Dallas Stars
Stars Lose Duchene, 2 Veteran UFAs Could Emerge as Replacements
With untimely loss of Matt Duchene for three months, might the Dallas Stars look at a couple of UFA forwards?
The Dallas Stars just announced that veteran forward Matth Duchene will be out of action for three months. That’s not good news for the Stars, who were already a bit thin at forward depth. The immediate assumption will be that the Stars may look to some short-term, inexpensive options. That could lead to chatter about Patrik Laine or Vladimir Tarasenko.
Both Laine and Tarasenko are skating and trying to stay in shape, waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. That was likely going to be an injury, where a team would need a quick fix. The Stars may now be that team.
Their negative cap space issue means they’ll have to bring in only players who can produce on a low cap hit. Laine is eligible to sign a performance-bonus contract with a low base salary. No team has made a serious offer. Pierre LeBrun reported that the Seattle Kraken looked at Laine early in the offseason, but they didn’t have a roster spot for him after re-signing Bobby McMann and trading for Mackie Samoskevich. He also noted that Calgary has kicked it around internally, but the Flames want to look at their young guys first for a while. Detroit had talked about it too.
Patrik Laine Dallas Stars” class=”wp-image-126077″/>On paper, the fit makes some sense. Mikko Rantanen feeding Jason Robertson, Laine, and Wyatt Johnston on the power play could create a potent attack for Dallas.
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