Could the Stars Really Land Mitch Marner? | Episode 6124 | June 25th, 2025
heat [Music] [Music] heat heat heat [Music] heat heat [Music] heat heat [Music] heat [Music] heat [Music] [Music] heat heat [Music] hey guys welcome back to Starcastic Remarks alongside Chris and James my name is Ryan Chambers we are the official Dallas Stars podcast of THPN thank you to all of you who are joining us live here this Wednesday evening and for all of you who are listening afterwards as well we got a ton of people who are doing so if you like anything you hear or I guess if you like anything you see too or whatever uh you can uh click like and subscribe on YouTube
yeah Hoba Hoba and uh make sure you hit that notification bell so that the next time a episode goes live you don’t miss it um we have got absolutely nothing to talk about tonight guys uh we’re we’re going to dig down deep into the barrel of nothingness tonight and try to figure out what the heck we’re going to talk about i mean we could talk about uh the Mitch Martner rumors to Dallas which makes absolutely no sense i don’t know even know why that’s still considered a thing uh I mean Nils Linquist resigned maverick Bourke resigned matt y’all haven’t gotten a chance to talk about Matt Duchaining being resigned uh Marchman also I think he got traded somewhere too if I believe so um and then Steve Spot is no longer the assistant coach of the Dallas Stars as well and we’ll get into that a little bit too so absolutely nothing to talk about right
it’s been a wild off season nothing has slowed down yet so hopefully that pace can just keep up all the way until October and I’m gonna go ahead and I know that our the title of our episode is talking about Mitch Marner being a Dallas star and all of that but I want to start tonight with this because this is the most recent thing that I have seen and this is from Oilers Access and it he is quoting uh Bob Staer from Oilers Now who covers the Edmonton Oilers and here’s why it is significant oilers now says that the Oilers granted the Dallas Stars permission to interview Glenn Goolitson pierre LeBron speculates that it is down to Goliten or Neil Graham for the Stars head coaching job so first off now we have it confirmed by an outside source that Glenn Gooson is being considered for the head coaching job for the Dallas Stars that’s not a big surprise we a lot of people had kind of talked about that because of the connections that he’s had to Dallas and the fact that he’s been very successful in Edmonton as the uh the power place assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers but it’s not confirmed that it’s between the two guys between Glenn Gooson and Neil Graham i mean what are your thoughts when you first hear that you know Glenn Gooson you know 100% being confirmed you know considered for the job for the head coaching job of the Dallas Stars
well it’s not surprising because the connection with him and Jim Nil so it makes sense uh it would not make me happy i mean I know we had Goldson coaching here when the Stars were in a very different era uh it was not a championship aspiration team um that being said I don’t think he did great with what he did have so he would have a skeptic in me right off the get-go and he’d have to convince me otherwise so and I also don’t see how that’s not a retread i mean that’s kind of the buzzword that we heard from insiders is they don’t want it to be a retread and I mean you’re literally hiring a coach who’s been the coach of the Dallas Stars before that sounds like a retread to me yeah i I I I don’t think it matters too much who’s hired honestly the skill of this team is still incredibly high uh the the the only point in which it’ll be a problem is if they somehow miss the playoffs with the team they have that that’s when it becomes a problem but u I I just there’s so much uh leadership on this team that no matter who you bring in I mean they’re going to retain a large portion of their game still honestly I would not be surprised to see Glenn Goolson be the head coach of the Dallas Stars i don’t know if I necessarily want it
and and maybe that’s completely unfair to to him because it’s been what 13 14 years since he’s been the head coach of the Dallas Stars it’s been a long time
so obviously he’s been through a couple of ringers and other places he’s been in Calgary he’s been in Vancouver he’s I think he was a head coach in in Calgary as well he’s been an assistant everywhere it seems like so I the thing I don’t think he would consider is if say Neil Graham is the head coach of the Dallas Stars I don’t know if he would consider coming back to Dallas as like the Steve spot uh and and being like the power playforwards assistant coach do you see that being a possibility with
Goldson no I think it’s much more likely that Golitin would be the head coach and now that Spot is with Boston that Neil Graham would be the power play coach so I I don’t see Golson making a lateral move from a team that lost in the finals to a team that can’t get out of the Western Conference now I understand that like Neil Graham or Neil Graham Glen Gooson has like the world’s best power play unit at at his disposable in
disposable at his
It grinds up the PKs of the other team
yes literally they do
you
But uh there you go you’re helping me out Chris thank you i appreciate it with I mean with Buchard with McDavid with Dry Cidle and I mean even uh Hyman Hyman I is a big part of that as well but you know is is that literally just because he’s got good players over there and that’s why the power play is so successful because I think he at least deserves some credit i mean you you could be an absolute uh amazing coach and and still not have the right players and not have a and not have a and still have a good power play so I think he deserves some credit even though the players that he has in Edmonton are pretty good i mean is that fair to say
well he deserves some credit but it’s hard to really tell what you can credit to an assistant coach from the outside without knowing what’s going on in the team you know so I I don’t think you can really glean anything from what he’s doing with Oilers or what he’s doing from other teams really as an assistant
yeah it’s and like like you said it’s especially tough when you have Conor McDavid and Leon Dryidle who can both just one v4 the PK by themselves yep
and and both have done it on numerous occasions too that that is a very good point James okay uh it’s kind of there already so let’s just kind of talk about it steve Spot is no longer with the Dallas Stars i mean I’m not surprised at all
