So what happens if this team is actually bad?

[OttMorrow]

depends on if they sign spezza before the end of the season

That also depends on whether or not he wants to stay through our trials and tribulations. I remember in the offseason, him talking about re-signing with us "if we were winning games"...maybe I'm making that up?

 

[aloonda*]

That also depends on whether or not he wants to stay through our trials and tribulations. I remember in the offseason, him talking about re-signing with us "if we were winning games"...maybe I'm making that up?

I remember that as well. I also saw that him and the stars will be talking the next couple of weeks.

Either way, I would like to keep him, or at least get value out of having him.

 

[OttMorrow]

Just as I think it's too early for this kind of talk (Selling off Spezza and other assets), there's also a going to be a time where it is too late for this kind of talk as well...where we can no longer tank into a good early draft pick. I hope Nill & Company have a contingency plan in place to avoid mediocrity at all costs.

 

[Troy McClure]

I don't see any reason to move Spezza other than finding out he has no interest in returning. Anything you get for Spezza won't see the NHL for a few years at best.

If you're ready to write off this season, trading Spezza means you're also writing off next season. What's the point?

 

[glovesave_35]

I don't see any reason to move Spezza other than finding out he has no interest in returning. Anything you get for Spezza won't see the NHL for a few years at best.

If you're ready to write off this season, trading Spezza means you're also writing off next season. What's the point?

This is my mindset as well, for the most part. However, if we're sitting a good bit out of the playoffs at the trade deadline and Spezza isn't willing to re-sign it would seem prudent to trade him. What that would yield is ambiguous at this point and could be something that could help almost immediately. There are good teams out there with good prospects who could step in very soon.

This doesn't pertain to Spezza, but I still like Buff as a trade target. He's a lower level target, i.e. he won't cost what a guy like Myers would, his team might be interested in futures, and he is a proven commodity that fills a bunch of our needs - big, mobile, right shot D, with a hell of a shot who can help a PP. He's the perfect target IMO.

 

[beepeearr]

We have to get Cole off Spezzas wing, its not that Hemsky and Spezza together dont create chances, they typically do, but those chances are going to Cole who is doing nothing with them. Cole is fine on the third or fourth line, but I dont want to see him anywhere near the top six. Might be interesting to try him on the third with Eakin and either Roussel or Garbutt. He still has speed and can throw a check and there simpler crash the net game is more suited to what he's best at

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

I would say that even if we miss the PO in the ultra competitive west, we won't have a fire sale like a non contender would. I think Nil would just view it as a one year setback in development.

The most likely scenario is we are in a tough race for 8th through 6th. The bigger question will be if they trade Cole, Gonchar, Horcoff, assuming they are still contributing players. It would be tough to bring up Ritchie and Klingberg or whoever, and put them on the second line/third pair in a playoff race, if really in it. if out of it, no problem.

Spezza would be a completely different problem, as he is probably viewed as a core piece.

 

[OttMorrow]

Man it would be nice for the Stars to get a top pick in this year's draft if we were to miss the playoffs...just don't see it happening like that though.

 

[Troy McClure]

Man it would be nice for the Stars to get a top pick in this year's draft if we were to miss the playoffs...just don't see it happening like that though.

What a crushing season it would. To go from finally making the playoffs to being one of the worst teams in the league -- all with mostly the same roster.

 

[OttMorrow]

What a crushing season it would. To go from finally making the playoffs to being one of the worst teams in the league -- all with mostly the same roster.

Agreed it would be crushing, but IF we were to miss the playoffs this season, I think it'd be even more crushing to finish 9th or 10th in the conference and be left with a midling 1st round pick...just not good enough to draft one of the blue-chip blue liner prospects or someone who could step in fairly soon and address a need on the big club.

Last thing we need in the the doomsday scenario is to be stuck on the outside of the sweetspot in the draft hoping against odds for a faller.

Another goalie in the 1st Round anyone? I know...bad joke.

Appropriate use of the italicized, bolded, underlined?....I think so

 

[Hull Fan]

I don't see any reason to move Spezza other than finding out he has no interest in returning. Anything you get for Spezza won't see the NHL for a few years at best.

If you're ready to write off this season, trading Spezza means you're also writing off next season. What's the point?

Spezza without an extension by the TDL basically means he won't return here next year to me anyway. Either he's sold on Dallas and the team or he's not. As for what you get depends on whom you target and what you do with your return. If the goal is the best assets possible then yes probably you won't see them for a few years but you can also use those prospects/picks at the draft to acquire either a better pick or a NHL player.

Regardless the absolute worst case scenario is you don't sell Spezza, you miss the playoffs, Dallas has that coveted 12th overall pick and neither Shore/Dickinson is NHL ready so you still don't have a 2nd line center next year when Spezza goes and signs a big money contract elsewhere.

Now are you going to bring in someone as good as Spezza, probably not but you hope by trading him, Cole, whichever defender goes, etc you get a better defender or two coming back and the step back offensively is made up by needing less goals to actually win games.

 

[oconnor9sean]

Guys... I know we've sucked recently, but so has Chicago. We're gonna figure it out, and it'll be ok. The sky isn't falling.

I have faith in Ruff to skate the turnovers out of these guys.

 

[OttMorrow]

Dallas has that coveted 12th overall pick

That ever so coveted 12th pick haha. It will be really interesting to see how the drama plays itself out. I could see us making a playoff run into the second round if we can fix the D, I could see us in the domesday scenario of the 12th overall pick without Spezza, and I could see a porous, overplayed Kari Lehtonen behind and even more generous d-corp sinking us into a lottery pick.

