True Reverse Retro
Joined: Mar. 2018
Posts: 4,628
Likes: 3,039
Some good and some bad things about this scenario.
First, I'm 100% against getting rid of Honka. He's one of the few defensemen we have now that can move the puck. His puck possession stats are pretty incredible for a guy who has only played a handful of games this season. Between Klingberg, Honka, Heiskanen, and Lindell, the Stars have 2 really solid lines at both ends of the ice and all 4 of those guys are good at breaking the puck out of their own cleanly. I keep all 4 of those guys and have a 3rd pairing of Heathington/Methot & Johns that can shut down opponents.
I like the Philadelphia deal. I think that's fairly accurate, though I don't know if Philly is going to want to part with Elliott. Stars may have to look at Neuvirth instead, which isn't a bad goalie to have as a backup. Either way, I still think we have to eat half of Spezza's salary. I just don't see any team willingly taking on $7.5M for a 3C at best. Overall, the trade is definitely on the right tracks.
Not a huge fan of the RNH trade. If the Stars land JVR (which I'm 100% on board with) that gives them JVR and Nuke as wingers on the 2nd line. Janmark slots into the Center position perfectly between those two guys. Janmark is a natural Center and spent his entire career playing Center, until he came to Dallas. A six that consists of Benn, Seguin, Radulov, JVR, Nuke, and Janmark is a very solid top-6. Janmark is having the best year of his young career, and he's been playing with a rotating door at Center and RW. Give him two consistent goal scorers in JVR and Nuke and his career is going to take off. I do think the Stars should trade Ritchie, but I'd rather keep the young guys like Nichushkin and Johns on our roster. RNH is a luxury, but not necessarily a necessity and the Stars would be better off spending that money elsewhere for pieces that they need.
On that note, Janmark is underpaid here by about $1M. He's gonna see at least $3.75M over the course of 4+ years
All in all, this isn't a horrible idea, but there are a lot of pieces that aren't really needed and there are a lot of young pieces of the Stars future going the other way. I'd rather keep the guys we have, add a couple pieces via FA and make only make trades if we absolutely need to (Philly trade is a good example of that).