Souray a match made in heaven for the Stars
by Derek Zona on Jan 22, 2010 12:00 PM MST
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PrintDefense has been a bit of an issue for the Stars lately. In Dallas, there is Robidas, Skrastins and aside from Nicklas Grossman, a whole bunch of kids that have a fair amount of NHL experience who aren't ready to face the vaunt. The team desperately needs a stable defender to face top competition, one that's able to help the Stars' penalty kill and bring effectiveness to the power play. The current group is one of the major reasons that the Stars sit five points out of a playoff spot.
Enter Sheldon Souray. I've lobbied for a Souray to Dallas trade twice before and I still believe that the Stars are the Oilers best trading partner at the deadline.
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From the dashing Gabriel Desjardins and his Behind The Net comes the following:
Grossman isn't doing badly against the toughs, but Skrastins and Daley are struggling. Bringing in an experienced defender to take the load would make the Stars much more difficult to play against. The minutes would get easier on everyone down the line and that should allow this group to get closer to a draw against their opponents.
Souray has played the toughs two years running and is playing them to a draw on the ice, unfortunately, his goaltending is doing him in this year. His even strength save percentage has fallen from .927 last year to .894 this year. His penalty kill save percentage is an even more brutal .800. Remember though the goaltending situation was completely unforeseeable, thank you very much Steve Tambellini. With any talent on the power play and with even a crash test dummy in goal, Souray becomes Dallas' best even strength defender, their best power play option and their best penalty killer.
This is a match made in heaven for both teams. Dallas needs a first-pairing defender, Edmonton needs cap space and a roster player of some repute and can take on expiring contracts, and Sheldon Souray needs to stay in the west. Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk is on an ownership-imposed spending cap, but Marty Turco's $5,700,000 contract comes off of the books soon and once again, goaltending will be cheap in the off-season.
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Are you suggesting that they trade Turco and parts for Souray? If not, I don’t know how much salary they can afford to take on, especially since they’re probably well under 50% to make the playoffs.
by Scott Reynolds on Jan 22, 2010 12:46 PM MST reply actions
Nono. Not at all.
I would guess something like Niskanen and a first.
Or maybe Niskanen and Wandell.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Yeah, I really don’t see the Stars taking on that much salary for this season and beyond. I also don’t think they have much chance for the playoffs this year so that would be an awful lot of future to give up as well. Just doesn’t make any sense for Dallas IMO.
by Scott Reynolds on Jan 22, 2010 3:38 PM MST up reply actions
They have Riberio coming back after the break, and they’re in the last year of their superstar goaltender’s deal. I think they make a run. If they fail, they dump Turco and pick up one of the 137 tenders on the market.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
The “superstar” goaltender has kind of sucked the last little while. If they’re going to make a deal at the deadline, they should be dealing for a goalie! IMO, that’s their biggest problem.
by Scott Reynolds on Jan 22, 2010 5:59 PM MST up reply actions
Turco just hasn’t been the goaltender that he once was a few years ago. Maybe a change of scenery, might be what the doctor ordered for Marty.
I don’t know that Turco was ever the goalie everyone thought he was.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Turco pre-lockout:
2000-01: 13- 6 – 1, 1.90, .925
2001-02: 15- 6 – 2, 2.09, .921
2002-03: 31-10-10, 1.72, .932
2003-04: 37-21-13, 1.98, .913
He was pretty damn good. Led the league in GAA and Sv% in the same season (a rare combination) twice.
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
by Bruce McCurdy on Jan 22, 2010 4:19 PM MST up reply actions
But how were his non-save skills? I bet they sucked :)
by Scott Reynolds on Jan 22, 2010 5:03 PM MST up reply actions
how were his non-save skills?
They were top-drawer, as you well know. What was truly exceptional about Turco was the high Sv% despite low shots against numbers. Low GA, low SA kind of go hand-in-blocker, but typically the low-shots guys are doing well to be much above average in Sv%.
Turco in 2002-03 had one of the Great goalie seasons in the past 20 years; barely 25 shots a game, and he stopped over 93% of them. That was the last year we ran into the Stars in the playoffs, with the usual outcome. Goatending was a key difference in that series IIRC. Turco >>> Salo, and it wasn’t close. Even before factoring in non-save skills. :D
Writer for The Copper & Blue and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
by Bruce McCurdy on Jan 22, 2010 5:16 PM MST up reply actions
But Turco since the lockout has been…
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
random hypothetical trades
I would do
Souray
for
Niskanen/Ott, a first, and an expiring contract.
Without an trading an expiring contract Dallas is taking on 4.6ish million of salary (as of today, exactly 2.238 million for this season). I can’t see a tight fisted Dallas team taking on that much at the deadline unless they are in playoff position and think the extra salary will get them a couple more home dates in the playoffs (from a business perspective).
So, the problem with trading Souray to Dallas is I am sure they are going to want to trade a contract (problem) back: that way they get cash (not cap) relief for the rest of the year. But the only contracts they would likely want to move, i.e. the expensive ones, are ones they will need to make the playoffs: Turco (5.7), Modano (3.45), or Lehtinen (2.5).
If this happens, I think it would be a three-way deal with Dallas getting something else and the Oilers getting a expiring contract to pay for the rest of the season. So it would look like:
To team ??:
Dallas’ 4th pick
To Dallas:
2nd round pick (of team ??)
Souray
To Oilers:
Niskanen/Ott
Dallas’ first round pick
Expiring Contract of Team ??
So another team gets a salary dump to make another move at the deadline, and only swaps a 2nd for a 4th (cheap compared to what Lou gave up to rid of mogilny). Does this make sense or do I ned some sleep.
one of the founders and most prolific writers of Bringing Back the Glory
I get why it makes sense for Dallas, but if Souray is our resident tough minutes defender, go-to penalty killer, and top powerplay weapon, then why is he the guy to trade for cap relief?
Niskanen isn’t going to be able to replace those minutes now or in the next 2 years (maybe not ever), so why would you want him? By trading the guy playing the toughest minutes and role, then you make everyone else have to play more difficult minutes than they already are.
I’ve got zero confidence in the ability of this management team to turn the team around in two years. Souray isn’t going to help by the time the team is ready to compete, so move him now for pieces that can help then. Get rid of his cap hit and maybe you can move Khabibulin’s longer term deal to a team in exchange for taking a larger deal with a shorter term.
What’s more valuable to the team in 2012: Sheldon Souray, or $5.7 million in cap space + Matt Niskanen + 1st rounder pick?
It’s pretty obvious.
Editor of The Copper & Blue, and leader of The Cult Of Hartikainen.
Especially since the Stars 1st rounder could be a top ten pick and will almost surely be top twenty. If the Oilers can snag that pick they’d be in very good shape.
by Scott Reynolds on Jan 23, 2010 12:17 PM MST up reply actions
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