With a little over a quarter of the season behind us, teams are starting to get a good idea of where their team is at and where they should be in the future. The Dallas Stars, probably a bit, to everyone’s surprise, have found themselves at the top of the Central Divison for most of the season. Now General Manager Jim Nill is to evaluate what his team is lacking and where the Stars could benefit from some new pieces and that’s what our NHL rumours for today are about.
NHL Rumours: Central Division Team Looking to Add Top-Six Forward
Rumour: Per TSN’s Darren Dreger the Dallas Stars are interested in adding a top-six forward to their arsenal this season.
Report: Stars in the market for a top-6 forward https://t.co/TjkfqXOGx2 pic.twitter.com/Vyq9eaMRDE
— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) November 30, 2022
Dallas leads the NHL in goals at 88, which is a much different scenario than they had last season. It is no secret that the top line is scoring a majority of those goals. However, the Stars would like to see more production out of the second line. The second line is made up of Tyler Seguin, Mason Marchment, and a revolving door of other players that just haven’t quite fit. That line has seen Denis Gurianov, Jamie Benn, Joel Kiviranta, Matej Blumel, Radek Faksa, and Ty Dellandrea. The idea at the beginning of the season was probably having Gurianov slot in with Seguin and Marchment, but his inconsistent play prevented that.
Marchment was signed over the summer, to a four-year, 4.5 million AAV deal to add some scoring depth to the roster. In 23 games played, he has tallied seven goals and 13 points. Seguin has put up four goals and 18 points in 23 games. This line has the physical edge in Marchment and the timing and vision from Seguin. It is just missing someone with speed who can put the puck in the back of the net.
How Dallas Can Make This Happen
The Stars traded away two picks in the Nils Lundkvist trade, including a conditional first-round. Now, it seems as though Dallas may stay away from trading picks for the top-six piece they are looking for. Looking at this NHL rumour and trying to figure out how they can make it happen, there are two obvious pieces that the Stars could start with first. One of those being Gurianov. He is a restricted free agent who carries a cap hit of 2.9 million dollars on a one-year deal. In the 2019-2020 season, he scored 20 goals. Since then he has been a very inconsistent producer and has been the victim of healthy scratches under multiple coaches. This season he has one goal and four points in 16 games. He holds a lot of potential if the right coach or environment can unlock it.
The other option is Anton Khudobin. He has spent the majority of the last two seasons in the AHL. With the emergence of Jake Oettinger and a steal of a backup goaltender in Scott Wedgewood, the Stars did not have room for Khudobin. But injuries last season gave Dallas a reason to keep him for the “just in case” moments. This season in the AHL he is 6-3-2 and holds a 2.63 goals-against average and a .913% save percentage. His contract ends after this season and he carries a cap hit of roughly 3.3 million dollars.
A Possible Package
The Stars won’t be able to package one or both of these players without picks to get someone worthwhile in return. But with their cap space combined and the 1.1 million they currently have available, the Stars would have around seven million to work with. Nill has been making some good moves this off-season. So it’s safe to say fans are feeling optimistic about what he could do to add another forward to the mix.
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