 

[OttMorrow]

Guys... I know we've sucked recently, but so has Chicago. We're gonna figure it out, and it'll be ok. The sky isn't falling.

I have faith in Ruff to skate the turnovers out of these guys.

No doubt the sky isn't falling yet, but if you look at what this struggling team is up against in the next several weeks, their schedule is anything but slump-friendly: Nashville, SJ, Arizona, LA again, Chicago, and then Minny. That's the next 6 games. We are lucky to get 5 or 6 points out of those games the way we're playing and it's not going to get much better after that. We are in a very unforgiving conference. How quickly we break this skid and turn things around is going to be key.

 

[phil7488]

It's been pretty bad with some shades of brilliance. I think once Hemsky and Nichu get going then we'll be good offensively. Our defense has always been and will continue to be our greatest liability. Goose and Daley are our best pairing and then it falls off dramatically after that. We still don't have the elusive #1 shutdown defenseman. I just can't help but look back at our 1st round draft picks over the last 5 years and wonder who HASN'T been a bust... (excluding Nichu)

 

[oconnor9sean]

It's been pretty bad with some shades of brilliance. I think once Hemsky and Nichu get going then we'll be good offensively. Our defense has always been and will continue to be our greatest liability. Goose and Daley are our best pairing and then it falls off dramatically after that. We still don't have the elusive #1 shutdown defenseman. I just can't help but look back at our 1st round draft picks over the last 5 years and wonder who HASN'T been a bust... (excluding Nichu)

How can you say Faksa, Campbell and Oleksiak have been busts?

 

[OttMorrow]

On a separate note, if we drop a real deuce this season, will Ruff's job be in jeopardy?

I think so, given large investment made in our offensive talent and how much faith the organization has in Kari's "eliteness".

 

[Noodletoro]

On a separate note, if we drop a real deuce this season, will Ruff's job be in jeopardy?

I think so, given large investment made in our offensive talent and how much faith the organization has in Kari's "eliteness".

No his job will not be in jeapardy.

 

[OttMorrow]

No his job will not be in jeapardy.

I hope you're right. I like him...a lot. I really want to see what he can do with a decent defense.

 

[OttMorrow]

With the surprising performance we had in our first playoffs in years last season and all of the offseason fireworks in free agency, it is easy to forget the way we backed into the playoffs last year...The way the Coyotes "out-lost" us down the stretch in a race of who wanted in the playoffs the least. Maybe this team is overrated and we are in fact expecting too much of a team that was probably lucky to be in the Playoffs last year?

Maybe this is an overreaction to a losing streak? But maybe it's not? Maybe it's a snap back to reality.

 

[dechire]

With the surprising performance we had in our first playoffs in years last season and all of the offseason fireworks in free agency, it is easy to forget the way we backed into the playoffs last year...The way the Coyotes "out-lost" us down the stretch in a race of who wanted in the playoffs the least. Maybe this team is overrated and we are in fact expecting too much of a team that was probably lucky to be in the Playoffs last year?

Maybe this is an overreaction to a losing streak? But maybe it's not? Maybe it's a snap back to reality.

I have extremely low expectations for the team. I mean we have Cole, Gonchar, Lindback, etc on the roster. That is not a contending team. When I say we need to make the playoffs, I mean it from a business standpoint. All those shiny new STHs aren't going to stick around if we flop out of this season in embarrassing fashion. But from an actual hockey standpoint, we are still very much a bubble team. The sooner we make a change on defense, the better. If we wait until the TDL we may be out of playoff position and unable to recover. This team is still able to make the playoffs but it's equally likely to miss the playoffs especially if Vancouver or Calgary (longshot) keep pushing for a wildcard spot in the Pacific. There's no guarantee that both wildcards will be coming from the Central and we still have to look at Nashville, Colorado and maybe even Winnipeg as competition. It's way too early to tell either way but we can't continue to lose like we have been if we want to have any chance at the playoffs.

 

[jason9090spezza]

The negativity in this thread...lol.

I don't think the team is "overrated". The forward depth is one of the best in the league, while the defensive side of the game has been questioned before the start of the season.

Some guys just has to step their game up.

 

[Rune Forumwalker]

I am worried they go back to 9th place, and hey, they could end there even if playing well. They only made 8th last year because AZ flopped at the end. And, they didn't really improve the three areas we thought they did - backup goalie, D, and second line. So, basically, they are the same 8th place team they were last year, with the exception of the fact that they have the worst kind of attitude - entitlement.

Have to disagree here. The 2nd line has a huge upgrade. Or rather it does have one once everyone is healthy, and Ruff disassembles the super line.

 

[DL44]

Outsider's look - it's the construction of the D.. Ruff should be ok..
Great coach.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Have to disagree here. The 2nd line has a huge upgrade. Or rather it does have one once everyone is healthy, and Ruff disassembles the super line.

Well, yes and no. I was referring to the Super line being improved and at the moment, the Pit Bulls being the No. 2 line again, same as last year.

However, the pessimistic look at the planned 2 line is that Hemsky is a good looking, low scoring forward. Yes he and Spezza can dish the puck. As mentioned by someone, Cole doesn't really play all that well with others, dishing and accepting passes. He has one individual great rush per game, which may or may not result in a goal (same could actually be said of Nuke).

If you take last years stats of (I think maybe off by a bit) of Spezza's 21 goals, Hemsky's 13 and Cole's 13, it's about the same amount of goals as the Pit Bulls who are young and on the upswing, while this line is older and past the primes of their careers, Spezza possibly excepted.

It could be a case of something looking better on paper than on ice, but of course, time will tell.