Wandell - now 100% more qualified!
 

its interesting that Wandell didnt get a qualifying offer yet. Wonder if they are seriously considering letting him walk.

Yea really strange they're still deciding.

Either Wandell will not be extended a QO and he will go back to Sweden, or he will eat a two-way and playing Austin. Or, Wandell will be traded at the draft.

There isn't a place for a 15 point 4th liner on a bad team in the league.

Wait, what?

Can the team afford not to resign him? That leaves Vincour, Fiddler, and Nystrom as the only remaining bottom 6 players under contract (Burish, Dvorak, Peterson, Dowell all UFAs, Garbutt RFA). As much as I want a robust 3rd and 4th lines, I don't think the UFA and AHL options are there to displace Wandell this year.

Steve Ott, Eric Nystrom, Vernon Fiddler. Vincour should go to the AHL.
That gives a 3rd line C/LW, a 4th line LW, and a 4th line C.

Bring up Sceviour, there's at minimum a 4th line C/RW and then maybe Glennie to be the third line C/RW ... sign/acquire a pure 3C which honestly should be pretty easy given that teams have a lot of underperforming centers... like Matt Lombardi.

OH hey a solid bottom 6 with more potential.

Possibly a contract limit issue? I figure Wandell would sign his QO. Maybe they're waiting until they move some contracts at or before the draft?

Garbutt will get an QO.

So that gives you Ott, Nystrom, Fiddler, Garbutt and Vincour.

Which if you add Sceviour means you only need one more forwards which I think is very doable with this free agent crop.

Wandell's not very good. I hope he is traded for something but non-tendering him won't break my heart.

http://stars.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=634992

Dallas QOs so far. Nothing surprising here.

I don't think the team signs enough depth to push Ott to the 3rd line, and I would be surprised if the team did sign enough depth to fill those holes given that Slater/Kelly/Campbell/Pahlsson are now unavailable. I also don't think rolling with rookies in the bottom 6 makes sense or at least more sense than rolling with Vincour/Wandell.

Why would we have a contract limit issue currently? We're under, we have UFAs, and 4 non-tendered.

We don't know who might be moved at the draft. We don't know what we can acquire. I'm sure we can get guys to fill holes both at the draft and at UFA Frenzy. I really believe the org can find guys to move Ott down.

Actually my bigger issue with rookies in the bottom 6 is that apparently new Assistant Coach Fraser hates prospects.

That's the problem. If they make him a QO, he would certainly sign it right away. That makes it harder to change things up. It's hard to improve the roster when locking up roster spots with spares like Wandell.

What's with the Wandell hate? He's a solid 4th liner, better than some of the garbage we could be putting out there.

Jamie Benn hasn't been QO'ed, either. I guess he sucks and is going to be let go too.

I'd like to keep him as a 4th line winger, preferably.

And to whoever said Vincour's in the AHL, he's not gonna be a top 6 forward. Not every prospect has to be. He's a good 3rd liner already, and can only get better in a role like that. It's happened before, I'm sick of hating on Vincour and Wandell for not producing offensively.

Ott - UFA Center (Stoll?) - Vincour
Wandell - Fiddler - Whoever (Garbutt, etc?)

Tell me that's bad. It's really not.

It's pretty bad.

Why is it hate to look at a spare player and call him a spare player?

What's the worst case scenario here? If they don't qualify Wandell, he'll become a UFA on July 1. So what? If all of their other plans from now to then don't work out, they can sign him then. It's not like teams will be beating down his door. If the Stars can't do better through trades or free agency, Wandell will be there waiting. It makes no sense to hurry to commit a roster spot to a generic 4th liner today when you can always sign him later.

If they can't work out a longer deal with Benn by next week, Benn will also get a qualifying offer.

Nothing lost if we don't make him a QO

Nah, he'll sign a two-way with the Red Wings and finish next season in Detroit.

Best move of the offseason thus far.

Benn and Larsen have been qualified.

Agreed. Wandell is not a spare, and he does not suck. Failing to qualify him would be a mistake. Wandell, if used correctly (playing heavy minutes shorthanded, sheltered at even strength, and available to move up the lineup in a pinch) can absolutely be an asset to the team. I'd be very interested in seeing a 4th line of Wandell-Sceviour-Garbutt - a group that could really come at the other team with speed.

Sure, he could be an asset, but... there are guys out there who can produce at an NHL level and do the things Wandell can do. You know, like Darren Helm.

Why is that? The worst thing that happens is another team signs him in July. If that happens, they can easily find a speedy guy with no hands who can't win faceoffs in free agency, or off the waiver wire, or from the farm, or in a trade for a bag of used pucks. Qualifying him now is locking up the team's roster for no reason.

And he just got re-signed.

Well, I for one would like to keep Wandell in the line up... Maybe he's not as productive as one would hope, but he's still very reliable defensively, rarely does has a bad game and draws plenty of penalties...

Even if you want him back, there's no reason to qualify him now. He'll still be there to sign when the excitement of the draft and free agency settles down.

the magic wand is better suited for the adult film industry than the nhl.