It started with the deal that sent 40-year-old defenseman Sergei Gonchar to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for bag-of-pucks-in-human-form, Travis Moen, and it will continue throughout the remainder of this dying season and the potentially rocky off-season that may follow.
"It," of course, refers to Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill's monumental task of bringing to town a defensive corps actually capable of contending for a Stanley Cup title - a task which will require serious effort and a significant allocation of resources, according to Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period.
Expect to see more moves in the Lone Star State and Nill may have to move a skill forward down the line to make more than just a cosmetic change on defense.
His second important step along that arduous path was trading for reclamation project, Jason Demers of the San Jose Sharks.
Nill celebrated TGIF with the acquisition of San Jose Sharks backliner Jason Demers in exchange for Brenden Dillon. Demers was suffering through a sub-par season in San Jose, (one of a number of reasons the Sharks are floundering) after establishing career-highs in goals and points in 75 games last season.
The 24-year-old Dillon brought size, grit and youth to the Dallas lineup, but was an expendable piece, especially when it came to acquiring sorely needed help for the blueline. Demers seemed on track to become a top-four defenseman before his recent spate of poor play, so Nill is hoping a new environment and new coaching staff can spark a turnaround.
The same can't be said for current top-pair defenseman, Trevor Daley, wrote Bernstein.
On a contender, Daley is a solid second-pairing defenseman and a strong powerplay quarterback, but with the Stars, he virtually tied for the team lead in time on ice with Alex Goligoski.
Daley is a quality player, but when he's playing first-pair minutes, it's not easy to see what's wrong in Dallas and what exactly it is that Nill needs to do to fix this team.
