SBNation.com User Blog: Trillmike

Dallas Stars Blood Donation Drive & Promotion

Trillmike — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:34:53 -0000

The Dallas Stars are promoting blood donation with Carter BloodCare for the rest of February. Carter BloodCare is reaching out to die-hard Dallas Stars fans (like the awesome people who are part of the Defending Big D community) for support. Anyone who donates blood during this promotion will receive a buy-one-get-one ticket voucher to a Stars game, a hockey puck with the Stars logo on it and a chance to win one of several exclusive Dallas Stars experiences.

Coupon and Puck

The buy-one-get-one coupon can be used for any home game through April 26, 2013. Do you have a child or a friend new to hockey? This promotion is a great (and cheap) way to take them to a game and expose them to the best hockey has to offer.

If the Stars keep performing as they have, we should have some really intense home games against the rest of the West. Every game will have playoff implications. The Stars have home games scheduled against the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild during this promotion.

Fans who donate during this period will also receive a Dallas Stars hockey puck (I have one of them sitting on my desk in front of me right now.) The puck is made out of real rubber an could definitely break a window.

Prizes For Donors

On March 23, 2013 (vs. the Colorado Avalanche), a few very lucky donors will win some amazing Stars experiences. Twenty-five donors will receive a pair of tickets located in the "all you can eat" section of the American Airlines Center. Another five donors will win a pair of suite tickets and a parking pass for the game.

Carter BloodCare is offering a prize most of us on Defending Big D will drool over. One insanely lucky donor will win a VIP experience with the Stars. The winner will watch the game from the lower level of the American Airlines Center and have a tunnel visit during an intermission. Before the game, this person will get to have a "meet and greet" with Ralph Stragis and Daryl "Razor" Reaugh. He or she will take a tour of the team's locker room and have access to the morning skate. How cool would that be?

Donate

I'm sure most of you have seen Carter BloodCare's advertisements during Stars games ("A single blood donation can save three lives"). I know this message has been drilled into our heads for the past couple of seasons, but have you ever even thought about donating blood? Carter BloodCare needs 1,100 blood donations a day just to keep up with their demand. Your blood really can save another human's life.

This is a win-win opportunity for any Stars fan. Simply visit a local Carter BloodCare donation center or blood drive and donate. Donors under the age of 18 must have parental permission to donate. Visit Carter BloodCare's websiteto find a local blood donation location near you.

Go Stars!

Kari Lehtonen, What Options Do The Stars Have?

Trillmike — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:38:45 -0000

Kari Lehtonen has become the goalie the Atlanta Thrashers deemed worthy of the 2nd overall pick in the 2002 draft. The Dallas Stars traded Ivan Vishnevskiy and a 4th round pick to acquire the injury-ridden goaltender in 2010. Ever since the trade, Kari has improved his GAA and SV% each year in Dallas. Although he always has a chance at re-injuring his groin, he has proven to be an above average (maybe even "elite") NHL goaltender.

Kari is signed with the Stars through the 2012-2013 season with a cap hit of $3,550,000 (which is a very "good" contract for a goalie of his caliber). However, if NHL goalie contact trends continue (which is a complete unknown given the pending CBA situation), Kari will be signing a bigger contract. If he becomes a UFA, is it lunacy to think that a team offers him a contract worth $30,000,000 over 5 years? I don't think it is. Especially considering the UFA goalie class of 2013 (more on this after jump).

Kari has become a fan favorite here in Dallas, but does he want to be part of the organization long term? Had the Stars not drafted Jack Campbell, I think this question and FanPost would not be necessary. Sure, the Stars would love to keep Kari for 2 more years, but it's highly unlikely that Kari signs a contract based on when Campbell is ready for a starting role in the NHL. Kari is 28-years-old and is in the "prime" years of his NHL career.

The Stars are going to have to make a decision similar to level of the Brad Richards situation. Should they trade a great NHL goalie that 3/4 of the league would love to have for a package of younger high-end players? Or should they take a different risk and possibly lose Kari for nothing in free agency?

Kari put up career highs this past season in the two most important statistical areas for a goaltender. His 2.33 GAA ranked 5th in the league amongst goalies playing a minimum of 50 games. The only goalies he was behind were: Quick (1.95), Lundqvist (1.97), Howard (2.13) and Smith (2.21). His .922 SV% (which is significantly more important) also ranked 5th amongst goalies playing a minimum of 50 games. The goalies in front of him in this category were: Smith (.930), Lundqvist (.930), Quick (.929) and Rinne (.923). If we leave the St. Louis Blues' bizarre goalie situation and what's going on up in Vancouver out of the discussion, Kari is statistically a top-5 goalie in the league. If teams devalue him due to injuries, he is still a top-10 goalie in the NHL. His current contract is a bargain. I'm not going to put the effort into looking up the other top goalies' contracts and averaging them all together, but I'm pretty confident that all but Quick and Smith's are higher than Kari's.

Other 2013 UFA Goalies: Backstrom, Thomas, Howard, Nobakov, Smith and Quick. More can be found here.

So, what do the Stars do with their elite goalie? There are a few options.

Option 1.

Trade Kari to a team in need of a goalie (now or at the deadline).

