How Does it Affect the Stars? The Morgan Reilly Suspension, Markstrom to New Jersey drama, and Nashville tonight

Plus a word about the Carolina game. And Nashville tonight.

I was on the Spits and Suds podcast Tuesday night, talking about the Hurricanes game, and I didn’t stress enough the broad positives out of Tuesday’s contest.

Razor used the word farraginous — which refers to a ‘confused mix’ — on the telecast that night. It’s the kind of word Woody Harrelson’s character got after Matthew McConnaughey for using in True Detective; one of those “10-dollar” words that belong in a Merriam-Webster coffin. But it’s fitting for the season Dallas has had. The Stars are a great team. But for the most part it’s felt like great performers propping them up rather than great teamwork coming together to ensure victory. The win over Carolina felt like one of Dallas’ first legit non-farraginous wins. Everyone worked together to ensure victory.

Yes, even the whipping boys, Nils Lundkvist and Ty Dellandrea. It’s tough to frame their performances, however, as anything other than pieces on a chessboard. I want to stress that I am far from an insider. Hell I’m not even a professional. But I often mention Lundkvist and Dellandrea as potential trade pieces because it makes the most logical sense for a team looking to improve their blueline.

Dellandrea, after all, doesn’t have just internal replacements — he has two of Dallas’ best forward prospects behind him. Lundkvist, given how the coaches have perceived him, will be given little to no rope for the playoffs. Jim Nill can’t guarantee wins in the playoffs, but he can guarantee his coaches a roster they don’t have to second-guess when it gets down to the marrow. We did some film room analysis on the best and most likely trade targets to upgrade Dallas’ blueline, and I think when you dig deep into potential targets, the biggest takeaway is that yes, the market sucks and so will the market prices, but the pieces are there to upgrade Dallas’ blueline, and players like Dellandrea or Lundkvist are all that they would cost (well, with a few exceptions).

It’s too bad. Dellandrea will be an everyday NHLer. It just probably won’t be with the Stars. (In a perfect world, Dellandrea would never be playing behind complete non-factors like Radek Faksa to begin with.)

On the more positive front, it’s great to see Jake Oettinger get his groove back, but the player I’ll be paying attention to most is Roope Hintz. He’s having what feels like a career year, and if last year’s postseason was any indication, also key to how far Dallas goes. In fact, as I said on Gavin’s podcast, if the Stars make a real run, there are only two players I think will be serious Conn Smythe material: Dallas’ number one goalie, and their number one center.

Morgan Reilly suspended five games

I know you're probably sick of me prefacing every comment about violence in hockey with "but I love violence!" And hey, I am too. But I want to be able to reach those old school voices who scoff at the segment of hockey fans who feel like an empty net goal is not worth CTE. I'd like to think I'm proof that your attitudes and judgments can be subject to change even as you live in the proximity of barbaric things. What Reilly did to Greig was wrong. Flat out. You can still believe in “the Code” and accept that The Code can be adjusted and updated. Don't like a a young player disrespecting you with an empty goal? You shouldn't. That means you lost. It also means you got punked. Doesn't feel good does it?

Of course not. But metaphysical dominance warrants a metaphysical reaction; not illegal corporal punishment. There's a classic motte and bailey at play in every one of these discussions. Anyone remember Jamal Mayers fumbling his way through a lazy justification for Ryan Hartman high sticking 22-year old Cole Perfetti? These goofy ass talking heads are telling you that we can abandon the law as long as there's order. I love hockey. But this is not a league if we're supposed to normalize Reilly or Hartman's reactions.

Hockey's a physical sport, and I'll be honest — I don't know how much I'd still enjoy the sport if it was ever taken away. But hockey can be fast, physical, and even violent without its players having to worry about getting suckerpunched. That's the part that we should actively discourage. Suckering someone isn’t tough. You’re not “sending a message.” It’s just cowardice.

