I agree. I would LOVE Bichsel here. He’s genuinely talented, moves extremely, extremely well for his size and would look absolutely incredible next to Fox long term. There would be some warts and growing pains at first, but long term he’s got the full package. He’s not your typical behemoth who lacks skills but has size; he was taken 18th overall and would probably crack the top 10 in a redraft. Very much Hedman-lite - and we don’t need a full on Hedman if we’re keeping Fox. I can’t see the Stars moving him easily.
That said, Heiskanen is their Fox (dude is so underrated, he’s not putting up insane offensive numbers but has shown he can, and his defense is legit top tier) and then they have Harley who is now a bargain at the extension he signed and Lindell who is a better version of pre-death Lindgren, plus Heiskanen and Hintz’s Finnish buddy, all on the left side. It would take Schneider going the other way (to balance the Stars right side which is weak - part of the reason Heiskanen isn’t at his full potential is because he plays his offside). Honestly, that’s something I would consider, because we need LHD so badly, but it’s a somewhat lateral move. Bichsel is tantalizing with the combination of legit skill and skating with all world size. Schneider however, is more proven and on his way at to being a well established second pair guy with the right attitude.
Kreider, Schneider for Bichsel, Bourque and 1st I would probably consider long and hard (giggity) but I like Schneider and I would love to find a way to make it happen without him involved. I’d do Kreider for Bichsel straight up and take Dadanov back as a cap dump who may play well with Panarin. Might sound light to many but I doubt you’ll find us getting a 1st + prospect back where the prospect is as good as Bichsel, and gaining a long term mammoth partner for Fox in a Kreider deal is a W in my opinion. And if we can change the culture (which partially comes from moving Kreider) and we bring in a better coach, or at least D coach (Bye, Housley!) and get Miller back on track, a future top 4 where Fox is the veteran leader and we have Bichsel, Fox, Miller, Schneider as our top 4 would look really good.
I just don’t know if Kreider, even straight up, gets them to move Bichsel at this point. I bet we could get Lindell + 1st which isn’t horrible honestly. He’s been Heiskanen’s partner on the left a lot so he’s familiar playing the left for a Fox level defender. I don’t think the Stars will move Bichsel. Panarin at 50% is a different story. I think two runs with Panarin at half his cap, given how close the Stars have been several times in the 2020s would get them listening. But their biggest need is still RD.
Kreider will bring a solid return if moved. I have no doubt he has solid value around the league and GMs love guys like that, who are perceived as heart and soul guys that play in the trenches. Kreider would be a very good Pavelski replacement for them. I just don’t see them wanting to move anything that moves the needle for us. Dallas probably isn’t his landing spot.