's best road team.

So there we have it. A trio of troublesome tribulations for Dallas this week, and all while they're trying to figure out how to score more than two goals a game as they've been wont to do lately.

Alas, the players must take things one game at a time, and so to must we, I suppose. This is quite an opportunity for the Stars coming up this week and lest we forget, they took three of four games from the Red Wings last season...

After the jump, Dallas shuffles the lines, The Texas Stars are rolling, and Marty Turco's work load increases...

Mike Heika brings you an update from the road on Monday practice:

Jere Lehtinen (groin) was back on the ice today and will probably be ready to play Wednesday at Detroit.

Fabian Brunnstrom (shoulder) skated a lot, but isn't allowed contact and still is struggling to get a full swing on his shot. Brian Sutherby (groin) didn't skate. Lines were juggled and Marc Crawford had Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow on separate lines for the first time this year.

It's only Monday, and there is a full practice Tuesday in Detroit (plus a morning skate on Wednesday), so we'll see if he sticks with these lines:

Neal-Richards-Eriksson
Morrow-Modano-Benn
Ott-Ribeiro-Lehtinen
Barch-Wandell-Petersen

Marty Turco is playing well, and Marc Crawford is well aware:

"It's tough to build momentum," goalie Marty Turco said after a 3-2 loss to Phoenix on Saturday that followed a huge 3-2 win against San Jose a few nights earlier. "Things seem to happen a lot easier when you get on a roll. You don't feel like you're grinding it out. Some guys can get on a roll and carry a team, but that hasn't been the case so far."

The one player who can help the Stars get on a roll is Turco. The veteran goalie has produced impressive runs in his career and appears to be in the middle of a pretty good stretch. Turco is 5-1-1 in his last seven games with a 2.10 goals against-average and .928 save percentage. So how can the Stars take advantage of that?

"Play him," coach Marc Crawford said. "I mean, that's pretty much what we need to do."

While Crawford and his coaches planned to space out Turco's games in order to make sure he would avoid a slow start and not wear out by the end of the season, they might be ready to adjust.

I might take a little issue with the premise that Turco is "the one" player that can help get the Stars on a roll. Sure, your goaltender is key to any kind of roll on which you might get, but it certainly hasn't been his fault that they can't string together two "good" games. Especially given the well documented GFA the team has in their last five or six games. He can't score goals...though, I think he'd really like to.

Dallasstars.com takes a look at the Stars depth at forward and the musical chairs going on there:

The fact that Modano, Lehtinen and Ott served as the third line for a few games, and with solid, dependable players such as Brian Sutherby, Fabian Brunnstrom, Toby Petersen and Krys Barch on the bubble battling for spots in the lineup any given night, depending on the injury list, is further evidence of the Stars’ impressive depth.

"For sure, it’s healthy competition," said Sutherby, who was scheduled to be a healthy scratch Thursday until Lehtinen’s tweaked groin forced him to sit out the last two games. "It’s been like that for my entire career, being anywhere from 8-12th forward, or 13th, it’s always something that’s a motivating factor to try and stay in the lineup and sometimes that’s the way it goes. You’re in, you’re out. I don’t think anyone deserves to be out of the lineup right now. That’s sort of tough, but you just got to roll with it."

Barch, who missed three games with a back problem last week, bluntly refuted the notion that having extra competition amongst themselves for those last roster slots further motivates them to dig in harder.

The Texas Stars are now the AHL's best team....

SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Stars defeated the San Antonio Rampage 2-0 on Sunday at the AT&T Center.

Stars goalie Brent Krahn (8-1-0-0) stopped a season-high 44 shots for his second consecutive shutout and his eighth straight win. Warren Peters scored with 1 minute, 19 seconds left in the second period and Sergei Korostin added an empty-net goal as Texas remained unbeaten in regulation in the last 11 games (8-0-2-1). Texas leads the AHL with 28 points.

The Stars (12-2-2-2) will travel to Rockford, Ill., for a game Wednesday against the Ice Hogs.

Andrew's Stars Page notes that Jamie Benn is at least in the running for the NHL's top rookie:

Here are THN’s ranking of the top 10 Calder candidates at this point of the season.

1. D Tyler Myers, Buffalo
2. F Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado
3. D Michael Del Zotto, NY Rangers
4. F John Tavares, NY Islanders
5. F James van Riemsdyk, Philadephia
6. D Davis Drewiske, Los Angeles
7. D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay

8. F Jamie Benn, Dallas

9. G Semyon Varlamov, Washington

10. D Jason Demers, San Jose

The Buffalo News mentions the potential for a move involving Brunnstrom:

If he plays his cards right, Stars rookie GM Joe Nieuwendyk could set up a mini-bidding war for second-year winger Fabian Brunnstrom. Several GMs were poking for the asking price last week during meetings in Toronto.

