The Dallas Stars are reportedly focused only on adding a goaltender and potentially a defenseman and are not pursuing one of the likeliest forwards to be traded this offseason.
While reports have emerged in recent days that they're among the teams looking to nab three-time Stanley Cup winner and rugged scoring winger Patrick Sharp in trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, it seems that's not the case.
"He's a great player, but he's not what we need right now," a source told Mike Heika of The Dallas Morning News. "It's that simple."
Instead, it seems the Stars and GM Jim Nill have focused their offseason efforts thus far on their own zone.
"The Stars are focused on getting a goalie to complement Kari Lehtonen right now and are in on talks with several players who might be traded, including Cam Talbot in New York," writes Heika.
"Dallas also is studying the trade market for defensemen and might still get an additional forward. However, they do not seem to have interest in trading for Sharp."
Nill's focus on upgrading the Stars defensively makes ample sense considering the team finished 27th in the league in goals against average in the 2014-15 regular season, allowing an average of 3.13 markers per game.
The only reason the team was able to post a winning record was the herculean efforts of their incredibly strong top-six forward corps, led by Art Ross Trophy-winner Jamie Benn.
While Kari Lehtonen is still a quality player, he's already 32 and managed just a .903 save percentage and 2.94 goals against average - of course, playing in front of a suspect Stars defensive group probably had something to do with those numbers.
Still, the abysmal failure that was Andres Lindback last season has left Nill and the Dallas brass with a desperate need for a top-notch second goalie who can split time with Lehtonen next season and, presumably, take on the starting spot sometime in the near future.
Talbot, 27, would represent just such a player. He's signed to a very affordable deal at $1.45 million for 2015-16 and he posted stellar numbers in 36 games in 2014-15 - .926 save percentage, 2.21 goals against average.
As for the defense, Nill has drafted well of late and as such the Stars have a plethora of young talent on the blueline. Unfortunately, much of that talent does not seem ready to shoulder the load on a full-time basis, despite their being asked to do just that last season.
It's possible that the trial-by-fire approach will pay off in the future, perhaps even as early as next season, but it's also entirely possible that forcing young players to take big minutes when they're not yet ready could hurt or destroy their confidence, turning them into gun-shy shells of their former selves.
The Stars and Nill were rumored to be interested in defensive upgrades ahead of the NHL trade deadline, but Nill wasn't able to do much beyond adding an aging Sergei Gonchar and a still-young Jason Demers.
The team was able to get Trevor Daley off the top-pairing, which was an important first step, but if the Stars are going to seriously contend in the near future, other additions must be made.
