It’s no secret that the Stars are buyers this year. There are also tons of rumors that they are seeking a top 6 forward who can play with Marchment and Seguin. As we all know, the Stars have struggled to find the forward that fits with those two. Take a look at my top picks for who the Stars might trade for.
Bo Horvat
This is the titillating pick.
Horvat recently declined what the Canucks said was their best offer for a contract extension. That most likely means that they will want to trade him this year to try and get as much value as possible out of him.
Horvat is on pace to have the best year of his career and he is doing it on a Canucks team that is not very good. If the Stars could find a way to make this deal work with the cap space, and don’t give up one of the big three prospects (Johnston, Stankoven, Borque), it is a no brainer.
This would purely be a rental as the Stars would likely not have enough cap space to re-sign him next year. The most likely thing I see the Stars giving up for him is Gurianov or Faksa to free up cap space, a 2nd round pick in 2023, and Mavrik Borque. Another option would be a 2024 1st round pick and a less notable Stars prospect such as Tufte or Damiani.
Max Domi
Max Domi is in the last year of his contract on a very bad Hawks team. There is no doubt that Chicago will be looking to move a lot of their expiring contract this season in their rebuild attempt.
Domi is having a pretty good season so far. He is on pace to score a little over 60 points this year and his shooting percentage is a crazy 17.9%. This shooting percentage leads me to believe that if he just starts shooting a little more, he could be scoring exponentially more.
However, Domi has had struggles recently. Most notably, Carolina thought he would be a big part of a deep playoff run but he was not successful enough to stay in the lineup consistently. Some may also say that his numbers this year are inflated due to him playing first line minutes and being linemates with Kane.
Domi will definitely be cheaper than Horvat. I still see Chicago taking either Faksa or Gurianov to free up cap space. On top of that I believe Domi would be worth a 2nd or 3rd round pick and one of our less high profile prospects like Harley or Stranges.
Andreas Athanasiou
Athanasiou is going to be the cheaper and riskier pick.
He has struggled so far this season in Chicago. He only has 9 points in 26 games but he has tons of offensive potential. This reminds me a lot of the situation Gurianov is in. He has all the tools to produce offensively but for some reason can not find twine.
Athanasiou is well known throughout the league as being somewhat of a defensive liability. He has also struggled mightily to play a full 82 game season without some kind of injury. This as well as his lack of points this season might keep the Stars away, but also drives down his cost.
Athanasiou is a guy who would be useful to a cup run this year, but could also be resigned next season depending on who the Stars decide to resign from the current roster. I see Gurianov going the other way to free up cap as well as a 3rd or 4th round pick.
James Van Riemsdyk
This guy is kind of a wild card. JVR has just recently returned to the Flyers lineup after fracturing a finger in late October. This injury caused him to miss the entirety of the month of November. JVR also fits the profile for the type of player that Nill likes to add as loaners. He is a veteran guy that can really add a scoring punch to the Stars second line.
His recent injury adds some risk to the deal if he is not fully recovered, but the longer he plays, the less risky it is and the more likely that his trade value will go up. He is also on a Philly roster that has struggled to score goals this year, but he remains consistent in his production. Moving him to a line with Marchment and Seguin would only cause his point totals to go up.
Van Riemsdyk has a higher cap hit so the Flyers will most likely have to take one of the Stars bad contracts and retain some of his salary. For that the Stars would likely give up a 2nd or 3rd round pick as well as 2 of our prospects (not including Johnston, Stankover, Borque). We could also see them flip it and take 2 picks and 1 prospect. Either way, this is a trade that you would not be willing to give up Borque for.
Wrap it Up
The Stars need to add a good forward if they want to make a push for the cup. They are in the upper echelon of teams in the league, but a late addition could put them over the edge into the cup contender category. If the Stars want to win the cup this year, they need to buy.
