Speaking to Jim Nill, the Stars don't really feel like deadline "big-game hunters"
I drove to Columbus on Tuesday to talk to the Stars GM and track down some other things.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The exasperated sigh said it best.
Me: How you been Thomas?
Thomas Harley: *long sigh* Honestly, I’m just really tired, Sean.
This was Tuesday morning after the Dallas Stars morning skate in Columbus. Harley in the past five days had played in the championship Game of the 4 Nations Face-Off, winning with Canada.
He then returned to the Stars, played back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, logging 24:22 against the New Jersey Devils and 27:54 against the New York Islanders. Later Tuesday night, after telling me how tired he was, Harley went and logged a casual 28:24 in the loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Harley’s usage is reflective right now of the biggest story for the Stars.
The defense is bruised and battered. Miro Heiskanen is out for an extended time with a knee injury, Lian Bichsel is now in concussion protocol after a hit from Casey Cizikas, and with Nils Lundkvist already done for the season, the Stars defensive core is actively in survival mode.
The Stars do get a couple days to rest up before playing at home on Friday against the Los Angeles Kings, but health wise, there aren’t any reinforcements coming for that game. Based on the NHL concussion protocol, Bichsel earliest return will potentially be Sunday against the St. Louis Blues.
It’s easy to look at all of this, with the NHL trade deadline nine days away and wonder, if the Stars will be shopping for defensive reinforcements.
It’s why I publicly pondered and observed the Stars closely watching the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.
It’s also why I asked Jim Nill directly about where things are close to a week from the deadline from his perspective.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Shap Shots to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.