The Stars heavily scouted a game featuring Jacob Trouba, does it mean anything?

Some thoughts on trades, how they work, and whether Dallas should be making the call.

Before we get too deep into this piece, I think it’s important to establish a couple key facts.

• Jacob Trouba is actively playing for the Anaheim Ducks.

• He was the captain of the New York Rangers, and was rather publicly traded for a a diminishing return of Urho Vaakanainen and a conditional fourth-round pick in early December.

• He has this season and next remaining on his contract, which accounts for $8 million annually against the salary cap.

• Trouba has a 15-team no-trade list for the remainder of this season and a 12-team no-trade list for the 2025-26 season.

Ok, these are all facts. If we can accept these, we can dive deeper into this.

Last night, when the Detroit Red Wings hosted Anaheim Ducks, the Dallas Stars had three scouts at the game, most notably director of player personal Rich Peverley. The Florida Panthers also had two scouts at the game, while the other teams represented in the Little Caesars Arena press box are at most games in Detroit¹.

The Panthers, according to rumblings, seem to be interested in bringing back Vladimir Tarasenko, so there might be some smoke to that fire.

But let’s talk more about the Stars having a small armada watching the game, and what it might and might not mean.