NHL Trade Rumors 2017: Stars have plenty of trade chips as playoffs fade out of view

An awfully disappointing season and tumble out of the playoff race leaves the Dallas Stars with a difficult (but necessary) NHL trade deadline decision to make: swing for the fences or pack it in and offload assets.

Losers of four straight games, the Stars (21-24-10) now sit eight points out of the Western Conference playoff race with just 27 games left to play. And considering the robust competition ahead before the March 1 deadline (including the Predators, Jets, Wild, Lightning and Penguins), it’s doubtful they can magically climb back into contention.

So, naturally, attention has turned to their impending free agents and what they can get back for them in trades. The most notable are wingers Patrick Sharp, Patrick Eaves, Lauri Korpikoski and defenseman Johnny Oduya.

Of those, the one most likely to get shipped is Eaves. Most reporters close to the Stars (like Sean Shapiro of Wrong Side of the Red Line) are in agreement on this: Eaves carries a pretty $1 million cap hit and trails only Tyler Seguin in Stars goals leaders with 20 tallies and 34 points. Eaves is also a capable penalty killer, making him a well-rounded depth forward most contending teams would covet.

Sharp could also be available. Both Shapiro and ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun have speculated that the 35-year-old winger would interest teams. That’s a tougher sell, however. Sharp is in the midst of an injury-plagued season (a concussion kept him out for much of the first two months) and fitting his $5.9 million cap hit would be difficult for most contending teams near the cap already.

Korpikoski is in a similar situation to Eaves, with a $1 million cap hit and abilities as a two-way forward that could draw interest. Oduya’s recent injury could remove him from most trade talks, however.

And although Jiri Hudler is also a UFA, he now has only one more goal for the Stars than own goals. His value is not nearly as high as it once was.

Dallas also has a unique logjam at defense, created by general manager Jim Nill’s (perhaps overly) patient approach with his young, developing defensemen. Considering the constant rotation between Jamie Oleksiak, Patrik Nemeth, Stephen Johns and Esa Lindell, it’s tough to gauge which players he or coach Lindy Ruff actually like anymore.

It’s worth noting the Stars were linked to big-name goalies as recently as last week. But trading for Marc-Andre Fleury or Ben Bishop seems like a move a playoff contender makes, right? Perhaps the last week has changed whatever spurred those rumors.

But if the Stars decide the season is lost, they will almost certainly need to make room on their roster for future key players like Denis Gurianov, Jason Dickinson and Julius Honka to get significant ice time in the final 20 games. If that bridge gets crossed, expect a small number of names to leave Big D.

At this point it’s just tough to nail down which ones.