oh man [Laughter] as much crap as he got for and and a lot of it was very critical and you know very worthy of the criticism that he was being received he he still had a pretty good tenure as the Dallas Stars assistant head coach and being the power play guy um they they consistently finished top 10 in the NHL while he was here and again yes he had good weapons at his disposal but see I got it right that time um but uh you know I’m I’m not surprised that he’s not coming back because he he is a very big loyalist to Pete Dbor and it it seemed like it he did an interview for a podcast and it seemed like that what Jim Nil said in the press conference that everyone was going to be coming back and they still had a one-year deal that that was in it was in complete opposite you know contrarian whatever to what uh to what Steve Spot said steve Spot said that that they were looking to go a different direction um I is it just like the the timing of it and everything I is bad or is someone lying and not telling the truth i mean what’s going on there what do you think well I mean it could even be Steve Spot’s buddy got fired so Steve Spot feels like he’s fired now too you know i mean it could be as simple as that we don’t really know
i I think that that’s a large part of it Chris but also I mean you’re you’re getting a new head coach as well he clearly likes the way that DBR runs his teams he wouldn’t jump ship to go to go coach with Dbor otherwise uh but it it just I think it just makes sense to leave now because when you bring new head coaches in as well you never know if they if they’re going to want to keep this assistant coaches and that can always be up to them and I feel like there’s a lot of free will with that across the league and and that’s a normal thing that for those that don’t know how that works with coaching in the NHL typically you hire the head coach and then the head coach brings in his guys right which is exactly what Pete Dbor did with Steve Spot steve Spot has been his right-hand man for almost a decade wherever Pete Dbor got a job Steve pot Steve Spot got a job too but that was not the case when excuse me when Jim Montgomery the current head coach of the St louis Blues when he was the head coach of the Dallas starters because he was coming from college to here to the NHL so let’s assume Graham is the one that you know gets the job because I really think that he’s it’s it’s his job basically do you think that Jim Nil will be like these are your assistant coaches because you need help you’ve never been an NHL head coach before or do you think that he at least gets some say in who the assistant head coach is
he would get some say of course but I don’t think that Graham has anyone specific in the way that Pete Dbor has i mean Graham’s two assistant coaches down here in Texas are Travis Morren and Max Fortunis who are pretty much Texas stars legends and uh after their playing career decided they wanted to coach and that’s where they pretty much are getting their start at so I I don’t think he would have anybody that he really wants to have there um and I think Ela Nazerdine would be a great kind of mentor to have for a young coach in his first few years in the NHL too
and that was going to be my next go-to chris you read my mind is Ela Nazerdine he has been a head coach in the NHL before and honestly with what he’s been able to do with the PK and yes a lot of credit goes to Essa Lindell but again it some of it is the structure that and how he coaches uh his defenseman and the PK unit a lot of that should go to Ela Nazertine too because we’ve had Matt Dumba and Ilia Leouchkin in the lineup at times and and other times we had Brendan Smith so he deserves a little bit of credit for that and I think that is super critical is keeping Elaine Nazerdine happy and trying to keep him here and telling him not to go anywhere else um I I think the Stars have a little bit of luck in the fact that there’s no other really big coaching jobs available uh that Ela Nazerdine would take over what he’s currently what he currently has uh but there is some speculation as to if Ela Nazerdine didn’t get the head coaching job and they did give it to Neil Graham would he then jump ship because he you know because he wasn’t offered the head job so do do you think anything like that happens because I personally don’t uh but there there there is some thought process to that
i don’t know Nazerdine who knows maybe maybe okay so that that’s just the sum of the coaching stuff that has happened and there’s so much more going into it okay uh let’s jump into the reason uh why we named the podcast episode what it is i don’t get it i don’t get it there are continued reports that Mitch Marner is being connected to the Dallas Stars and it it it makes zero sense in in the whole cap aspect but it really doesn’t make any sense because who is he going to pass the puck to cuz okay let me let me read this up first in the fact that if Mitch Marner is a Dallas star I don’t think Jason Robertson is a Dallas star and the reason being is because he is the most tradable of the assets that you have that make a lot of money you’re not going to trade Wyatt Johnston away that’s just a not going to happen and I mean I I and Sean has a no move clause so those are the only two others that you could probably move and neither one of those are even an option in my opinion so is that a fair thing to say if Mitch Mner is a Dallas star Jason Robertson is not and if Jason Robertson is not here then Mitch Mner has no one to pass the puck to because that’s what he is he’s a very good playmaker and he’s a point- perame guy but he relies a lot on someone else shooting the puck for him as he sets people up um I is all of that fair to say
well it’s definitely fair to say that if Martyr’s on the team then Robo’s not that is correct and that’s true of any of the other uh big free agents that are on the board and that’s true of even Rasmus Anderson who’s the stars have been connected to as well if he somehow gets on the stars Robo’s gone if there’s any big move made Robo’s not on the team that that’s kind of what it’s going to be um and Mner would just be put on the top line so that’s who he’d pass it to he’d pass to Miko right now and right hand would score
they’re both right-handers though so who would play
one of them would play on the left mo already plays on his off wing he might just play on his strong wing instead fair enough uh what do you think James is that outside the realm of possibility that both Marner and Robo could be on the same team yeah pretty much i mean there’s there’s nothing else you could do i mean you could just sell defense completely get rid of if you find a way to get rid of Dumba and Leouchkin
