News in the Stars' Camp

Hey, did you know the season is over? Of course you do, you don't use us for your weekly news breaks, you use us for random bits of knowledge and opinions.  In continuing with that tradition, here's a bit of news from the Stars' camp:

Matias Norstrom officially Retires

"The last game against Detroit was my final one," Norstrom said, adding he now intends to focus on his family and get an ordinary job.

Norstrom told a Swedish news paper that he is officially out of the NHL, and out of professional hockey if the rumors of him saying it's Dallas or no where.

Stars sign Toby Peterson

Said Co-General Manager Les Jackson, “Toby is a consummate professional on and off the ice, and he played a key role for us during our playoff run this spring. We look forward to his continued contributions to our club.”

In a two year, one way contract worth $1.1 million dollars the Stars have shown that this boy has what it takes.  Don't forget he played more post-season games then regular season: 16 vs 8.  More importantly than his limited performance in Dallas is his time in Iowa this year: MVP of Iowa for 07/08 with 21 goals and 30 assists in 63 games.

Stars sign Dan Jancevski

Two years, two ways.  Dan will spend much of his time in Iowa wherever Dallas has it's minor leaguers, but his 575,000 to 1.05 million dollar contact will give him plenty of money (and time) to develop into what the Stars see in him.  As a reminder, Dan came back to Dallas in a trade for that red-headed step child Junior Lessard to Tampa; completely separate from the trade that lost us Smitty, Halpie and Jussi ... Dan has a terrific opportunity here - expect him to turn it on this year.

Will Forsberg Become a Star?

Yes, the Forsberg talks have begun and everyone is freaking out trying to decide how the aging NHL center gone-free agent would fit into our lines. However, is it really time to start thinking about it?

Peter Forsberg is one of the most talked about unrestricted free agents in recent times. He is known for being an elite center, voted 3 times as leagues "Best Center", but now he's known for being another aging player that would sit out at least half as many games as he was on the ice.

No, he's not the scorer the fans are demanding. No, he's not the solution to all our problems. Yes, he's probably going to ask for more than he should earn this year. Yes, we've gone through this in the past, can anyone say Eric Lindros? Would it be the worst thing in the world? No. Would it be the best, no; but there are not THAT many options right now without making some trades. I guess we could trade Smitty, or even Stephan after his amazing performance against the Blackhawks this weekend, at least someone showed up to play. We could probably trade some of our wings, or even, god forbid, Boucher (please don't).

Or, we could gage the interest level of a certain elite center who is on his way out of the NHL, just like 19 other teams have reported doing, and just see the temperature of the water. Is that really such a bad thing? I think not.

Will Forsberg become a Star here in Dallas? Anything is possible, but, again, I think not.

[ Full article ]

Ribeiro & Lundqvist assured for next season

Ribs' arbitration hearing is canceled, stars sign him for 1 year 2.8mil.

Lundqvist also signs with the Stars, 2 years valued at 1.45mil (700k year 1, 750k year two). Lundqvist's was smart enough to get a one way contract, meaning it doesn't matter if he plays in Iowa or Dallas, he gets paid the same. I expect we'll see a whole lot of him in Dallas, possibly in a top line.

See, this, to me, is just as exciting as all the FA bs. Also, worth noting, had we signed a $6mil player, we wouldn't have been able to make those two signings. Just a thought.

linkage to dallasnews article

Supporting Roles being re-cast?

Today Armstrong announces the (suprise) signing of Todd Fedoruk to a 1 year $875,000 salary. Yet another tough guy? Now, I know it doesn't look like we're going to get Barnaby back, but Barch has had a strong role with the club in taking up Barnaby's absence and the new guy, Winchester, is supposed to bring a good amount of grit to the ice as well.

I've been one to back Armstrong's decisions so far, not to overpay for a super-star that won't fit in, not to jump at the FA market ... but Fedoruk? Nothing against the guy, but the only thing I can think of is Armstrong is going to be shaking up our forward lines in the coming months and re-casting our supporting roles. With Jokinen still in the air and Miettinen and Ribeiroin arbitration, maybe Armstrong is getting ready to throw down the gauntlet and shake things up with the younger crowd?

In our latest podcast (episode 40 to release 7/9) Scott, Darren and I discussed possible trade bait with Jokinen and Miettinen. With this kind of news though, maybe we should expand that list to include others like Otter, Ribeiro, Grossman and Eriksson? Even I am now curious, what are you thinking Doug?

New Era in NHL Salaries

Thomas Vanek just reminded the entire NHL why its good to re-sign your Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) before they become such, and it only cost Buffalo $50 million over 7 years to learn that lesson!

What what WHAT? Yes, that’s right. Edmonton watched as the Free Agency (FA) market dried up by weeks end and decided it was time to send in the big dogs (money, that is). They began talks with UFA Thomas Vanek of Buffalo and finally laid down an offer that would make ANY NHL star blink, 10mil the first year, 8mil the second, and 32mil over the following 5 years. That’s right, 6 years from now Thomas Vanek would be looking at a $6 million paycheck … not next year but 6 years from now.

Buffalo wasn’t left with much of a choice either. You see, once a UFA signs the offer letter the players team has to decide if they’re going to match the player or give him up. They already watched Drury, Brier and Zubris walk away, demolishing their Presidents Trophey winning lineup – it’s go time.

Check out what’s been going on with this years FA market by checking out some of these resources:

• National Sources:
  • NHL 2007 FA Signings List
  • TSN Signings List
    
• Dallas Stars bais:
  • Andrew’s Stars Page
  • Dallas Morning News
    

It’s a crazy market – where’d your favorite players end up?

–the wall
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