Brunnstrom, who had 17 goals and 29 points in 55 games as a rookie, appears to be caught up in a numbers crunch. He hasn't been able to crack the top two lines and had just one goal and seven points going into the weekend.

Dallas is stocked with good young forwards with three of its top six scorers 24 or younger (James Neal, Loui Eriksson, Jamie Benn). Brunnstrom, 24, has intriguing size (6-2, 215) and makes only $875,000. The Stars are looking for defensemen, preferably young and cheap.

ESPN thinks you might want to take a look at Mike Modano for your fantasy team, if you are so inclined...

Mike Modano, C, Stars (3.7): No, I'm not getting all nostalgic for no reason. Modano is actually in a very good position to contribute for the Dallas Stars. He has replaced Jamie Benn as the winger for the Mike Ribeiro-Brenden Morrow line. Modano has managed four points in his past two games since winning the assignment and he fired nine shots on goal. He even played the fourth forward on the first power-play unit with Loui Eriksson, James Neal and Brad Richards.

Stargazing: Searching For Answers After Another Frustrating Loss

Brandon Worley — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:20:10 -0000

Stargazing is a daily assortment of Dallas Stars and Texas Stars news, and whatever other random ramblings are bouncing around inside our heads.

The Stars as a team keep rolling their eyes when we bring up lack of consistency, but this is getting old.

This statement by Mike Heika perfectly sums up every fan's feelings about the Dallas Stars. How many times in the past few weeks have we written about how the Stars need to grab momentum from a win and somehow find a way to play consistent from game to game? Each game the Stars come out and fail to build upon the good things they had done the previous game; whether it's the travel, the injuries, the lack of chemistry among the lines, it's frustrating to watch. What's even more frustrating is how the coaches and players continue to deny there's a consistency issue, and claim that cohesiveness is just around the corner.

Saying that the Stars are putting forth a poor effort and lack energy is far from the whole story. A lack of execution on defense, a lack of an ability to establish a consistent forecheck, the defense's inability to get the puck out of the zone and into transition, and incredibly poor coverage in front of the net have all contributed to the win one, lose one pattern the Stars have endured so far this season.

Over the next few days, we're going to dive headfirst into each aspect of the Stars game and try to determine exactly what needs to change. Is the lack of true #1 defensemen what's really holding the team back? How is the lack of production from Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow crippling the Stars' offense? What is exactly is the ideal line combination the Stars need to use? We'll examine these issues this week leading up a to a big game in Detroit on Wednesday night.

Today in Stargazing: Mike Heika is trying to determine exactly why it's always something different each night, Marc Crawford wasn't happy with ice conditions and Dave Tippett feels pretty good about the win last night against his former team.

Some more thoughts from Mike Heika:

It's something different every night. And typically, whatever the problem is gets fixed the next game, so it's not a problem anymore.

Maybe that's just the way of the NHL this season. If you look at the West, there are four teams between spots 7-10 and their last five games look like this: Columbus (5-3-2), Phoenix (5-5-0), Dallas (4-3-3) and Vancouver (5-5-0). It is a league of parity, and every game seems up for grabs every night.

How can the Stars find a way to get that extra edge? Maybe they will sort that out in their two days in Phoenix.

Because I honestly don't have an answer for you.

Mark Stepneski says that while the Stars are struggling, at least they're in every game and not getting blown out.

Throw in the 6-5 shootout loss to Florida back on October 30 and the Stars 2-3-2 in their last seven games. Of those seven games, six have been decided by one goal (only the 4-2 loss to Nashville wasn't) and four have been settled in either overtime or the shootout. So they are in games and usually it's a breakdown in one area or another that is doing them in these games where they come up short. But I think scoring a two goals a game isn't helping things. The chances are there but the finish hasn't.

Marc Crawford:

"You have to put points in the bank, and that's what we're trying to do. In the end, you have to look and say we didn't play well enough to get a win here. We didn't win the battles in front of the net and we didn't win the battles of the faceoffs tonight. We didn't have our best tonight. That happens sometimes."

Stephane Robidas:

"We gave them too much room. They skate and they can make plays, and they pass the puck real well.

On the penalty that led to the penalty shot: "That was totally my fault," Robidas said. "I was sleeping on that play and was a little too wide and gave him the middle a little too much."

Brad Richards:

"If you get five chances, you want to score five times, so we're not happy with it. Sometimes, you do a lot of things right and you just don't score. We weren't able to score, so we have to be able to do more."

Marty Turco:

"It is tough to build momentum. Things seem to happen a lot easier when you get on a roll. You don't feel like you're grinding it out. Some guys can get on a roll and carry a team. It hasn't been the case."

