NHL Free Agency: Grading the Stars’ signings
By C.L. Kohuss
The Dallas Stars made some bold moves in free agency and, by all indications, have begun the process of fast-tracking their talent to the NHL.
July 1 was a busy day in the land of the NHL. John Tavares officially went off the market, James van Riemsdyk has gone back to the Philadelphia Flyers, we saw several other large names taken almost as soon as the doors opened and teams stocked up throughout the evening on players galore to try to help their club for the coming season.
It was frantic and fast-paced — and we love it. But now that the dust has settled and there’s a bit of a collective calm, it’s time to grade how our favorite teams did. Certainly these won’t be the last moves made for the summer, but it can probably be said that the storm has passed until the puck finally drops in October.
The Dallas Stars specifically needed to fill some holes and they did just that, though we won’t argue for the fact that all of them were solid. Even still, only time will truly give us an answer as to how much value they received or whether they made wise decisions as opposed to ones that left us scratching our heads.
In all, the Stars picked up seven players on Day 1. They still have other matters to take care of (ahemextendTylerSeguinahem), but for now let’s analyze what they did and stick a big ol’ juicy grade on the initial reaction.
1. Roman Polak, D
Former team: Toronto Maple Leafs
Contract: 1 year/$1.3 million
Alright guys, let’s get this one out of the way as quickly as we can. You voiced all the displeasure about it on Twitter; we know you clearly don’t like or understand the whys or hows. In fairness, it is a brain-breaker. Polak is 32, widely regarded as not fleet-of-foot and is typically referred to as a pylon which would be hurtful if it were us.
There were other guys out there that probably would have made more sense, though the cost would have been much higher so there’s also that. Ian Cole was available with about a $4 million price tag (29-years-old but too high), and Calvin De Haan signed for about the same amount with the Carolina Hurricanes.
On the other end, Jim Nill was never going to lock in an aging defenseman for a four or five-year deal when he’s stated in the offseason his desire to help younger players develop more quickly at the NHL level, which is why this contract is only through 2019. If that sounds weird, it’s because that hasn’t necessarily been his style the first four years as general manager. We’ll get to that later.
This, as with some other moves on the list, seems more about insurance and having a veteran presence on the back-end while others in the system develop. Greg Pateryn left for Minnesota leaving Marc Methot as the sole guy over 25 on the blue line. Oh yeah, and Dan Hamhuis isn’t likely to return either, which is another oddity. He was pretty solid for Dallas last season, it couldn’t give him the same deal as Polak? One year at $2 million or $3 million?
In Nill’s defense, the youth is outstanding. Polak isn’t going to be the No. 1 guy, but you still want someone capable (we know that’s a loose term) in case of injury. Miro Heiskanen by all accounts is going to push for a spot somewhere in the lineup (unless the Heiskanen for Erik Karlsson rumors come to fruition), John Klingberg and Esa Lindell aren’t going anywhere, and Stephen Johns was recently extended through 2021. We mentioned Methot, but Julius Honka should see an increase in time under new coach Jim Montgomery, though that’s a definite wait-and-see as has been the case seemingly since he was drafted in 2014.
Polak to this point is a seventh D-man likely to see minutes if any of the youth struggles or gets hurt. That isn’t what you want to hear, but let’s all do an Aaron Rodgers right now and R-E-L-A-X. It’s confusing, but try to forget it ever happened, yeah?
Grade: C+