Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Outlook: Dallas Stars

Vegas Golden Knights could go many different directions picking from the Dallas Stars.

The Dallas Stars are still trying to make a playoff push, but with 60 games played and six points out of the playoffs, it doesn’t look promising. The Stars could go many different directions for their approach at the NHL trade deadline. They could try to sell and try to accumulate prospects or go all in and try to make a push for the last playoff spot. Either way, they know there gonna lose a decent player to George McPhee’s Vegas Golden Knights in June.

Dallas is in a tough position. They could go with the 7-3-1 or 4-4-1. By choosing one option over the other, the team knows that they’re going to lose a solid player. The Stars usually value their forwards over their defense, so I think they’ll go with seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie.

The obvious locks at forward are Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza and Radek Faksa. Brett Ritchie and Antoine Roussel will sure to get protected as well. Leaving only one forward to protect between Patrick Eaves and Cody Eakin, I think the Stars end up keeping Eakin. The reason why I think Dallas will keep Eakin is because he plays two ways and only 25 years old. However that 3.85 million dollar cap-hit isn’t appealing whatsoever. Don’t worry Stars fans Devin Shore and Mattias Janmark are already exempt.

On defense is where things get really fuzzy. John Klingberg and Stephen Johns are virtually the only players that are locks to be protected. Six different players will battle it out for the last defenseman spot. Those six players are Jordie Benn, Esa Lindell, Patrik Nemeth, Johnny Oduya, Dan Hamhuis and Jamie Oleksiak. The Stars really have to think about their future and will have to expose players like Benn, Oduya and Hamhuis on their blueline. Leaving only Lindell, Nemeth and Oleksiak is a tough call. By process of elimination, the player with most promise out of the three is Esa Lindell. Following him would be Oleksiak as my second choice with Nemeth as my third choice. Defensemen Julius Honka and Ondrej Vala are also exempt from the expansion draft.

As for the goaltender position, it’s anybody’s guess who gets protected. Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi have split starts all season long and neither one has taken over the reigns as a full-fledged starter. With the stats being very similar, I think Niemi is the way to go. Only reason being is Lehtonen carries a 5.9 million dollar cap-hit and the Stars would be very happy if the Golden Knights selected him in the expansion draft to get his money off the books.

So who would George McPhee pick from this team? There’s plenty of options. He could go with veteran defenseman Jordie Benn. Benn would be a solid pick but lacks high-end skill moving the puck out of his own end. Another good pick for the Golden Knights would be Patrick Eaves. Eaves is having the best season of his career at the age of 32 years old. The former Boston College Eagle totaled 21 Goals, 16 Assists and 37 points thus far. But his stats are aided by playing with Seguin and Benn at times throughout the season. I’d stay away from Eaves if I were Vegas.

One player that I was considering was forward Patrick Sharp. He would be great leader for the new team and a potential 25-30 goal scorer. However with another concussion under his belt, I’m not sure how many hits he could take at the age of 34. Don’t be surprised if the Golden Knights took a shot on Sharp in free agency though.

Jamie Oleksiak is the player I think Vegas will target if things go according to plan. Oleksiak is a mammoth of a defenseman with a height of 6’7 and weighing 260 pounds. His reach helps him get out of trouble in his own zone. Surprisingly this giant is a smooth skater for his size. Oleksiak is not a point producer but he comes with some shutdown quality to his game. Oleksiak has shown signs in the past of some skill.

Oleksiak also needs to work on some things such as his offensive game. We’ve seen flashes, just not on a consistent basis. Oleksiak also needs to use his physicality more so he could maximize his full NHL potential. Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee can’t go wrong from picking from a deep talent pool such as the Dallas Stars have. But if Oleksiak is available, it would be hard not to take a chance on him.

Next: Are The Colorado Avalanche In Danger At The Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Draft?

Golden Knights Prediction: Jamie Oleksiak