Dave Tippett is proud of the win:

"You'd be lying to say it wasn't," Tippett said when asked if the victory was special. "I was there for a long time and it's not just coaching, it's friendships. I want to beat them. I've moved on hockey-wise and they've moved on. There are still a lot of great people over there. I liken it to when brothers play against each other. When the puck drops, you play and which ever side your on you're trying to win."

"Desperation, compete level and everything we talk about was right there," said Tippett. "I thought there were a couple of calls that were questionable, but I liked the way our guys dug in. We battled through it. That's a good hockey team over there. Like I said before, they've got some high end forwards that can make things tough on you. I thought our guys battled right to the end, goaltender included."

The Stars did score on the power play last night, but they failed to take advantage of some big opportunities at key points in the game. Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov wasn't even tested, really.

"I didn't face a shot (on the final power play)," said goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov who made 26 saves. "The guys blocked everything, tremendous PK. They played so bravely, blocking everything, sliding in to the slot hard, just everywhere, competed hard."

Marc Crawford wasn't happy about the ice conditions last night:

". . . The same for both teams, but that ice was absolutely god-awful," he said. "And when it's a visiting coach arguing about it - I know home teams don't like to do it to their own building - but that was embarrassing, and it doesn't make for good power plays.

"Hopefully, now that they got their money here in Phoenix, they can do something about the ice here . . . It was like playing in Lambeau Field."

Finally, some notes from from last night's game, courtesy of DallasStars.com:

--Left wing Fabian Brunnstrom missed his second game because of an upper body injury.

--Center Brian Sutherby also missed the game because of a groin injury. Defenseman Mark Fistric moved up to the wing on a line with center Toby Petersen and right wing Krystofer Barch.

--Modano has a goal and assist in each of his last two games.

--Turco has stopped the last 13 penalty shots against him.

--Center Brad Richards was held without a point for the second straight game after an eight-game points string.

--Left wing Loui Eriksson extended his points streak to five games with an assist on Niskanen's goal.

--Turco lost for only the first time in regulation in his last seven starts (5-1-1).

--The Coyotes defeated Dallas for the fourth straight time.

--Dallas went 1-for-6 on the power play, while they killed off all three Phoenix man advantage opportunities.

Fabian Brunnstrom Drawing Trade Interest From General Managers

Brandon Worley — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:30:33 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Browse more photos »

I don't know how we missed this last night, but On The Forecheck has a very lengthy post up this afternoon detailing how the Nashville Predators should trade for Fabian Brunnstrom. This has suddenly become a hot topic after Darren Dreger reported last night that Brunnstrom's name has become the subject of trade talks in Toronto, where the GM meetings are taking place.

Dirk Hoag makes a convincing argument that a Dallas and Nashville trade makes nothing but complete sense, especially considering the Predator's point of view:

Is he the ideal Predator? Maybe not, but he brings to the table exactly those qualities which Nashville needs desperately up front. Put him on the wing with Erat and Legwand, and they've finally got the speedster they haven't had since Paul Kariya left town. Or put him with Colin Wilson and Patric Hornqvist, and get some real offensive pop out of that line.

According to CapGeek.com, Brunnstrom is on an entry-level deal with a base salary of $875,000, and bonuses that could take him to just over $2.2 million. After this season, he'll be a restricted free agent, meaning the Preds should be able to re-sign him for a reasonable sum, particularly since he hasn't had a breakout season yet.

Mike Heika weighs in and we share our thoughts on this scenario after the jump.

Mike Heika weighs in as well.

Unless somebody knocks them out with a great offer for something that could be even more helpful. What is that something? It could be draft picks, it could be a young defenseman, it could be a right-handed right wing. I don't think the Stars can take on big money right now, and Brunnstrom only makes about $900,000 (with A-level bonuses that he probably won't reach that could push it to $2.25 million). So unless Tom Hicks surprises us (and he has before), I don't think the Stars will make a move for a proven player with a big contract.

Still, many GMs see Brunnstrom as a player who could help them in the top six, and they would love to see if they can shape him as a scorer. That makes sense. But the Stars are not going to give away Brunnstrom unless they get something really good for him. They don't have to.

Right now Fabian Brunnstrom is the victim of two things: a slow start and too much depth ahead of him. He has the talent to be a top six forward in the NHL, but on the Dallas Stars he's relegated to third and fourth line action. When the team is fully healthy, he's going to be pushed all the way down the fourth line. He struggled off to start with last season, then has regressed a bit this year when he had to fight to adapt to a new coach and new system. He's certainly looked better the last couple of games and when he's playing next to Tom Wandell he's been pretty damn impressive.

He has good size and great speed and last season become the most accurate shooter on the team. He can be deadly at times with the puck and has started to show a knack for creating chances around the net with tenacity and puck handling. Yet it's been frustrating to see him knocked off the puck time after time, which is odd considering his size; perhaps Brunnstrom is still adjusting to the physicality of the North American game and hasn't developed the strong center of balance needed to fight along the boards. He's also shown to be a defensive liability at times in his own zone, something he's improved upon but still has a very long way to go.

