{"id":463337,"date":"2025-02-28T09:39:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T14:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=463337"},"modified":"2025-02-28T09:39:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T14:39:38","slug":"nhl-rumours-could-the-dallas-stars-land-an-all-star-defenceman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/02\/28\/nhl-rumours-could-the-dallas-stars-land-an-all-star-defenceman\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Dallas Stars Could Show Interest in All-Star Defenceman"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s time for another installment of NHL rumours. The Trade Deadline is approaching quickly, and the Dallas Stars have decisions to make. Dallas<\/a> sits in second place in the Western Conference. Yet, as they did a year ago, the Stars could use some reinforcements on defence. There likely isn’t a move that would make the same impact as Chris Tanev<\/a> did last season, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a move worth making to improve the team by March 7<\/p>\n

In the latest episode of their podcast, “32 Thoughts,” NHL insiders Elliotte Freidman and Kyle Bukauskas mentioned some potential options<\/a> for Dallas, noting that it was all just theory and not based on any knowledge of the team’s plans. Here are the latest NHL rumours surrounding the Stars.<\/p>\n

NHL Rumours<\/h3>\n

Dallas Stars May Pursue a Three-Time Norris Trophy Winner<\/h3>\n

Rumour: The latest edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast<\/a> with Elliotte Friedman speculated on if the Stars could go after Erik Karlsson<\/a> of the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Analysis:<\/em> The big-name defenceman who could be traded by the deadline. Karlsson has spent 16 years in the NHL with Ottawa<\/a>, San Jose<\/a>, and Pittsburgh. He is two years removed from a 100-point season, is under contract until 2027, and overlapped with Stars head coach Pete DeBoer in San Jose.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old has 40 points in 60 games this season and impressed for Team Sweden in the Four Nations Face-Off.<\/p>\n

“Karlsson played really well in the Four Nations,” Friedman explained. “He could thrive in Dallas. I don’t know if it’s possible because of the big cap hit. …[But] I’d be curious.”<\/p>\n

His co-host seemed to agree if Dallas or another contender can find a way to make it work.<\/p>\n

“That’s the best of Karlsson we’ve seen in a while because the environment demanded that from him,” Bukauskas noted. “I guess to your point, put him on a team that could win this year and see what you might get.”<\/p>\n

Adding to the Blueline Group<\/h3>\n

It’s no secret that Dallas could use the service of an elite defender, but Karlsson may not be a feasible option. He is due $11.5 million in each of the next three seasons, which might be too much for Dallas to take on with the contract extensions it will need to negotiate with its rising stars.<\/p>\n

“I wonder if Dallas would even do it,” Friedman added.<\/p>\n

According to local Stars beat reporter Sean Shapiro, it does not seem likely that we will see Karlsson in the Victory Green.<\/p>\n

\n

The Stars are not going to be trading for Erik Karlsson. Jim Nill<\/a> kind of scoffed at that and asked me to show him where he can afford $11.5 million in cap space for 3 seasons without having to lose some of the younger players getting raises during that time.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) February 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Friedman also noted that because of the difference in Karlsson’s cap hit once his bonus hits over the summer, we could see teams wait until then to acquire him.<\/p>\n

Another Costly, Unlikely Candidate<\/h3>\n

Another costly option that Friedman and Bukauskas discussed was Chicago Blackhawks<\/a>‘ defenceman Seth Jones<\/a>. Jones is a Dallas native whose father played for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. However, he is due $9.5 million per season for the next five years, making him an unlikely option for the Stars at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to be harder for Dallas with what they have coming in the next few years, contract-wise, to make this work,” Friedman said. “… It would have to be either a retention deal or Chicago has to take a contract that Dallas doesn’t want.”<\/p>\n

Jones has 27 points this season and has appeared in four All-Star Games. However, the number of injuries he’s had to deal with in recent seasons makes him a risky player to pursue, especially with his current contract.<\/p>\n

\u00a0An Possible Underrated Option<\/h3>\n

Other NHL rumours and insiders have matched Dallas with Philadelphia Flyers<\/a>‘ defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen<\/a>. The 30-year-old has been good this season, considering how much his team has struggled. He also brings 12 years of NHL experience, even though his best seasons are likely behind him.<\/p>\n

Ristolainen<\/a> also comes with a lighter cap hit, costing $5.1 million per season until 2027.\u00a0However, recent reports indicate he may be staying with the Flyers<\/a>, as the club has not received much interest from other teams.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s time for another installment of NHL rumours. The Trade Deadline is approaching quickly, and the Dallas Stars have decisions to make. Dallas sits in second place in the Western Conference. Yet, as they did a year ago, the Stars could use some reinforcements on defence. There likely isn’t a move that would make the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5167,"featured_media":463378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4321,29,4548],"tags":[7154,550,1575,965,3885,578,6023,214,351],"class_list":["post-463337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rumours","category-stars","category-nhl","tag-dallas-stars-rumours","tag-erik-karlsson","tag-jim-nill","tag-nhl-trade-deadline","tag-nhl-trade-rumours","tag-peter-deboer","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-rumors","tag-rasmus-ristolainen","tag-seth-jones"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463337"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":463381,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463337\/revisions\/463381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}