even then you don’t have enough
yeah this is what it would be if you wanted to have enough to get Marner you have to get rid of Robo Dumba and Labushkin and then Marner eats up 85 90% of those three contracts with what his value be it would be 12 million and that’d be a discount for Dallas i mean he’s projecting to be around Dry Cidle’s numbers right now so okay so I’ll push back a little bit on this because if he really wants to play in Dallas which I think that’s why the rumors are out there because he wants to play in Dallas uh because we’ve won and we’re you know we’ve been in the Western Conference final for three years in a row um you know that it it just it just that’s the only thing that I can think of as to why that it’s still there he’s he he like his agent probably talked to him and he’s like “Hey where do you want to go?” And the the teams that keep coming up are teams that are good right the the top three teams I keep seeing Vegas Dallas and LA la just can’t get past the Edmonton Oilers that’s why that’s why they keep losing in the playoffs but Dallas and Dallas and the Oilers that those are the last two teams who have made the Western Conference final in 2025 and 2024 so that’s the only reason I can think of and then the but the thing that keeps make me making me even consider that even further is that uh Chris Johnston I don’t know if you guys listen to the Chris Johnson show on the SDPN but he he said that you know Vegas is the front runner because that’s just what they do they go out and they get the big fish all the time i mean they go they got hurdle they get stoned they get uh Noah Hannifin when he was the biggest uh you know defensive trade target out there so the that’s what everyone is just assuming that’s just what everyone is thinking in the media world but he said he specifically keeps hearing things about Mitch Mner in Dallas and he he did say that the only way he thinks it could work is if Mitch Marner came to Dallas and he took like a 10 or $10.5 million cap hit around that average that doesn’t seem realistic to me considering what he could get from Vegas and even from Carolina like Carolina could offer him a lot of money as well so I I as much as I would love to have Mitch Mner as a Dallas star trust me that’d be awesome
it it doesn’t make any sense and it also doesn’t make sense considering how conservative Jim Nell has been and he has been very iffy about trading Jason Robertson that’s been out there too and you would have to get rid of Robo Labouchkin and Dumba and I don’t know if teams would be willing to do the Stars a favor by taking one or all three of those players even if they’re all in three different trades or whatever
well after the Kane deals anybody will take anybody apparently but
I guess that’s true
but yeah that’d be a crazy discount for him to take he’d be leaving three to three and a half million dollars a year on the table which I that’s just I don’t see that happening at all i mean no matter how badly you want to win $10 million over a four-year contract is crazy now the o the other thing that people are talking about with MNER is and it it’s been a thing over the NHL the last couple of years is that I think a lot of players are going to stop going for the eight to you know the seven or eightyear deals i think they’re going to start going more towards as James has his uh Athena jump in his lap his cat uh I think they’re going to start going more towards like two and threeyear deals and I think the reason for that is because I mean like next year the cap is going to be over hund00 million and it’s it’s going to jump up astronomically at least that’s what Puck Pedia is saying it’s going to do and that’s what uh Gary Bman says that’s what the NHLPA says so I mean is it possible for Mner to come here and sign a two-year deal at $10.5 million sure but again you would still have to make huge dents in your lineup and then if you look at your right side and you get rid of Labouchkin and Dumba you have Meiro and then you have Nils Lungquist who you hope can play top four minutes and then you have Petravic for sure being your bottom pair right-handed defenseman that’s that’s basically what you’re looking at
yep
um so first off would you be okay either one of you with that decor and second off could you see Mitch Mner being signing a two to three year deal instead of a seven to eight year deal
if you can get Marty for four years yes you do it but it’s I mean less than a 5% chance because the amount of work that the Stars would have to do to be able to afford him would be crazy i don’t think he’d be willing to sign a $10 million deal just to play for a team he wants to play for that sounds like crazy work and yeah it would [ __ ] the defense you wouldn’t have any room to sign anybody else you would have to get rid of Labushkin you wouldn’t have a choice so it it might nuke this year for the Stars but uh in uh in two years when the sign contract comes off and you have two more years of maybe a cheapish marner compared to what the cap has done that that would look pretty dang good so if it somehow works I would say do it but it’s just it’s just not going to happen i think the big thing for me is uh Marner’s age i he’s probably looking for a sevenyear long contract right like because
yes the cap’s going up but he is getting older and as you get older everyone talks about how your points kind of taper off and there’s no guarantee that he’s going to get back to 100 points on a team that is not the Toronto Maple Leafs i mean he doesn’t know who he’s playing with he doesn’t know who his linemates are going to be this this really is his best chance to cash in completely in my opinion yeah he’s in he’s in the prime of of his career you’re exactly right James that’s when you need to cash in but but that’s where we’re kind of in new territory with how much the cap is going up over the next few years so like there really may be guys who go aggressive and yeah maybe his points do come down but he might still get a raise just because of how much the cap goes up so there’s really no telling until we see what happens and what the market does in the new CBA that they’re actually talking about the NHL and the NHLPA the collective bargaining agreement apparently this is the thing that they are now they’re now taking all contracts to six and seven years instead of seven and eight
so that’s been proposed that’s well it’s they’re talking about it and it’s I’ve heard this for almost a year means