The Stars made a commitment to Brunnstrom last season when they signed him, knowing that it would take time for him to develop. He has the potential to be a truly special scoring talent in the NHL, but right now it's frustrating to see him so far down the depth chart and he hasn't shown a lot to prove he belongs any higher either. I really want him reach his ceiling with the Stars and become that dependable scorer that every team needs.

So would I be open to the open to the idea of trading Brunnstrom? Just like with most trade rumors I'd be fine with it if the Stars gained something momentous in return. The Stars are deep at forward, yes, but we've seen what happens once injuries start to hit; Brunnstrom is valuable to this team. At the same time, if a team offers up a top defenseman or defensive prospects, I'd be willing to listen.

I'm just as frustrated as any that Brunnstrom has not progressed to where we want him to be. But he's also showing some great improvement lately and has finally started to look comfortable under Crawford. I don't want to see the Stars just trade him away for a bag of beans, but if there's a great offer on the table for a player that can truly help the team now, Nieuwendyk has to take that chance.

The Nashville Predators should pursue a trade for Fabian Brunnstrom

Dirk Hoag — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:03:47 -0000

More photos » by Tim Sharp - AP

Dallas Stars left wing Fabian Brunnstrom (96) scored 17 goals in 55 games last season, but is off to a slow start this year.

Browse more photos »

Darren Dreger filed a report last night at TSN indicating that Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk is hearing from other teams interested in trading for 2nd-year winger Fabian Brunnstrom, who scored 17 goals in 55 games last year (including a hat trick in his 1st NHL game, against Nashville no less). In May of 2008 he was a highly sought-after free agent, but this season he's gotten off to a slow start on a Stars team loaded with quality forwards.

Fabian Brunnstrom

#96 / Left Wing / Dallas Stars

Height: 6-2

Weight: 203

Born: Feb 06, 1985

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Fabian Brunnstrom	17	1	6	7	-1	6	0	0	0	0	22	4.5

If there's any truth to that report that the market is being tested, then David Poile should be one of those GM's chatting up Nieuwendyk and sounding out options for a deal. This would appear to be a natural fit for all parties involved...

How Brunnstrom fits in Nashville

Let's take a look at his scouting report:

Assets	Has good NHL size and blazing speed. Can put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses with his skill and can also score highlight-reel goals.
Flaws	Lacks consistency, especially in terms of his commitment to playing defense. Needs to shoot the puck more and keep his game simple.
Career Potential	Flashy scoring winger.

Is he the ideal Predator? Maybe not, but he brings to the table exactly those qualities which Nashville needs desperately up front. Put him on the wing with Erat and Legwand, and they've finally got the speedster they haven't had since Paul Kariya left town. Or put him with Colin Wilson and Patric Hornqvist, and get some real offensive pop out of that line.

A Swede contract

According to CapGeek.com, Brunnstrom is on an entry-level deal with a base salary of $875,000, and bonuses that could take him to just over $2.2 million. After this season, he'll be a restricted free agent, meaning the Preds should be able to re-sign him for a reasonable sum, particularly since he hasn't had a breakout season yet.

Suffice it to say that there's very, very few offensively gifted wingers available at that price, who are also still on the rise in their NHL careers, and can be locked up in their next contract. This is a guy that the Preds should be able to afford.

What price for Fabian?

What might the Dallas Stars want in trade? The best guess is probably help on defense, where Nashville does boast a bevy of developing talent. If they want to swap 2nd-year forwards that have underperformed so far, there's Ryan Jones available. Of course Nashville is usually hesitant to deal away draft picks, but this might make a suitable situation to do so; the asset being acquired is a 24-year-old NHL sophomore, not an aging veteran headed for free agency.

Mike Heika in the Dallas News talks about these options:

It could be draft picks, it could be a young defenseman, it could be a right-handed right wing. I don't think the Stars can take on big money right now, and Brunnstrom only makes about $900,000 (with A-level bonuses that he probably won't reach that could push it to $2.25 million). So unless Tom Hicks surprises us (and he has before), I don't think the Stars will make a move for a proven player with a big contract.

Well, so much for sending them Martin Erat. Anyway, the Preds do have many of these assets in their stable, and should leverage them to get a guy who can be a difference-maker on the wing.

An undervalued player

I wanted to come back to the one deficiency that's often cited about Brunnstrom, his supposed lack of defensive responsibility. His -8 Plus/Minus rating was among the worst on the Stars last year, but if you check out those Stars players when sorted by PDO, Brunnstrom stands out as a potential diamond in the rough.

