Reshuffling the Galaxy of Stars

2010-11-10
It's like real estate. Obtain a property, and wait a few years for its value to grow and cash in. That was essentially the blue-print of what the Dallas Stars organization has done to start the month of November. John Tavares, Luke Schenn, and Michael Grabner are just of few of those names shipped out in the last few days for a plethora of picks and prospects. Although still young, players such as the ones mentioned above were just a little ahead of the rebuilding plan that GM Mark O'Byrne has stuck to for the last three years. Not including the seven first round picks they have for the 2011 draft, the Stars obtained such talent as Derek Stepan, Jared Cowen, Joe Colborne, Vladimir Tarasenko, Igor Bobkov, Colton Tuebert, Scott Glennie, Emerson Etem, and Louis Leblanc just to name a few. "We've completely upgraded our defensive future with the trades we've made over the last week. Cowen, Tuebert, Blum, McDonagh, Hickey, Gaunce, Merrill... these are guys who are going to play in this league for years. Not to mention we have seven round draft picks this year. This draft will be our last hurrah at this rebuilding phrase. We're going to emphasize on defence and goaltending in the 2011 draft, primarily goaltending. For now we have Crawford, with Koskinen and Bobkov in the pipeline, so I think we clearly need to land a blue chip goaltender," general manager Mark O'Byrne said when asked of his thoughts on the trades made recently. If it were lined up right now, the Dallas Stars prospects would look like this: Stamkos Hall Tarasenko Stepan Kadri Etem Colborne Leblanc Glennie Deschamps Haula Coyle Gardiner Chucko Ryan McDonagh Blum Cowen Tuebert Merrill Hickey McNabb Gaunce O'Byrne Ellington Crawford Koskinen Bobkov Foster And that's not including all the draft picks hoarded for 2011, two of those first should be in the top ten. Also Dallas currently holds two draft picks in the first round of the 2012 draft. Clearly goaltending needs to be addressed, but Im sure defence and forwards will be picked up as well to provide more depth. It's whispered if Dallas can move on of their seven 1st's in 2011 for a top tier defensive prospect, they will, but they are also confident they can address that need in the upcoming draft. It also seems the Stars are obtaining contacts other teams want off the hook for. Players such as Berard, Staios, McKee and Ray Whitney have been brought in this week. "We need guys to fill out our roster right now while staying above the cap floors. These players want to still play in the best league possible and we are providing them with that opportunity so long as they continue to provide great leadership to our younger guys on the roster right now such as Stamkos, Ryan O'Byrne and Hickey. Above all that though, there are some teams out there struggling with contracts, and if we can help them out that's just as good," the GM replied when asked the reasoning for bringing such veterans into the fold. The future has always looked bright in Dallas, however over the last week one could say the star is shining brighter than ever before. When O'Byrne was asked if Dallas was done making moves, he simply replied "I don't think so,". - Dr. Taco Fantana Dallas Times

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