I I’ve I’ve heard this for about a year now but they have they’re they are definitely considering it proposed whatever uh but uh the reason why it was popping in my brain is because the board of governors meeting was today and and I I don’t think that was highlighted a whole lot but they did have some outside informal conversations about it outside the meeting i do know that for sure
but either way Mitch Mner we’ve already heard is looking for a three to fouryear deal anyway so
well but but again he’s got to consider all of his options though Chris if he’s
he will that’s what we’ve heard he’s looking for is all I said
if he’s presented with a seven-year deal and it’s 12.5 or $13 million and that’s guaranteed like you like in the NHL those are pretty much guaranteed contracts he might get bought out at the end of the dealer or whatever but you still get that money one way or another you’re You’re saying that he wouldn’t consider that
he would only consider
but he’s going to get 13 and a half no matter what his term is most likely see I I don’t know i I I just have to wait and see i mean that that’s really what it’s coming down to we It’s the cap’s going to go up so much
and it’s something that we’ve never seen before and we’re just gonna have to wait if he was going to go play for a team like the San Jose Sharks which he he has absolutely zero connection to by the way that I’m just making that up i mean they would have to throw out 156 million for him to even think about it right but if if he’s going to a team like like Florida or like Dallas or like uh what was the other team i said LA then then he would he would probably consider a lower cap hit because yeah he would still get a lot of money plus he’d have a chance to win a Stanley Cup which has eluded him so and the you know the other thing I was actually thinking about this and a lot of people are still making a giant big deal about it um I wonder if at 10.5 in Texas if he would make more money than he did with his $10.9 million cap hit in Canada
I would bet money that he would make more money off of that $10.5 million cap hit in Texas it’s pretty close i think it averages around like 400,000 to 600,000 uh per year benefit because it is like it is the jock tax so every time you play in a different city you pay the taxes of that city
right
so it’s not like he’s paying no income no no state income tax but it would be a good uh at least half million dollars that he’d be gaining more per year um Chris can you can you talk about the the Puck GM Puck Pedia GM thing that you sent both me and James for a second like what the team would look like if Mner was was here
uh yeah uh I So basically it was just freeing up space you have to trade Robo Labushkin and Dumbo like we talked about um I think on that I traded Robo to the Rangers because earlier when
Sorry I’m kind of putting you on the spot
yeah it’s fine earlier when the Rangers were first kind of or when Robo was first kind of being shopped around the Rangers were a big one that people were talking about and I I had uh the Stars trading all three of those guys for Schneider in a first and Schneider is a pretty solid young right-handed defenseman i think he’s around $2 million and I put him as your second pair right D man and then you sign Mner to 12 million AAV and that that would work but even then that doesn’t leave you enough money really to sign Jamie Ben or to carry an extra roster player so even then which is a great case scenario which would be incredible to get it still doesn’t really work out i mean Mner would have to take just a massive pay cut to play with Dallas and he hasn’t taken a pay cut yet in his career so I I don’t know why everyone’s talking about him taking $3 million less per year to play on a team that he wants to play on so your your third your top six looks pretty good it would be Hints Ranson and Mner uh Duchain in the middle with Johnson and Sean and then your your bottom six looks pretty rough uh you got Steel with Ritzkovian and Bourc which in I guess I guess in and it could be good and then you got a fourth line of Oscar Beck Jamie Ben and Colin Blackwell which I kind of actually kind of like that fourth line that’s kind that’s kind of good but again that’s that’s without an extra forward at all and the thing is with all three of the guys that the stars are connected to so that’s Martner Eblad and Anderson you’re trading depth to get better up top that’s what all these deals are going to be and I mean that’s what you’re going to have to live with and that’s what happens when you sign a $12 million MON too you’re saying “We want to get better at the top end and we’re going to get worse at the bottom.” And and I’m perfectly okay with that i just don’t want us to become super topheavy like we saw Colorado be for a really long time
or Toronto
yeah or Toronto yeah it’s true there’s some truth to that too
um the the other thing about this though too is is you have to consider and we can jump into into this too because this is another thing that’s been reported that that Dallas is keeping those three players on on the radar like you said Chris which is why you said it uh Rasmus Sanderson of the Calgary Flames uh Mitch Mner who we’ve been talking about and then Aaron Eklad who is I mean he’s going to be an unrestricted free agent i don’t see him resigning with the Florida Panthers because they just don’t have any cap space and I think they’re resigning both Sam Bennett and Brad Marawn so out of those three the I I even tweeted this out i was like the only reason why the the only one that makes any sense to me is Aaron Nickl and I even prefaced it with I don’t see any of these three happening so and and the reason being is because like like you said Chris for the other two we would have to give up assets for that and we’d have to I mean Robertson like you said is basically gone with either one of those guys uh you know coming to Texas but with Aaron Eggblad if you can get him for a a decent discount which I mean even then it would have to be what maybe five five and a half million at most then that’d be the only way that I think you could even get Aaron Nicklad and because he’s right-handed because he’s won the Stanley Cup because he’s a first round pick he’s he’s an alternate captain i mean all of these things he’s still I think he’s 27 28 he He’s not even 29 okay so I knew he wasn’t in his 30s yet i knew he was close but he’s still going to command what seven and a half million
he’s getting seven and a half i mean there’s no way he’s going that low
and and the Stars are not going to be paying somebody like that when you’ve got
Mirror Hin at eight and a half basically