PDO is, quite simply, the sum of Shooting Percentage and Save Percentage in 5-on-5 play while a given player is one the ice. 1.000 is considered average, and over the course of a season, teams as a whole converge to a very narrow range of 0.98 - 1.02 or so. For the definitive article in which this idea is laid out, consult mc79hockey.

On the 2008-9 Stars, Brunnstrom was 2nd-worst on the team with a 0.967 PDO, built upon the Stars scoring on 9.13% of shots when he played (an average figure), and the Dallas goalie putting up an .875 save percentage during his time on the ice. That .875 figure is stupendously awful, as Toronto had the worst performance in the NHL as a team and racked up .898 during 5-on-5 play.

That smells like a guy who caught bad bounces more than anything else, and happened to be out there when Marty Turco failed to make the save. It's not just that Turco had a bad season (he did), but simply due to randomness, some players will be on the ice when pucks go in more than others, whether they had anything to do with it or not.

There's precious little evidence that individual skaters (let alone wingers) have much impact on their goalie's save percentage. A team's overall defensive scheme may have such an impact, but not single skaters. When a goal gets scored, however, observers start assigning blame to the skaters who failed to stop it, in a way that they very rarely do when a goalie makes a save to bail the team out.

Unless the evidence is overwhelming that Brunnstrom is gift-wrapping dangerous scoring chances for his opponents on a regular basis, I'd say that his defensive issues are likely to be overblown, and are artificially depressing his value both to the Stars, and on the trade market in general.

David Poile should pounce on this opportunity, and land the young, talented goal scorer that he failed to acquire this summer when the Leafs got Phil Kessel. The good news is that this time, the price should be much more affordable - both to make the deal, and to lock up the acquired player for years to come.

Stargazing: Dallas Defeats San Jose, 3-2 in Shootout

Brad G — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:03:04 -0000

Stargazing is a daily assortment of Dallas Stars and Texas Stars news, and whatever other random ramblings are bouncing around inside our heads.

Ryan Vesce and Stephane Robidas: Shootout Specialists?

Fluky goals and phantom high sticking calls couldn't top the abnormality of who the coaches sent out there in the shootout last night. Dallas, once kings of the skills competition had lost their first four shootouts of the year, scoring just one time in thirteen attempts. So Marc Crawford decided to mix things up a bit and send little Stephane Robidas out there? Maybe it was because they've been so inept at the shootout this year, and maybe it was because I was still trying to figure out just who the heck Ryan Vesce was, but I saw Robidas and like many Stars fans thought: "Eh, at this point, why not?"

He made Marc Crawford look like a very smart man. Why not, indeed.

I'm burying the lead, of course. Marty Turco was the real hero last night. As much of a confidence builder as this one could be (pending the possibility of a let-down in Phoenix) for the team as a whole, Marty must feel like he can do anything after that performance. It wasn't just his goaltending either. As Razor pointed out on the broadcast, he made almost as many plays with his stick handling as he did with his pads. That was the Marty Turco we know and love, and missed last year.

This was the 5th time already this season that the Stars have trailed after two periods of play and pulled at least a point out of the game. Last season, they managed it only five times all year. Trailing after two is not an ideal situation, but it's nice to know the Stars are seemingly never out of it. Even against the top team in the league.

After the jump, quotes and reaction to last night's big win...

NHL.com brings you all the Robidas you need:

Defenseman Stephane Robidas, who had never taken a shootout attempt, scored in the third round to give Dallas its first shootout win in five tries this season as the Stars rallied for a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

Robidas admitted he was surprised to get the call.

"When you look at all the forwards we have, and all the skills, it was pretty surprising," Robidas said. "I scored in a preseason game last year and once in junior hockey but I wasn't comfortable making a move so I just shot it."

...

"I tried to keep it simple and not think too much," said Robidas, 32, who has 3 goals this season and 33 in his career.

The Mercury News reports on Todd McLellan's state of mind after the loss:

Interestingly, McLellan was philosophical about the way things played out, too.

"You have to build that into a season and into a game," McLellan said, referring to both lost leads and bad bounces. "It’s going to happen at times. We’d prefer that it didn’t, but I’m not overly disappointed with the game."

He talked about his choices for the shootout when someone asked about Ryan Vesce. Without getting into why he chose Vesce, he did say that the coaching staff wrestled with the fact he didn’t get much ice time, especially in the third period, and might be cold, but stuck with Vesce anyway.

On Neal's goal:

The flukey nature of Dallas's first goal seemed to make the shootout defeat a little less painful.

"The guy just took a shot, and I was standing off to the side. It went right off the toe," Demers said. "You couldn't get an unluckier bounce than that."

Pucks get deflected all the time. It's funny that we, as hockey fans, belly ache about the ones that take the more dramatic paths to the net. (And we all do it.) Sure it was a funny bounce, but how many pucks get deflected off a leg and two sticks and find the net only to be called "hard working goals" after?

