5 free agents the Dallas Stars can sign to get back to the playoffs
By C.L. Kohuss
The Dallas Stars season has come to an end following their 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. They won’t be seeing any playoff action this time around, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dream for next year. Let’s take a look at some of the potential pieces they could add to get it right in 2018.
We won’t go into the reasons why the Dallas Stars are sitting on the sidelines during this season’s playoff run. They were many and vast and have been expounded upon ad nauseam. It’s time to take a more hopeful approach. There’s no point in continuing to dissect what amounts to a disastrous and lost year. Let’s see what management can do to get themselves right again and correct a slightly off-course ship.
In the grand scheme of this whole year, the Stars played a fairly good and at times championship-caliber level of hockey. Would they have gone all the way? Who knows. The hockey gods have spoken, and so, here we are.
Having said that, there are some keys areas that this team certainly needs to address before they set out on a new campaign. We hope that Jim Nill and company will use the draft wisely and fill areas of concern, but those fixes with likely be seen further down the road. Fans don’t like waiting, especially with players like Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in their prime.
Not to fear, though. There are some valuable pieces that Dallas can pick up to make themselves a more stout contender.
No. 5: Carter Hutton
The Stars should be wise in their choice of which backup goaltender they select for next season. The smart option that’s going to be out there is St. Louis Blues goaltender Carter Hutton. This one may be tough, though. Hutton had an incredibly solid year behind Jake Allen. He’s likely on the hunt for a starting gig. In all honesty, he deserves it. His numbers are impressive.
In 32 games, Hutton check out with a 2.09 GAA and a .931 save percentage. He’s also boasted solid numbers the two years prior.
The large question is going to be whether the Stars try to resign Kari Lehtonen to a smaller deal than the nearly $6 million he was currently making. The probable answer is no, though Jim Nill seems to adhere to familiarity. He’s kept Lehtonen around this long, so you never know what might happen.
The honest response though is that Lehtonen is and should in all likelihood be done in a Dallas Stars uniform. As a backup early in the year he thrived, but the moment starting goaltender Ben Bishop went out for the year with injury, the walls began to crumble.
Granted, he had a few solid outings to finish the season, his games previous were atrocious. It’s time the Stars move on and find new blood behind Bishop. If the price is right, Hutton could be a solid piece that helps propel Dallas forward, especially with Bishop suffering a knee injury that could recur next year.