well that’s that’s why I’m saying the only way to get any of those guys that are apparently on Dallas’s radar is to trade Robo and the only way they would trade Robo is if he’s not going to sign an extension apparently which I mean might not be a horrible idea
i mean how much is he going to command next year
yep
and like if if he has a monster if if he has a monster season this year and he you know feels better than he did last year because he had a bad bad year in terms of injury
i mean if he’s gets to another 100 point season does what does he command does he command Marner money the command
11 12 13
11 at least yeah
I think that’s in the realm of possibility for Jason Robertson um you might be able to get away with getting him down to 10 or 11 just because of the cap hits of everybody else and what wide Johnson signed for
but I I I still I still don’t see that being an option so if you’re really truly scared about Robertson’s extension then you trade him that I think that’s where you’re at but at the same time th this is a guy who again he scored the last three goals in in the Western Conference Final for the Dallas Stars and people are saying he doesn’t show up in the playoffs
yeah and he is still an RFA next year but he does have arbitration rights too so he can argue to get higher pay as well which I he probably win i I would say he’s not going to get a qualifying offer he’s going to get paid more than that
and if he is playing Mitch Mner points you know don’t you want Robertson anyway the younger player two three years younger than Mitch Mner and that’s a good question i mean they’re kind of opposite players like Ryan was saying mitch Mner is more of a playmaker he has more classic skill he would say Robo’s more of a goal scorer and has more hockey IQ he knows where to where to be to score goals so that’s just two different sides of a highly skilled coin right so like and that was my whole point like if you could trade trade Sean now which he’s not going to he’s not going to win no cost
let’s say this no contracts no nothing mitch Mner for Jason Robertson one for one would you do it no cuz again it doesn’t make any sense because the Stars don’t Mitch Mner wouldn’t have a really anyone else to p to pass the puck to man I cannot talk tonight
he’d play on the top line he’d play with with Miko miko would play on his left would you do the trade
it’s not like It’s not like rope can’t snipe either i mean Ro can finish i see what you did there
do Do you do the trade
quit dodging my question do you trade my gut says no i I say yes
oh he says I I like mner i It’s an impactful player thing i I I know Robo is good and he he can do he he’s best at the hardest thing in hockey and that’s scoring goals but MNER is able to be an impactful player even if he’s not scoring goals he has the ability to
control a strong impact on the game and change the way the game is played and that’s the that’s kind of the complaint we’ve had with Robo all the time like
but now Robo unless you Sorry sorry robo doesn’t have you don’t have to expect Robo or Rope to do that anymore because you have a Miko Rantin getting $12 million i mean that’s truly why we got Miko Rantin right to because we didn’t
I mean I think your whole top line is supposed to be play pushers
i think you should you shouldn’t really have passenger on your top line in my opinion that’s just I just think that’s why Robo is such a unique kind of hockey player because I mean if you had to define him as a leader or a passenger he’s more of a passenger but he’s a passenger who scores 50 goals a year maybe not 50 but at least 30 you can pencil pencil him in for sure for 30 and if you want to talk about players who have an impact on the game why not like you wanting those players to be on your top line why not swap Johnston and Robo i mean that that could be a a huge top line and then Robo can just do his scoring thing on the second line he’s he would slot in for Marchment which he does similar job to what Mush does uh probably a little less physical but he no he goes and hunts pucks like Marchment does and he goes into the board battles and he just finds a way to get it sometimes and that’s a lot of what they had uh Marchment doing and Marchman isn’t a fast player either i mean he’s as slow as Robo is
and you know what James I think you’re exactly right and I think that’s why he’s so weird he’s like the best second liner ever and he’s going to get paid $11 million a year yeah that
that’s what’s so weird about him so okay so here here’s the other direction I wanted to go with this as well and why I don’t think Mitch Mner being a Dallas star makes any sense because I still think that you need to fulfill your number four defenseman slot that I I I think that if you are gymnastically you’re keeping all of your options open i mean if if Mitch Mner works out and you’re able to keep Mitch Mner and Robertson great yes absolutely do it and he wants to come here for cheaper if he wants to come here for eight or $9 million great
yes we’ll find a way to do it no I’m I’m right but like he’s he’s keeping the door open and in case
just making sure you don’t get clipped right yes yes true there we go because it’s it’s probably gonna happen but I I still think that the bigger issue is ever since Chris Tan have left and he was traded away that they have not had a true number four defenseman and I mean Niels in all reality Niels Lungquist with the way that he started last year he could be he is exactly what you probably want a number four guy to be because he’s a he’s a puck moving defenseman yeah he’s on he’s a little bit on the smaller side he’s he’s probably six foot on a good day and six foot
but
well he I think he’s actually on I think he’s actually 5’11 he’s 6 foot according to
that’s the worst like part about Lungquist that we we always talk about he’s so small and you go and you look at his numbers he’s not that small he just plays small
that’s his problem but he didn’t play that way last year and it just absolutely sucks that he got hurt and so him so him signing at 1.25 25 is great because because it could he could logically be your number four guy but are you willing to bet money on going to a Stanley Cup final and Nils Lungquist is your number four defenseman that do you feel comfortable in saying that
is that good enough you’re not betting on that right now because first of all this is start of season stuff i mean start a season last year our team especially defensively looked very very weak and there’s trade deadline pickups all the time i feel like an Avalanche are perfect embodiment last year i mean their team did not look great and then the trade deadline happened and they looked amazing they looked like a like a cup contender so was because they traded 13 players away the opening night to the closing night there were 13 different players on their own that’s crazy