Coach Crawford liked the way his team responded:

``It builds a lot of belief in the guys about not playing it safe and really getting involved,'' Stars coach Marc Crawford said ``We're trying to push our D to be a bit more dynamic, and tonight, out of necessity, they did it. When you're down 2-0, you've got to take chances and you've got to really force (the opposition) into making plays before they want to. That was our objective, and I think it worked for us tonight, and I'd like to see us do it more regularly.''

Mike Heika recaps the drama:

...Then, in the third period, Trevor Daley kicked out what looked like a sure goal, and the Stars forced a too man men on the ice penalty, and the Stars were suddenly all over Evgeni Nabokov,. Then, just as after a power play expired, James Neal somehow banked a shot in off of Sharks defenseman Jason Demers. It wasn't so much a deflection as a rainbow gift from the hockey gods.

And, then, the Stars started to smell blood. They raced up and down the ice, giving up golden scoring opportunities, but also creating golden scoring opportunities. Marc Crawford juggled all over the place, he started getting Mike Modano out on the ice more and he moved Mike Ribeiro to a wing.

And just as Loui Eriksson and Neal forced a turnover and moved the puck off the wall in transition, Modano jumped up while trailing the play and pounded a shot between Nabokov's pads.

Boom, it was 2-2 (and Modano had his first two points of the season).

Mike Modano was good last night. He hadn't scored since the last time they played the Sharks. Please Mike, don't wait that long again.

I liked what Brandon Bibb touched upon here last night at Defending Big D:

About that ugly 1 for 34 against San Jose's penalty kill dating back to last season. Yeah, might want to get that one sorted out at some point during the season series, Stars.

Not like they weren't getting chances. But like Razor mentioned, when they did get chances on the man advantage, those chances fizzled into nothing without Nabokov having to do much to thwart them.

At the very least, I want the Sharks' best penalty killer to actually be the best penalty killer if the Stars are to not score on the man advantage. That rarely happened last year. Or tonight for that matter.

In particular, that PP following that horrible call on Pavelski was just awful. That needs to change. Check the play by play. They lost the face-off, had a giveaway, and a Robidas blocked a shorthanded shot by Heatley. Those are the only three things recorded during a two minute power play? No shots? No missed shots? Blocked shots? Nothing? In the third period?

And finally, something that probably requires more mention than a blurb at the end here, Fabian Brunnstrom's name was allegedly being tossed around a little bit at the GM meetings... [Morning News]

GMs around the NHL are interested in Stars winger Fabian Brunnstrom. TSN's Darren Dreger says so right here.

Dreger is very plugged in and was up in Toronto at the GM meetings, so I would say he probably has something here. It also seems to make sense that the Stars would listen to what those GMs have to say.

The reason is the Stars have some very talented skilled and scoring wingers, and Brunnstrom right now is at the bottom of the depth list of those players. He was put in a battle for the right wing spot on the Morrow-Ribeiro line in training camp, and lost the job to Jamie Benn. Benn, 20, has done nothing in the young season to show he is slipping or that he needs time in the minors, so it seems pretty clear that he is going to be in the mix in the top six forwards for some time to come. Morrow, James Neal and Loui Eriksson have the other jobs locked up.

Gameday Preview: Dallas Stars @ San Jose Sharks (9:30 CST)

Brad G — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:51:42 -0000

Next Game

Dallas Stars
@ San Jose Sharks

Thursday, Nov 12, 2009, 9:30 PM CST
HP Pavilion

Local TV: FSSW
Radio: KTCK 1310 The Ticket

Opponent's Blog: Fear the Fin

Complete Coverage >

After four days off following a mistake ridden loss in Minnesota, 3-2 to the Wild, the Stars try to get back in the win column tonight against the best the NHL currently has to offer: The San Jose Sharks. Dallas has played well on the road so far this season, recording a 4-2-3 record, but the Sharks boast the NHL's best home mark at 6-0-1. The Stars must play a mistake free game if they're to hand the Sharks their first home-regulation loss of the year. San Jose has won ten of twelve, and enter the game edging Dallas in as many statistical categories as you can think of.

Dallas dropped five of six to the Sharks last year, who took no prisoners in the regular season. The Stars managed one victory in San Jose, a 4-1 win on March 3rd. They nearly pulled points out of the HP Pavillion twice last year, but a Marty Turco give away with only 29 seconds left cost the team at least a point one year ago in November. Mike Modano says seemingly every time they go to San Jose that they enjoy playing there. Let's hope they give the fans a reason to enjoy watching them there, as this one looks to be a challenge of the highest difficulty.

[UPDATE] Jere Lehtinen is out for tonight's game.

After the jump, injuries and more notes on tonight's game...

