2012 Offseason Thread II: The Offseasoning
 

Continue.

Here are the last few posts from the previous thread to keep things going:

That is strange. Elite Prospects is usually an excellent source for transfer rumors in Europe. However, in this instance, the source links to the Hockey section of the papers website rather than the actual article. The same is true for the Detroit and Tampa Bay rumors.

One blog writer had the same problem to find any article about Brunner and these three franchises.


I have questions to the die-hard Stars fans.
After all these interviews with our owner, president and GM do you think we have good chance to make the playoffs this year? Of course we have to wait after the draft day, 1st of July and trades, but how is your feeling for the 2012 - 2013 season?

Decidedly optimistic.

A full year with a new owner at the helm, and four years without a single playoff game....I think (hope) that they'll be gunning hard to go back to the upper echelon of the league, where we used to be.

Not getting my hopes up until they prove that they won't collapse come March.

I agree ... in year's past, the only way to improve the team was the bargain free agent (even then they weren't always signing someone) or bringing a prospect into the fold.

This season, to a man, they've all said everything is on the table to get better, and the only avenue they are skeptical about is free agency which is a good thing IMO. I doubt that they'll land long-term assets at center in the Top 6, two wings positions, and a #1 defenseman in one summer though, but that won't hold them back from making the next important step of getting into the playoffs. I do believe they'll be better next year.

No idea where eliteprospects got that rumour, but on another Swiss newspaper, that seems respectable and one of the biggest online news sites in SUI, the Wild are mentioned, not the Stars:

http://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/zentra...;art101,178126

Wild, Wings and Lightning mentioned, according to them it looks like he's most likely going to Tampa, Yzerman already met with him during the WC.

I am in the optimist camp. I think the team should have made the playoffs this season, and would have done so if the pp had been average instead of historically bad.

For next season, the team needs more scoring. I expect Ryder and Nystrom to regress back towards their career averages, but I think there are UFAs that can help make up the difference. I think the pp can be fixed by coaching as well.

Unfortunately, it's hard for me to see a playoff team that the Stars can overtake. I would say the Kings and Blues are on their way up, Chicago has a ton of talent and would be scary if they had goaltending, and some team has to make it from the Northwest so it may as well be Vancouver. Detroit and San Jose are aging, but it is hard to see either team miss the playoffs. Phoenix has some older players, but with an owner (maybe) and Mike Smith/Dave Tippett, they will be right back in the mix. Nashville might slip back if they lose Suter, but they have the same solid coaching and goaltending as Phoenix.

Neutral leaning pessimistic unless major changes are made.

If all of Ott, Morrow, and Robidas are still here in Dallas I'm not feeling good about this. Same with Sourey returning.

I'm reserving judgment until after the draft, UFA and summer trades but without a roster overhaul I will continue to bang the drum that this team isn't good enough as they've shown the last three seasons.

I'll tell you after July 1st :)

I wrote that wrong. I meant that we shouldn't count on him to solve our top 6 issues on the wing.

Ironic. Just read this and saw that Dallas posted an article saying Souray prefers to stay. That's the first indication of such that I have seen.

Here's Souray's quote:

“We’ve talked and they have some time to make their minds up, but come July 1, options open up (for me), too. I’d like to stay here. I know they’re going to make changes, if anyone here thinks they’re not making changes, they’re all a little naïve. Hopefully in the year that I’ve been here, they see me as part of the solution moving forward. I really like it here, I don’t want to leave here. We’ll see.”

-Per Dallasstars.com

I don't doubt Sourey would prefer to stay. He got huge minutes, was treated well, his teammates liked him and he got a decent contract last time despite everything. Why would he not want to return?

That said I for one do not want him taking minutes from Dillion or a trade target. He wasn't very good outside of that first month and trying to force the power play through him was a complete disaster. Thank you but no.

I agree. Love his blast and size, but he became a liability a lot. Too much getting caught and not to mention injury prone in the second half. Would much much much rather have Dillon.

That's funny. I'm pretty optimistic about the long term future, much less so about the immediate outlook.

Everything we've heard since Gagliardi bought the team indicates that while he knows the importance of getting to the playoffs, he values doing things the right way in order to sustain success. I agree with his rhetoric now I just want to see some tough decisions being made.

*Leadership turnover is a must. Talent infusion at virtually every position is a necessity(this probably includes the coaching staff as well). Most importantly, it seems that there is a clear "crop" of prospects that will/should arrive around the same time. If they as a group prove to be truly ready then things could be surprisingly (to the outside world) great around here in 2-3 years.