This is the most drastic option with the most potential at getting a player(s) that can be added to the core of this team for the foreseeable future. This option adds to that "untouchable" list that we see on the rumor mill of Benn, Erikson and Goligoski. A team that would trade for Kari is likely to be "one goalie away" from being a legitimate contender or a middle of the pack team looking to sign an elite goalie to that big contract mentioned earlier.

What are some teams that fall into this scenario? The Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals come to mind when thinking about those teams that get close, but fall short due to poor goaltending (Holtby was a pleasant surprise in Washington, but may have been a fluke and Tukka Rask may not pan out as well as the Bruins hope). The teams that come to mind when thinking about those who want to give Kari that big contract are the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Those 7 teams all have "stud" young talent that may be available to the Stars for Kari. I'm not going to speculate on exactly who the Stars should target. However, if a player is young with top-6/4 potential the Stars should have him on their radar.

Option 2.

Begin contract extension talk with Kari immediately and hope you can sign him to a 2-3 year deal at a good price.

This option should not even be an option, because it's a no-brainer. The beauty with this is if Kari intends to become a UFA and leaves Dallas, it gives the organization time to hashout Option 1 before the deadline. This option also allows the Stars to persuade Kari to sign that 2-3 year extension. Who knows? Maybe Kari has a soft spot for the organization and is on board with the Stars grooming Jack Campbell into a starting goalie (I highly doubt it, but you never know).

Option 3.

Sign Kari to that long-term deal, worry about Campbell later and hopefully continue to get elite goaltending for a while.

I think that this one makes the most since if the Stars are willing to eventually part with either Campbell or Kari in the future. This option allows the Stars the flexibility to develop Campbell slowly in the AHL and make him the starter when he actually is ready or trade him for high value in a situation similar to the ones going on with Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings.

If they sign Kari to a 6-7 year deal and manage to do it without a NTC (which they aren't really good at), they stick with Kari until he is 34-35 or trade him a few years into his deal for a future hole in the roster.

There are probably more "options" for the Stars to explore, but the clock is ticking and a decision has to be made. This team will look significantly different over the coming seasons. Whether those future teams have Kari on the roster or not is entirely up Joe Nieuwendyk and the rest of the front office. Does Tom Gaglardi want to make his first "big" move as owner of the Dallas Stars? This is the type of decision that will be highly investigated and even scrutinized by Stars fans and all NHL media. All I know is that I'm glad the decision is not up to me.

Poll

Which option should the Stars go with involving Kari Lehtonen?

Option 1 (trade him)

22 votes

Option 2 (hope he signs short-term)

51 votes

Option 3 (sign him long-term)

50 votes

123 votes | Poll has closed

The trade that landed Jamie Benn in Dallas

Trillmike — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:57:06 -0000

June 23, 2007 marked the day the Dallas Stars were able to make a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Stars would trade a 4th round draft pick to Columbus for 3 additional 5th round picks. This trade allowed the Stars to land the steal of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft... Jamie Benn.

Let's take a look at how Columbus acquired their handful of 5th rounders and how the draft went.

On February 27, 2007 Ty Conklin of the Columbus Blue Jackets was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for a 5th round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Columbus would acquire an additional 5th rounder on May 16, 2007 when the Boston Bruins traded their 2007 5th round pick to Columbus for Adam McQuaid.

The Stars made a trade with the Blue Jackets on June 23, 2007. The Blue Jackets received the Stars 94th overall pick (4th round from LA) in exchange for the 128th (CBJ's original 5th), 129th (BOS from CBJ) and 149th (BUF from CBJ) overall picks (5th round). The Stars had acquired the 94th pick in the Mattias Norstrom deal and had traded away their 5th rounder to Montreal for none other than Mike Ribiero.

The Blue Jackets would go on to select Maksim Mayorov

The Stars would draft: Austin Smith (128th), Jamie Benn (129th) and Michael Neal (149th). The Stars would also draft Ondrej Roman in the same round as a result of the Niinimaa for Erskin deal with the New York Islanders.

I don't really know how to conclude this other than by speculating. If Benn was guaranteed to be selected 129th overall would he have turned into the player that he is today playing for Columbus or Boston?

All I know is that Les Jackson and the Stars definitely won that trade. As of today (March 1, 2012) Mayorov has appeared in 20 games for Columbus and has a total of 2 points. Jamie Benn on the other hand has appeared in 204 games for Dallas, has netted 147 points and is still developing into a truly elite player in the league.

Morrow trade rumor

Trillmike — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:32:50 -0000

Anyone else see these rumors of Morrow being traded to the Leafs? What's up with that? If this were to go through what could we expect in return?

I realize that you can literally type in any above average NHL player's name + to the Leafs and find some crazy rumor about how the Leafs are eying him. It's just weird seeing this buzz about Morrow.

The only way I'd be interested in something like this is if it included a solid top 6 player and a 2-round pick, or if the the Leafs end up choking again and somehow are in position to get Nail Yakupov (which would end up being a hindsight bonus if they were able to get a first for Morrow).

I'm really not feeling this idea. What do you guys think?

Anyone else see these rumors of Morrow being traded to the Leafs? What's up with that? If this were to go through what could we expect in return?

I realize that you can literally type in any above average NHL player's name + to the Leafs and find some crazy rumor about how the Leafs are eying him. It's just weird seeing this buzz about Morrow.

I'm really not feeling this idea. What do you guys think?