The Dallas Stars:

The Stars have scored only two goals in four straight games. They are 3-for-19 on the power play in that stretch, two of those coming in the loss to Minnesota. The Stars will look to the return of James Neal to the lineup tonight to get that Neal-Richards-Erikssson trio jump started, but they'll likely attract the majority of the Sharks defensive attention.

What the Stars really need is for the Ribeiro/Morrow combination to return to form. The two have combined for only three points in their last four games, and have endured well documented defensive struggles in the process. The return of Jere Lehtinen helped stifle their growing pile of minuses in recent games, and Marc Crawford will reunite the pair with Jamie Benn for tonight's game, opting to play Jere Lehtinen with Mike Modano and Toby Petersen.

Meanwhile, Brian Sutherby will apparently sit tonight in favor of Krys Barch, who returned from a shoulder injury and will see fourth line minutes with Tom Wandell and Steve Ott. This is surprising to some, as the Sutherby/Wandell/Brunnstrom combination had begun to show a nice chemistry in recent games, but Fabian Brunnstrom's absence (shoulder) may have prompted a change. The presence of Steve Ott and Krys Barch on the same line could make for some interesting results.

UPDATE: Jere Lehtinen is out for tonight's game, apparently. Brian Sutherby will be in. Your guess is as good as mine on what the line's will be.

Marty Turco is in net tonight.

The Sharks:

Let's let Mike Heika's stats do the talking:

As for the Sharks, you'll see a lot of this in scouting the enemy tomorrow, but just so you know, they are the hottest team in hockey with an 8-0-1 run going. They are first in points percentage at .737, first in goal-differential at +1.06, and first in face-off winning percentage at 56.9%. They are second in goals against average (2.22), second in save percentage (.923), second in power play success (25.0%), fourth in goal scoring (3.32) and fourth in penalty kill (85.5%).

So you could say this is a bit of a challenge for the Stars.

I don't know what else to say. The Sharks are just really good (in the regular season) and it will take, as Razor says, a Herculean effort tonight by Dallas to take them down.

After being stripped of the captaincy, and a tumultuous summer, Patrick Marleau is tied for second in scoring in the NHL, and Battle of California is talking about re-signing him. He is enjoying a fantastic year so far with Clowe and Pavelski on his wings. With Setoguchi recently returned to the lineup, paired with Thornton and Heatley, the Sharks are a formidable group up front.

Fear the Fin apparently doesn't care for Dallas much.

Injuries:

Dallas: Fabian Brunnstrom is out with a shoulder injury. Day-to-day.

San Jose: Rob Blake (upper body) and Torey Mitchell (leg) are out tonight.

Stargazing: Stars Gear Up for Tough Road Test

Brad G — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:30:34 -0000

Stargazing is a daily assortment of Dallas Stars and Texas Stars news, and whatever other random ramblings are bouncing around inside our heads.

The Stars' four day break is coming to a close, and a trio of stout road tests starts tomorrow night in San Jose with the Sharks. This was the Dallas' longest break between games this year, not counting the Olympic break of course. They have only two more breaks of at least three days remaining, one of which is next week before the team travels to Detroit. After that, the remainder of the season will come at a dizzying pace.

Dallas has used the time to become relatively healthy. Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen both returned to the lineup for three consecutive games, and strange and wonderful as it sounds, both remain healthy a week later. James Neal has returned to practice as has Krys Barch. Brad Richards and his nagging soreness surely benefit from the break as well. The health of the team, tenuous as it is, is a welcome improvement over the woes of last winter.

Turning our attention to the Sharks: They've just won their 10th game in their last 12 tries. They have once again, as we knew they would, risen authoritatively to the top of the division. Last year on November 11th, the Sharks were 14 points ahead of the Stars. This year, they're 8 points ahead and the Stars have two games in hand. Dallas will see Phoenix on Saturday night, and then will likely to stop back home for a day or two before continuing their "road trip" in Detroit on Wednesday.

After the jump: More on Brett Hull's HOF induction; Lines for tomorrow's game; Is Steve Ott getting suspended again? A new Stars injury? And more Stars news and notes...

Steve Ott has another city in an uproar, and the Star Tribune updates the possibility of punishment:

With Petr Sykora recovering at home from a concussion, Wild coach Todd Richards said Tuesday he doesn't expect NHL officials to discipline Dallas center Steve Ott for the hit that blasted Sykora's head into the glass Saturday. But dangerous shots to the head -- and the serious injuries they cause -- will be discussed by the league's general managers as they conclude their fall meetings in Toronto today.

...

Wild GM Chuck Fletcher said he didn't consider it a dirty play.

"It's part of hockey," he said. "You never want to have anyone get injured, but some things are unavoidable in a contact sport."

