Unsurprisingly, the Dallas Stars remain one of the top threats in the Western Conference to claim the Stanley Cup. At 40-19-2, they’re currently in second place in the NHL’s Central Division behind only the Winnipeg Jets and have their eyes set on a repeat trip to the Western Conference Final with a better ending this time around.
However, one thing the Stars have not been this season is healthy. Earlier in the season, they lost veteran forward Tyler Seguin for at least four to six months, and also lost top defenseman Miro Heiskanen; the good news is that both players are expected to return at some point before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in April, but Nils Lundqvist is not; his season is over after undergoing surgery in January.
The Stars have already picked up valuable depth in hopes of making that dream a reality, acquiring both Cody Ceci and Mikael Granlund from the floundering San Jose Sharks. According to general manager Jim Nill, they were moves he needed to make, via NHL.com.
“I needed to do something before the 4 Nations tournament started (Feb. 12),” Nill said. “With Heiskanen and Lundkvist, I lost two of my top six defensemen. I needed a defenseman. And, going back to the fall, I lost Tyler. So, I knew I had some holes and I was getting a bit worried.
“We came out of our organizational meetings in January identifying which players might be available, which teams might be sellers and which teams might be buyers. All of a sudden, we looked at the standings and saw there were not a lot of sellers.”
What are the dream and nightmare scenarios for the Stars for Friday’s deadline?
Dallas Stars’ dream scenarios for 2025 NHL trade deadline
There are a pair of dream scenarios that would work out perfectly for the Stars in their quest for their first Stanley Cup since 1999. Because their blue line has been decimated by injury, one of the names they’ve been linked to is Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
Ristolainen needs a change of scenery, and playing for a contender like Dallas could prove intriguing, and would also give the Stars another defenseman capable of eating up big minutes.
Additionally, the Stars would love to acquire a player of Mikko Rantanen’s stature that would not only put them over the top as the favorites in the Western Conference, but would also give them the best chance to sign him to a long-term extension.
It would also be very doable for the Stars to make Rantanen fit under the salary cap, considering that the Chicago Blackhawks are retaining 50 percent of his salary; Carolina could also offer salary retention, essentially meaning that the Stars could have Rantanen at a considerable discount.
Stars’ nightmare scenarios for 2025 NHL trade deadline
But the last thing that Stars fans would want to see would be not only be failing to address the absence in the lineup left by Seguin, but if he were to have a setback in his recovery.
As mentioned, the Stars have been hit hard by injuries on the back end — failing to address those needs could prove disastrous come playoff time.
It’s been a long time since the Stars have tasted championship glory, and they won’t want to look back upon this window of opportunity and wonder, “What if?” The championship window for Dallas is right now, and they need to do anything and everything necessary to make sure it isn’t squandered as they eye a first title since 1999.
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