Philly can take that, although they’d prob ask for Faksa more than Spezza. Good trade.

Only reason I have the trade to begin with is to dump some of Spezza's contract, instead of eating the buyout cost for two years. I don't know if Philly is going to want to cough up what Faksa would cost. This way they get a good 3C and only give up a backup goalie in return.

Good trades, but I'm worried about that amount of money you're giving to Van Riemsdyk. There's a risk he'd be our next Spezza after a couple of seasons.

The reason I'm fine with the money I'm giving to JVR is because he is 2 years younger than Spezza was when he signed with Dallas. JVR is 28 years old. The Stars would be better off giving him roughly $9M this first season (before Seguin's extension hits) and then finishing the last year of his contract on a $5M contract. It makes him a lot easier to move if he declines like Spezza did this year.

And I don't necessarily pin Spezza's decline solely on him. Spezza's gameplay thrived under an all-out offensive attacking scheme, like he had with Lindy Ruff. His gameplay isn't tailored for Hitchcock's much more defensive scheme, and as you can tell he never really got his footing in Hitch's system. I still think Spezza has some good hockey left in him, but it'll take the right head coach to make it work and even then, he still won't be worth $7.5M

I think the only way you will get Philly responses will be to do it with a Philly roster. From a Stars POV, I'm cool with it. Losing Nyberg is a unfortunate but you can't ship a bad contract for nothing and like you said he has plenty of upside to be a good future piece to any team. Receiving Neuvirth in return is also reasonable, and I think he would have a good season or two in Victory Green. The JVR deal is almost certainly be front heavy to avoid another "Spezza" deal.

The only thing I have to ask is why sign Dennis Seidenberg? Hamhuis and Pateryn had good seasons with Dallas last year, know everyone in the lineup, and would also fill the 7th D void nicely. Otherwise I enjoy reading your scenarios

Only reason I have Seidenberg in there is because the only thing he's going to do at this point in his career is be a 7th defenseman. Both Hamhuis and Pateryn have enough left in them to where they are going to be good bottom pairing defensemen somewhere else. The only reason I bring in a veteran for the 7th defenseman role is so that guys like Bayreuther and Heatherington aren't sitting in the press box. I'd much rather have those guys developing in Cedar Park than rotting in a press box at the NHL level. If/When Methot gets hurt, the Stars should call up Heatherington and slot him on to the 3rd pair with Johns, and leave Seidenberg in the press box. He's only to be used in drastic circumstances, and even then can still fill in nicely for a game or two, when needed.