February 26th is fast approaching.

Now that we know the Stars aren't getting Forsberg, what do you think the Stars will/should do to gear up for a playoff run?

the stars dont need to make any trades... they are playing well right now and dont need to do anything to screw that up, when they get Boucher and Zubov back they will be fine... the only rumor i have heard is Turco for Martin St Louis, Tampa bay won't take on Turco's contract....

agreed, especially when zubov comes back (also so my fantasy team picks up the slack for the D) the stars should be ready for a deep run in the playoff, the rebiero (or rebeiro, cant remember) line was a great surprise this season and i think it'll make an impact on how deep they go, and turco has been playing lights out for a while now

and having lehtinen back should pay off well too, or at least i hope enough to get them past the 1st round this season...

Vinny Prospal/Olli Jokinen

Well the Stars pulled the trigger getting Brad Richards and backup goalie Johan Holmqvist for Mike Smith, Jeff Halpern and Jussi Jokinen. I was on the fence about it since I heard the rumor but now that i think about it I like the trade. Richards is a left shot who can play left win on a line with Modano and Lehtinen. Jussi was an exciting player but that shootout dominance doesn't do anything for you in the playoffs and his 5-on-5 production leaves a little to be desired. I'm glad they didn't have to give up a young defenseman in the deal, especially not knowing how Zubov will recover from his foot surgery during the next month. Holmqvist is a stop-gap measure to give the team a veteran backup for the playoffs, but the long term solution there will be Tobias Stephan who has the potential to push Turco for the starter role in a few years. Yes Richards has a high price-tag but he's under contract for 3 years, they can make the money work in the offseason. I like this better than giving up a prospect or draft picks for a player who will eventually go back and resign with the team that we got him from.

Bold move for sure, and it seems the stars are a player with hull and jackson at the helm. Should make Turco happy as this shows a commitment that the stars are willing to ride him through the playoffs.

Richards will be a productive players for the stars IMO and this anticipates Modano's transition here. I do not think the stars gave up too much for Richards in this deal.

Great move for the Stars. And the Penguins gave up way too much for Hossa, imo.

The Pens deal is only good if they win the Cup. I don't think there's anyway they can resign him after the season. He'll probably go back to Atlanta. Another reason why I like the Richards deal. He's a Star through 2011.

Another reason I like it... the other powers in the West didn't do much. San Jose got Brian Campbell which will improve their D but they're 9 points back of the Stars. Anaheim did all they really needed to do by getting Niedermeyer and Selanne to come out of retirement but for whatever reason the Stars seem to have the Ducks number. The big evil Red Wings got Brad Stuart from LA to play D to help them with the absence of Lidstrom but that's it. No one made a better deal that will help them not only the remainder of this year, but in the future, than your Dallas Stars!

How about Forsberg coming back to the Avs and then Adam Foote forcing a trade from Columbus to Colorado?? They're currently 10th in the conference. It would be hilarious if they failed to make the playoffs.

Personnel wise, I like this move. Richards is another scoring threat, which the Stars absolutely needed, and we know that he can produce in the playoffs.

The only thing that concerns me is his large salary. Yes, hes a very good player, but hes got one of the top 10 biggest salaries in the league (#8 this season I think). He needs to perform to justify getting paid that much, hopefully a change of scenery to Dallas will do him so good.

I think its a great trade, richards reminds me of modano back early in the day with the north stars and the depth of the team can only help him open up and get the opportunities he needs... sure halpern and jokinen could be seen as decent losses but really neither has done too much this season (not to mention i have both of them on my fantasy roster) but id like to see how well jokinen does on that top line of tampa bay if thats where they put him

Other trades I liked:
-Foppa back to colorado, not just cause i've kept him on my fantasy roster all season waiting his return, but hes a badass player and i just wanna watch him play again

-Washington getting Federov, even though its one player, a great one at that to me, they could make a run at the playoffs and the team can start riding on someone elses back instead of ovechkins even though he is a god

- not a smart trade but SJ banked getting campbell, not sure if it'll pull em out of the hole theyre in in the pacific division but oh well


theres my procrastination from studying at 4:30am

The more and more I think about it, the more I like this trade. It's not a deal of the past where you bring in a guy hoping he will contribute with the playoff run and then cut him loose (we all now how those have worked). Richards can make a huge impact this year and be a part of this team's nucleus for years to come.

Listening to Tippet on the Ticket this A.M., he basically said it was tough letting guys go but they knew it was only a matter of time before Smith would have to be moved and what better time to do it than when Richards was on the market. And I can't see how losing Jussi or Halpern really hurts this team.

Basically, I think the Stars made a huge upgrade without having to give up too much.

Man, this lineup is going to be a matchup nightmare for other teams. In theory, Modano could move to the third line, giving the Stars rediculous depth at Center. Or Richards could play on the wing and give the Stars two of the best scoring lines in the league. Not bad.

Now if we can just get Zubov back and healthy, I think the Stars are a serious threat to make a deep run in the playoffs this season.

[This message has been edited by FWAppraiser (edited 2/27/2008 11:39a).]

I think they'll try Richards on Modano's left along with Lehtinen. Suddenly they've got one of the best two-way lines in the game. All 3 guys are good in their own zone so they could play against the top line of another team and their good enough offensively that they can make that opposition's top line worry about defending them.

I think this gives us a very solid top 6 forwards. Reminds me of the glory days when you had Hull-Modano-Lehtinen getting all the checking focus of other teams and you had the Niewendyk-Lagenbrunner line doing a lot of damage. It's a pick your poison kind of thing. Do you focus on shutting down Morrow-Ribeiro-Eriksson (who's really flourishing with those two), or try and stop Richards-Modano-Lehtinen??

The money is big but I would assume they looked at that before they made the deal to know that it would work going forward. 7.8 for the next 3 years but the cap has been inching up every year and with Norstrom likely not to be resigned his 4.5 comes off and this is also the last season that Guerin's buyout is on the books so that frees up some. The players that left took about 4 million with them so it works. I think they said on the NHL Network's analysis last night that even with the trade and the contract the Stars have 14 players under contract for next year for around 45 million. That'll leave them some flexibility to resign Hagman and some of their other potential free agents.

All I know is I haven't been this fired up for a game in February in awhile. Tomorrow night's game is going to be interesting to watch.

I forgot about Guerin's buyout. The trade is definitely growing on me too and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's game.

5 pts in his opening game. Not a bad start for Mr. Richards

Dear NHL,

We Own You.

Love,
The Stars

glad to see richards did so well opening night, hopefully it lasts (not expecting him to get 5 pts a night) but hopefully no long droughts but i think the stars are good for the playoffs now, i hope

now if only they could get zubov back! and not ever give up 2 shorties to the same guy, thats just not supposed to happen, and i dunno i didnt watch but 5 minutes of the game and saw they had richards, ribeiro and someone else workin the top on the PP with the umbrella but i dunno

Good game for them to show in HD

Me likey Richards