my point My point is it’s okay to have holes at the beginning of the regular season i would normally agree with you except you have you’re going to have a brand new head coach that would be I think holes at the beginning of every regular season i mean there were holes last year there was holes the year before that there’s always a place on your roster where you’re like “Okay what are we gonna do?” Like “Who’s gonna do it?” Right the Stars also have two chances to fill that number four defenseman role yes nils Linquist is that would be his natural side and everything
lean Bishell very well might be one of your top four best defenseman by the time the end of the regular season happens so
there’s two players that can step up and and fill that role so and also I should remind you we had Chris Tenev for one year and we still lost in the conference final so it’s not like that’s the the key to everything is the number four defenseman we had one and we still got cooked so they’re going to have to find ways to score goals in the conference final that’s what it is so I I think sorry my mind’s going a million different ways right now but I still think that that is the thing that Jim Nil really needs to focus on is is getting that number four defenseman solidified if we go into the regular season with the way that it is right now I’m not upset because it it look it still looks pretty pretty good for I mean it’s it’s literally uh Essa and Miro and then you got Harley and Labouchkin labouchkin it I think is fine and then you’ve got uh Bishel and Lungquist as your bottom pairing with Petravic as the sixth guy i mean Petravic may even be playing above Nils Linquist depending on on how the the you know how training camp goes and everything like that i mean he’s been very reliable for the last two years uh in the playoffs so I think he deserves at least a look at being on the regular roster uh next year yes okay sorry but would y’all be okay with that is that good enough to start the year
it’s fine yes especially when you have two young guys that might be able to fill that four spot without a trade okay fair enough okay now that being said I’m going to throw uh three names at you for uh right-handed defenseman who are who are being talked about right now um you got Brandon Carlo you got Rasmus Anderson and then you’ve got Brandt Clark out of LA um I think all three of those guys could be okay uh the reason why I say Brandon Carlo is because apparently Brandon Carlo is being shopped by Toronto even though Toronto just got him at the trade deadline and I I don’t know why that would be but apparently that’s a thing and he is he he’s in his he’s in his uh high high 20s his late 20s i cannot talk today he’s in his late 20s he’s 6’5 he’s like $225 he makes $4 million against the cap everything seems to make sense for the Dallas Stars in that regard and then plus the Stars would be trading for him from a position of strength you don’t have to have Brandon Carlo it it’s because the the the Ed the Edmonton Oilers the the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to shed some cap off of their off of their roster in order to go and get out a bigger name so that’s why I said that could be a possibility that would be crazy to get rid of Carlo that I don’t see why but again it’s out there and and it’s that it’s been talked about quite a bit
that’d be stupid
i agree i agree uh I was really high on Rasmus Anderson and I still kind of am but I am less so on Rasmus Anderson because I’ve seen a lot of tweets lately as at you know how he’s kind of fallen off the deep end a little bit it’s not like he’s completely unallow whatever i hate you Chris anyways uh but you know just is he worth the money that he’s getting right now and if we trade for him does does he even you know fall off even even worse than he is now
well the other problem with Rasmus Anderson is he is also an RFA at the end of next season so if you trade Jason Robertson for Rasmus Anderson you’re in the exact same spot now you just have two young defensemen who need big races instead of a young defenseman and a young forward who need big raises so that doesn’t really solve your problem it just makes you better on defense which is fine it’s fine to trade a top forward for a top defenseman if if that’s what you think your problem is but it doesn’t solve the cap problem and then uh and then the fourth one Chris you you mentioned him uh was uh what’s his first name is it Braden Schneider
i can’t remember
it’s Schneider uh I I think his his first name is Braden i mean like
I don’t even know that he’s really on the block but if if he’s on the if Robo’s available to the Rangers I think almost anyone’s on the block
i I think anybody would would take Robertson on their team
anybody i mean that’s a lot there Ryan my goodness
who wants a young 20-year-old 40 goal scorer
will anyone take this big cat burden off our hands and and and I I know I I know that’s that that’s silly to say that but that that is why I was saying he is most likely if he’s a trade target then he’s the most likely of any of the remaining people that the Stars have because Labouchkin is not a top four defenseman even though the Stars are utilizing him as one and then Dumba has absolutely zero value zero i will be surprised if we get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in in return for Matt Dumba that might be future considerations like a sandwich for for Jim Nell
if you could train him for future considerations that’d be great but yes
more likely now after what happened with Vander Kane because that’s great that’s nuts
yeah and and and we haven’t even gotten a chance to talk about everything else that’s been going on in the NHL there’s so much other stuff that’s going on but uh quickly let’s go through the other things that uh we need to get to mason Marchman um you guys haven’t got a chance to really talk about him all that much are you surprised about the trade and are you happy with what the stars get back for him
uh I I think they got less than they could have i I I thought Mason March would be a more impactful player i mean especially for like Toronto i figured Toronto would offer more for a player like that um it also goes against what a lot of Stars fans are saying and the Stars fans are kind of talking out of both sides of their mouth with that one they’re like “We want to get more physical also let’s trade our let’s trade one of our more physical players.” So I mean I think it’s still the right move because I think his off out of play antics are not worth what he brought to the game but yeah it’s it’s a weird weird move so the Stars got a