I think the most important thing is going to be the internal evaluation of when any one prospect is "ready". It seems this is the primary reason Gainey was hired and I'm all for a good hockey mind being set to that task, I just hope Gainey is that man. Sceviour should make this team out of training camp. I didn't get to watch Dillon at the end of the season but by all accounts he's basically beating down the door and has shown them what they hoped he would at the AHL level. If the organization A) truly has the young horses in the stable, B) allows them to move on to the NHL and play meaningful minutes, and C) makes room for them on the roster by moving out veterans who underperform, then things should be going in the direction of competing for the division title again within 2-4 years.


The only defensemen on the Stars roster who we can count on being here for sure is Larsen, Daley, and Goligoski. I don't see any way you keep both Robidas and Souray on the roster and say you're trying to get better. Both had uneven play this season with Souray being generally far better than Robidas. Trading Robidas to a team where he can be on the third pair would help him, the Stars, and likely that team as well (assuming they can afford to pay a 3rd pair D-man that much). Keep Souray around as the grizzled veteran who has been there and done that. I can't say for sure without being in the room obviously, but Souray seems like the kind of man's man who guys would follow into battle. The fact that he wants to stay here I think can be read as a sign that he feels a sense of ownership of the Stars' situation and wants to help. I think he can but only if he's not heavily relied on in top minutes.

I feel pretty strongly that Benn is the next long term captain of the Stars. However, given the current state of the team and the organization I'm not sure I want a 22 year old feeling the weight of wearing the "C" in this league just yet. That's pretty heady territory, and while I think he could handle it, I'd rather wait a couple years if possible.

Trade Morrow. Trade Robidas. Keep Souray and make him captain. Benn and Eriksson wear the "A", as well as Ott if he's still around.

Boom! Come at me bro.

Please, no. It's a unique idea, but I doubt he signs a one year deal again, and we can't fit him in past that.

Not much difference in 1 vs 2 years and really there's nothing really keeping him from being here for 2 years. This is going to be the year Dillon gets ushered in; 2013-14 is when Oleksiak will probably be a fulltime player. There's no reason to dump them all in the league at the same time.

I think it's the kind of creative maneuver we're likely to see to be honest.

I'm pretty set on Dillon being added this coming season. Oleksiak for the season after, I'm not so sure. He's developed very well and very fast lately, but we'll have to see how his jump to the AHL is. I might say that Benn would have a better chance since he's been in Austin for a year and has shown he can play in the NHL.

I was just thinking we should start a thread with some really gonzo ideas in it. Please no more Souray, let the team actually pass responsibility to the next generation.

Maybe I would think differently if the team made the playoffs partly because of Souray's strong late season play, neither of which happened.

I'd hate to see it happen, but you're probably right.

:laugh:

That's essentially what an offseason thread is.


I hear you but I actually think that type of move would accomplish letting the team pass responsibility to the next generation but in a responsible way, long term sort of way. Keep Souray around as the main (older) veteran on the team.

My reason for even bringing it up is because I A) really want Morrow gone, B) want Benn to be the captain - but not quite yet, and C) I don't really see any other options on the team as very appealing. Loui has the standing league-wide that it would be fine but he doesn't seem like the ideal type and the idea of giving it to him for a season or two and then giving it to Benn just seems odd to me. The last option isn't an option; keeping Steve Ott and giving him an NHL captaincy would be ridiculous.

Lastly, Souray should be fairly cheap to re-sign. He didn't have a great year but infusing some youth on the blueline and removing Robidas from the equation should be seen as making the team better.

Souray as captain is a little further toward bananaville than most of the rest of this thread.

As far as other captains go, I think Daley is a good choice and IIRC it has been mentioned on this board by others.

Not really. He has a strong resume as a player and good standing around the league among players.

Nobody here is in the room so unless they're basing that on something said by anybody in the organization I think it holds about as much water as what I'm proposing.

Then there's the question, "is Trevor Daley a guy who is going to captain a team to a Cup?" Followed by the question, "is he captain indefinitely or is he keeping it warm for someone else (I think Benn)?" If the answer to the second question is yes to the latter part, then I think that's a bad idea.

I personally don't like the idea of giving it to Daley in any capacity to be honest. At least with Souray his tenure comes with a fairly known and soon expiration date.

I meant more that most people around here (I think) don't expect him to be back, and you want to make him captain.

You have hit on the problem that the team doesn't have much in the way of future captain material. I think Benn is more of a situation where the best player gets the C, although he could be a fine captain someday.