NHL Rumors: Dallas Stars trade rights to Alex Goligoski to Arizona Coyotes

According to Craig Custance, the Stars have traded pending free agent Alex Goligoski’s negotiation rights to the Arizona Coyotes.

The Dallas Stars are expected to look to improve their blue line this offseason, as they only have three of their six defensemen signed for the 2016-17 season. They were expected to re-sign Alex Goligoski, but according to Craig Custance, they will be going in a different direction by trading his rights to the Coyotes. In exchange for Goligoski, the Stars will be getting a fifth round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, according to the Stars.

From the Stars perspective, this likely means that they will be re-signing defenseman Jason Demers. This could also mean that the Stars will aggressively pursue someone like Keith Yandle, who is younger than Goligoski, in free agency. They could also pursue a huge upgrade in goal, since they have some young and cheap blue line prospects available.

Arizona is making a very bold move by trading for Goligoski. This means that they are serious about upgrading their blue line, and more importantly, their team. Goligoski could be the first pairing defenseman that the Coyotes have been searching for to playing alongside the eternally underrated Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

If they can sign Goligoski, that would be a significant upgrade to their blue line. They would need to make other moves in order to make the playoffs in 2016-17, but signing Goligoski would be a huge boost to the Coyotes’ chances of making the playoffs.

Goligoski scored five goals and had 37 points during the 2015-16 season.

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