As a Stars fan this isn't the worst news. I'm not glad to see it happen, but he wasn't exactly a key piece over the last couple of years, so i don't see any impact to our playoff chances.
Because of this, letting him go to Russia is actually pretty shrewd in my mind.
- Possibly frees up expansion draft protection slot
- If not, leaving him unprotected is an easy decision. Either he's semi-protected because LV is scared of taking him and we retain his rights, or if LV does take him then his rights are easy for us to lose.
- Frees up roster space & cap space
- We retain his rights until he's 27. If he becomes a world-class talent in Russia, Dallas can either work on bringing him back, or trade his rights to an Eastern conference team for a valuable asset.
So bottom line - worst case for us is that he goes over there & disappears. In which case, the Stars continue along merrily having already upgraded (Hudler) the league's top offense.
HF will decry the lost value of the draft pick, but as long as the goals & wins are coming, i don't think Stars fans will be shedding too many tears.