So go ahead go ahead James i I feel like they they they definitely got less than they probably could have but I’m sure there’s a lot of talking to Marchman that went into this i mean this was his like kind kind of like rebound team after having a really really tough year he came to Dallas and he got a lot of emotional support just based off of the people who were around him who already knew him and I mean it it’s hard to just trade a player to wherever just because they’ll give the most money especially Jim Nil we’re talking about that it’s just not something that he kind of does i I I’m sure Marchments had some say in this
and and James means tough year personal wise as he lost his father before the play with the stars yeah thank you
yes and what James is inferring here is that Texas is a no state tax state so is Seattle which is where Marchman ended up going to um I I don’t hate the the return because most the return you got is $4.5 million which is resigning
that’s really what you get but that’s really what that’s really what the trade was for
but bonus-wise you get quantity over quality right you I mean you might have been able to get a second round pick a a single second round pick for Mason Marchman in return but you get a third and a fourth and especially with the fact that the Stars have been trading away their draft picks like crazy especially after the rant and deal which I’m I’m not criticizing Jim Nell about that I I I would have done that in a heartbeat still every single day of the week but it’s it’s nice to get at least get a couple of extra darts to throw at the dart board and see if you can get a hit in the third or fourth round in the next couple of years now we we’ll never know until like you know four five six years down the road from now but uh that is something that that could happen for uh for for Jimnell and for the Dallas Stars
i I didn’t even noticed this but what’s funny is that the fourth round pick is the Stars own fourth round pick that they traded to New York for Slungquist
yes so
and then Yeah that’s hilarious i love it when that happens you know what it also does is I mean it’s it’s probably not going to happen but like you could use it for an offer sheet at some point just saying again not not very likely to happen but that that’s why it’s more valuable to keep your own draft picks than having someone else’s third or fourth round pick or whatever so uh there’s some truth to that um okay and then we got uh two more two more resignings and I I think they’re both excellent uh I mean Maverick Bork at 950K that is that’s what we call like gymn master class like that is ridiculous considering he was probably one of the top offer sheet candidates considering the situation the stars were in and if he had signed like a you know a $2.5 or $3 million cap hit offer sheet with someone else the the stars would probably be saying goodbye to Maverick Bork but what’s really awesome and what makes me feel even better about this is that Maverick Bourc wants to be on this team yeah that that’s
you’re not signing for 950,000 if if you if you can make three million unless you really want to stay with this team and with this organization that’s just it’s awesome
i I don’t think he would have gotten three million but he I think it was very likely he would get an offer sheet and he could have at least waited to see if he was going to get one and he didn’t even do that he he wanted to get it done he wanted to be on the stars that’s that’s very apparent based off of his situation and what he actually decided to do and I think that was his qualifying offer if I’m if I’m correct right 950k it was it was a little bit over his qualifying but pretty much
pretty much right well I mean $25,000 is seems like nothing but where when you’re the stars and where you’re at it could mean the difference in the world um and and then the other one Nils Lungquist resigning for 1.25 25 million that I think if you’re not in Dallas and you’re looking at that from the outside and you’re looking at his stats and that he didn’t play that much this year because he was mostly hurt and he I I think he maybe scored one goal this year maybe i don’t I don’t even know if he did or not but this that signing could be an extremely underrated signing for someone who could be playing in that top four could be yeah it’s I don’t know i mean he was definitely getting better last year at times i I still wouldn’t say he ever got to a tough to play against kind of level i I don’t know if he was playoff ready in any of those points it it’s just it’s hard to say it’s a guy I mean obviously this is like Jim Niels’s pet project i mean he he’s not giving up on this guy as long as he can get him for decent contracts and if it works out he’s a genius but it hasn’t yet so I’m I’m I’m not gonna He was definitely better last year than he was the year before but that’s not saying a whole heck of a lot
yeah um I I I liked the way he had progressed last year i think he was working towards it but I I agree with you Chris i don’t think he was playoff ready yet for sure um
and maybe a system change in defense will help that maybe we don’t do the man-on-man defense and that really helps him
and we we’ll we’ll just have to wait and see how that works out and the the the other thing about Nell Zenquist is that we’ve seen the extreme spectrum with him right like when he first got here I think he was like top five in rookie demon scoring at at one point in his first year with Dallas and then the then his second year he kind of got hampered a little bit with everything and cuz his his offense was great but his defense sucked and then he was scared to touch the puck or make a mistake because he didn’t want to get taken out of the lineup and then the then last year at the beginning of last year during the offseason he bulked up got like 15 20 pounds of muscle and then he only focused on the defensive side which is fine and we and we praised him for it right I remember praising him for it through the first 20 25 games of the season when uh when he was playing next to Essa Lindell but he he’s he’s got to he’s still got to prove it and that’s crazy to say it because he’s been here for three years now but we we need someone to fill that role and that is the role that Jimnell envisioned him being in a top four role at some point that’s why he gave that’s the first first round pick that he ever gave up was for Nungquist so I I