Why the Neal Trade is Good for the Stars

As soon as the news that James Neal was going to Pittsburgh hit Bob McKenzie’s Twitter, the backlash from Dallas fans on Facebook was belligerent, profane, and very loud. How could a team that had been atop the Pacific Division for months trade away one of their prized, 23 year old goalscoring studs right in the middle of a tense playoff battle?

It was unimaginable. I must admit that I myself, before examining the trade further, felt much the same way. But here’s a message to all of the angry Stars fans out there: We lost the battle, but we’re going to decimate them in the war.

At face value, the Stars lost this deal. It’s not quite Kevin Hatcher for Sergei Zubov (actually, it’s not even close), but the general feeling is that it was a terrible trade. Again, at face value it is. My only real grievance for this trade is that we are taking about a half step backwards. Goligoski is most definitely an improvement over Matt Niskanen, who most Stars fans would have seen gone after Zubov left the team, but he’s not twice the player Niskanen is by any stretch. Thinking of it like a math problem, the Stars traded a 3 and a 1 for a 2.

But that’s not why the trade is good for the Stars. Here’s what is:

1.) No More Matt Niskanen- Is it unfair to say that Matt Niskanen is the reason the Stars defense is as porous as it’s been? Absolutely. Is it fair to say that it would have been less sponge-like without the likes of Matt Niskanen? Also absolutely. Niskanen garnered a lot of praise in his rookie year after forcing his way into the Stars top six and playing paired with Sergei Zubov. The last half of that sentence is really all you need. If your partner is Sergei Zubov, you have to try not to look good. Zubov was just one of those players.

The next year was when Stars fans started to realize just how much the young blueliner depended on the old Russian. He’s since been the whipping boy for the Stars faithful ever since. His defensive ineptitude might be excusable if he had a good offensive game, but in 45 games this year he’s only put up 6 points, all of them assists. Goligoski, on the other hand, has 9 goals and 22 assists among 31 points. Granted, he played 60 games on a team featuring Sidney Crosby, but Kris Letang has played more with #87 than Goligoski has.

2.) More Cap Space- This one seems pretty self-explanatory given how many players went either way, but on top of the already large amount of cap space the Stars have to work with, they add just over $2.5 million more with this trade. Neal and Niskanen were to earn a combined $4,375,00 next year. Goligoski will earn $1,833,333. That money could go towards re-signing the actual reason why James Neal put up a lot of his points this year, Brad Richards. With players like Crosby and Ovechkin earning upwards $8.5 million a year, you have to think the Stars main man will require something near that to continue rendering his services in Big D.

3.) The Young Kids- After the injury bug came out of hiding and started to drop Stars players like flies, Czech forward Tomas Vincour was called up to fill the ever growing void. The Stars had done the same earlier in the year, bringing up late Training Camp cut Aaron Gagnon, Ray Sawada (who is now remembered for being blindsided by Bruins forward Daniel Paille, although he probably doesn’t remember it), longtime NHLer Travis Morin, Colton Sceviour, and Francis Wathier. They even signed veteran forward Jason Williams to a one year deal hoping to put a cork in the broken hourglass that is the Stars.

Out of all of those names, only Gagnon has played more than Vincour. He hasn’t scored yet, but those watching the team will tell you that he’s very close to doing so. He’s also been playing fairly limited minutes, being placed on the lower lines usually reserved for the checkers. Giving him a more important offensive role with Neal out of the way will bring him into the spot light and, with any luck, yield the same results that center Tom Wandell made after getting an increased role.

4.) Jamie Benn- Nothing more needs to be said about the Stars sophomore sensation (but for shits and giggles we’ll go ahead and say more anyways), who was playing phenomenally until a shoulder injury knocked him out of the lineup. Now that he’s on the cusp of returning, Stars fans can focus their man/woman love on the BC boy with an otherworldly nose for the net. Benn has largely been playing second fiddle to Neal, but the new opening on the top line alongside Richards and Eriksson will show the Dallas faithful that instead of Benn being a middle-class man’s James Neal, it was actually James Neal that was a slightly lesser version of Jamie Benn.

Benn has always been more consistent than Neal, who had started to get a reputation for being quite streaky. He also possesses softer and more impressive hands (as evidenced here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FORIUdqqIo ) on top of a physical and edgy game.
It’s going to be a bitter pill to swallow for Stars fans, but they all have to look past the emotional connection to Neal and see that in two or three years we’ll have three or more players that can fill his role.

February 22, 2011 | Categories: Atlantic Division, NHL, Pacific Division | Leave a comment