Some Thoughts about the Trade Deadline, Jason Robertson, and the Dallas Stars

There's a lot, and a little

Jason Robertson likes cats, you may have heard.

Let’s start by laying out what the Stars have right now.

If everyone besides Tyler Seguin is healthy by April, then the Stars would have something like this lineup for the playoffs:

Hryckowian-Johnston-Rantanen
Robertson-Hintz-Bourque
Steel-Duchene-Benn
Bäck-Faksa-Blackwell
Erne, Bastian

Lindell-Heiskanen
Harley-Lundkvist
Bichsel-Lyubushkin
Petrovic

Oettinger
DeSmith

Hey, that’s a good lineup! You’ve got excellent center depth, two bona fide all-star wingers, a couple more young and effective ones whose games are in a great spot, a veteran third line that can punish another team, a defensively stout fourth line, and three outstanding defensemen. You also have two goaltenders who can win you games.

These are things playoff teams all want to have, and the Stars do. It’s worth keeping that in mind as everyone’s eyes turn into dinner plates ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.

Familiarity breeds contempt, and contempt begins with discontent. And every Stars fan on the planet this week is suffering from some measure of discontent as they madly hit “refresh” every five minutes to see if those sweet, sweet trade rumors have updated themselves.

Because “a good lineup” isn’t what convinces fans that a team can finally reach another level in the playoffs. They want something great.

In fairness, I think the Stars would love to do something great, too. They see the same things that you do: Edmonton struggling more than ever, Florida likely to miss the playoffs entirely, and a Stars team under Glen Gulutzan that is finally embracing the sort of hockey that holds up under the bright lights of deep playoff runs.

It sure looks like the Stars have a big opportunity to do something special this year, if they can get out of the Central. That’s no small task, though. There’s a very real chance the Stars’ two toughest playoff series in a four-round Cup run could come in the first half of it.

That’s where reinforcements will be so crucial. Unfortunately, the salary cap has temporarily caught up with the Stars, and they’re about to face a one-year squeeze right at the same time when the most appealing solutions at the deadline require taking on contract term for next year that the Stars simply don’t have room for. Because—and stop me if you’ve heard about this already—Jason Robertson’s next deal is the sun around which all the other salary cap planets are currently orbiting.