don’t think that his his faith in Nos Lungquist is misguided i really don’t i think he’s gota and and the DLLS guys put it a really good way he’s got to find a good healthy balance between the two he’s got to be the guy that can that’s willing to jump up into the rush every once in a while and he’s also got to be willing to make sure that he makes the right play and he’s got to do that without feeling like he’s going to be taken out of the lineup and to his benefit he’s going to have a new coaching staff for the most part he’s going to and at the very least Ela Nazerdine saw that he was playing really well and he was playing in the top four with uh with Essa for a good a good chunk of the time that he was uh healthy so that could be a I’m I’m telling you I really think that this is one of the most underrated things that could happen for the Stars this year and and we’ve talked about a lot how how we thought it would be really cool if we could get Lungquist to play in the AHL for a few years because we saw how how much good it did for Harley and his development well we couldn’t get him to the AHL so maybe we bring the AHL to him and we bring Neil Graham to develop him anyway well I mean I mean to to your point Chris uh Neil Graham has had a a lot of success with developing young players and now Nils Longquist is in that weird that weird part of his career like where he’s he’s not quite a he’s not quite a young guy like whatever
he’s 24 he’s well he’s not he’s not like uh he’s not 20 19 20 21 you know kind of almost he’s he’s close but he’s he’s literally in between that and the quote unquote prime of his career which is like your 26 27 year
is Justinian a prospect I guess no I know I know his age I know
there you go he he subverted my questions people I on the record that Ryan only said no because of the way I phrased the question
so yeah he’s a prospect so okay and then uh the other thing I do want to talk about is uh the the remaining things that Jim Nil has to do right the the the things he could do is go out and get a top four defenseman right i I still think that feel like that’s a hole but he has to sign Jimn or Jimn he has to sign Jamie Ben yeah Jim Nell has to sign Jim Nell but uh what are y’all still thinking that it’s at the $ 1.5 to2 million range or do you think it’s even less considering all of the things that apparently the stars are in on right now
it it doesn’t really matter it he’s going to get paid probably three or four million after bonuses are all said and done so his base salary is going to be whatever Jim Nil needs it to be yeah okay that’s really what it comes down to he’s he’s going to wait until Jibil is done and he says “I want what’s left
right?” And then he’ll do bonuses on top to get him to a respectable dollar number
okay so here’s here’s my worry and I I still think Jaime Ben is very important to this team i do because there are a lot of people that come out and they still talk about how Jaime Ben is one of the best leaders in the room and I don’t think Jimnil will be done before July 1st so what that means if we’re thinking like it’s going to happen this way is that Jaime Ben will technically become a UFA
yes
and and he will be on the free agent market he will technically be on the free agent market but only technically
only technically but it there is still that there is still that chance
no there’s not that someone comes around and offers him a whole lot of money and a really good opportunity and he says “Okay you know what fine I’ll do it.” And then Jame and then we’re looking for a new captain again very very unlikely it’s a very With all of the talking we have heard this off season we have not heard a whisper of Jaime Ben not being a Dallas star that that is not on the table that That’s not a thing
no and I completely agree with you but I if you wait after June June July 1st to sign Jamie Ben there is there is that possibility that is there
and I’m telling you it is not an actual possibility it is technically a possibility yes
okay thank you that’s what I’m saying
an actual possibility it is it is a possibility is there a difference
no it is technically a possibility it is not realistically a possibility okay
trying to change the words
okay fine words have been hard for me today i don’t know why um okay
you should be a podcaster
yeah yeah I’d be great at that anyways y’all got anything else you want to talk about before we uh wrap it up here tonight
nope not technically not technically well we are going to try to keep this consistent i hate both of you stop laughing
i love that joke Chris thank you James you’re a beautiful man you too
i’m just going to wrap this up anyways guys thank you all so much for listening live for those of you who have been I apologize for all my word blunders today i was way off today and as always click like and subscribe if you’re watching on YouTube hit that notification bell once again leave us a fivestar review if you know someone who would like to be a sponsor of our podcast please send them our way click that link in the description below or in your favorite audio platform of choice and as always we thank our Who Cares members who are rolling across the bottom of the screen that you can see if you’re watching on YouTube we thank y’all as always if you’d like to join $5 a month that link is also in the description below as always I really I don’t know why I feel this i feel like a big announcement is coming tomorrow just a gut feeling alongside Chris alongside James my name is Ryan we will catch you guys on the flip side hope you guys have a good fantastic morning afternoon evening whenever you guys are listening go Stars [Music]
Could Mitch Marner actually become a Dallas Star? In this jam-packed offseason episode of Starcastic Remarks, Ryan, Chris, and James dissect the swirling rumors connecting Toronto’s Mitch Marner to Dallas and whether a Robertson-for-Marner deal even makes sense. Spoiler: the cap math is ugly.
We also break down the Dallas Stars’ head coaching speculation — Glenn Gulutzan vs. Neil Graham — and debate the Steve Spott exit. Plus, Marchment’s trade to Seattle, Nils Lundkvist and Mavrik Bourque re-signings, and the always-confusing reality of Jamie Benn’s future contract.
Key Topics:
-Mitch Marner trade speculation: Could it work under the cap?
-Is Jason Robertson the odd man out?
-Stars’ head coaching update: Gulutzan or Graham?
-Marchment traded: What Dallas got in return
-Nils Lundkvist’s future + Jim Nill’s masterclass signings
-Jamie Benn’s next contract… and potential risks
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1 comment
That's what proposed means 😂