And yesterday, they reported that lack of video may spare Ott:

Richards does not anticipate the NHL will discipline Steve Ott for his hit on Petr Sykora. He said the hit was not easily seen on the video, which would hamper NHL officials' ability to review it. As for Sykora, Richards said he is feeling better, and the fact that he is coming around quickly is a good sign. "It's not a lingering thing where he's kind of in limbo, so that's positive,'' Richards said.

I suppose that's why I haven't seen it again anywhere. It's hard to comment on, so we'll cross our fingers that Ott is more careful in the future so he can stay on the ice, and move on.

Fabian Brunnstrom is listed as day to day with a shoulder injury sustained in practice this week. Mike Heika reports the lines from Wednesday's practice as the following:

Here were the lines Crawford went with today, and they appear to be the lines he will use against the Sharks.

Neal-Richards-Eriksson
Morrow-Ribeiro-Benn
Petersen-Modano-Lehtinen
Ott-Wandell-Barch

Grossman-Robidas
Skrastins-Niskanen
Fistric-Daley

Turco

It appears Brian Sutherby and Jeff Woywitka will be your healthy scratches.

So Sutherby sits, and Ott will play 4th line minutes. It just goes to show you how dramatically things can change for a player based on the health of the team. Everyone must be prepared to do their part and play where they must.

Richard Durrett has some nice comments from Mike Modano regarding Hull's induction, and possibility of his own inclusion someday:

"It was good," Modano said. "It was short and sweet, about an hour. They are only allowed four or five minutes to talk. It was a bit of a zoo. Everybody has a lot of friends and family. We were there to show our support."

Modano admitted that he couldn't help but think about what it might be like to be inducted one day himself.

"That would be a fitting end to anybody's career," Modano said. "You don't think about that when you start playing. You're not thinking whether you're Hall of Fame caliber. You play because it's fun and you have a good time, but to culminate in that would be pretty awesome. I can only imagine how humbling it is or how fortunate it would be to be recognized."

Personally, I'd like to see Mike pile a couple dozen more goals on before we start thinking about things like.

The USA Today reports that the Blues will honor Brett in St. Louis on December 15th:

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Blues plan a ceremony on Dec. 15 to honor Brett Hull's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Hull will be honored prior to a game involving his first two teams, Calgary and St. Louis. Plans for the ceremony were announced Tuesday.

Hull began his career with the Flames in 1986 and came to St. Louis in a trade in 1988. He scored a career-high 86 goals and was the league MVP in 1990-91, and followed that with two more 70-plus goal seasons. All told, he had 741 goals and 650 assists in 19 NHL seasons.

Hull was inducted into the Hall of Fame Monday.

The Stars don't play that night. I guess you can borrow him.

Mike Heika says the opposition has started targeting James Neal, seeking to were him down with physical play and desirable defensive match-ups:

"You're out there playing against big, tough guys, and it's a challenge every night, and you have to be ready for it. I think if you're confident in what you're doing, you'll be fine."

Neal is confident, but does he have to adjust his game to survive the physical abuse? Some targeted players have worn down over time. Some find a way to deftly avoid hits. Others move out of the danger zone and become less effective.

"I think he can give it pretty well, and he's used to that type of game, so I don't see him changing," Richards said. "If he wants to play a different type of game and not go to the net, then he probably wouldn't have his nine goals. Unfortunately for your body sometimes, that's just the way it goes."

While I'd like to see James take good care of himself, I think that like Brenden Morrow, he's not going to back down.

Dallasstars.com has notes on practice, and the four day break:

With four days off between games, the Stars have been making the most of their practices.

"We don’t get a lot of practice time, so this is a great practice block for us," says Head Coach Marc Crawford. "We let the guys know right away that it was going to be hard for these two days and it was. I really appreciated their effort and their intensity. It’s tough to stay intense for the amount of time that you practice. If you’re only doing it for a short amount of time it’s a little bit easier. But here, we’re over an hour each day, an hour 15 yesterday and hour and five or 10 today. All hard drills, all really action packed and all lots of intensity lots of physical plays. You run the risk that you do get a bump and a bruise. We got one, but we got a couple of guys back and otherwise we got through it pretty positively."

The Stars get ESPN props, albeit in a Fantasy Hockey context, but it's flattering all the same:

...Take the Dallas Stars for example. The Stars finished 20th in the league last season for scoring, were a collective minus-63 and were coming into this season with essentially all the same puzzle pieces except for their blue-line offensive catalyst who bolted for Russia (Sergei Zubov). Most folks expected things to turn around a bit for the Stars if they were blessed with a healthy Brenden Morrow and Brad Richards, but to be tied for fifth in the league in scoring at this point was not expected. The Stars have four players on pace to top 30 goals after having only one score more than 24 last season.

Loui Eriksson and Richards are the two biggest risers this week as I have to tip my hat to coach Marc Crawford and the Stars. Crawford is letting his players attack the net and relying on the burgeoning stalwarts on the blue line to handle things in their own end.