This kind of stuff bothers me because it’s telling that players like Greig, and Perfetti have been targeted. It’s as if the stricter “the code” gets, the more everyone is subject to its violence, including young players. Dallas has a lot of young players, and it’s annoying to think that Wyatt Johnston, Logan Stankoven, and Mavrik Bourque’s trial-by-fire might include a crosscheck to the head by some meathead who takes the code more seriously than the game. Even if it’s not something they ever have to experience, don’t we want to see players show more personality on the ice?

You could argue what Greig did was a punk move in its own right, but Ottawa and Toronto have a bit of a rivalry. Greig cared about it. The Leafs only cared when Greig did (which is telling, and something even Toronto fans admit is their core’s problem). Beyond that, where do you draw the line between gamesmanship and a John Wickable act? Celebrating too much after a goal? Running up the score? Rather than keep going I’ll just refer to Sean McIndoe’s latest, who did a really good job of rating all the unwritten rules.

Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey? Deal! Just kidding!

Sounds like New Jersey had a deal to get Jacob Markstrom. Then it fell through. Why that happened, I don’t really care. But reading Julian McKenzie’s recent take, it’s clear that the Flames are worried about the optics. Plus, they want to make the playoffs (!). CJ Turtoro, who did some great work back when the Devils had an SB Nation blog, said it best on Twitter.

It's crazy to me that the Flames and Devils couldn't work out a Markstrom trade. The Devils risk missing the playoffs without addressing the goalie situation, and the Flames are lowering their draft slot every time they play him and reducing their return every day they keep him.

Bingo.

The Dallas Stars and Jim Nill don’t have to worry about this kind of silliness, but I do think some similar principles are at play. For Dallas, it’s all about ‘why mess with a good thing’? Why introduce new faces when the old faces have gotten it done, and look like a team ready to play for each other in the postseason? My point is not that Nill won’t do anything — just that he would never replace too much of something, even if all of that something needs to be replaced. In this case I’m referring to two defensemen rather than just one because boy would this blueline look good with Tanev and Gudas.

But I get the human factor. Teams are tight-knit. If you start taking away too many old faces, or introduce too many new ones, if starts to feel like someone is questioning the integrity of the unit.

Nashville tonight

The Stars have Nashville tonight on the road. It’s a bizarre matchup that Dallas still hasn’t quite figured out. And in fairness, Predators coach Andrew Brunette has a much more progressive approach, taking tactical cues from sports beyond just hockey. For more on that I recommend reading Sean Shapiro’s interview with Brunette late December.

Predators coach Andrew Brunette on Pep Guardiola, gegenpress, and trying to find hockey's version of Total Football

Granted, I don’t think “bad matchups” are that big a deal. Plenty of teams for whatever bizarre reason just don’t seem to have it versus certain teams. Less than “styles make fights” it’s more like a punchline for the hockey gods of parity. I just don’t find the Predators beating Dallas terribly instructive. But I do think Nashville is a lowkey unique passing team, and Filip Forsberg is my favorite left winger in hockey.

The Stars are the favorite. The big story will be if their power play can get going, and what — if any — changes might be made (cough, please get Benn on the second unit rather than the top unit, cough).

I posed this question for Gavin, because we know why Benn stays on the top unit: he’s one of the best man advantage faceoff experts in the league, but what say you? What would you rather have? A guaranteed possession (i.e. faceoff win) or a guaranteed scoring chance (i.e. Duchene losing the faceoff but threatening with an entry on the follow-up)? It’s not meant to be rhetorical. I’m genuinely curious.

By the way, don’t forget to say hello to an old friends! No matter what they say abut Denis Gurianov, he’ll always have that one season.

Since I’ve noticed an influx of subscribers, don’t forget to spread the word about the Stack. For those that are curious about the difference between paid and non-paid writing, here’s a full list of all paid posts.

I want to keep the good times rolling, and subscribers help me do that. I’m working on a highlight reel for Stankoven and Bourque — piecing clips of their shooting, playmaking, etc — and I don’t know where I want to post it, but rest assured, I’m working on it!

You noblemen and magistrates make it possible. So once again, thanks!

Editor’s note: This original draft mentioned Cole Perfetti’s “concussion history.” A close contact of Perfetti’s was kind enough to email me and clarify that Perfetti does not have a history of concussions, nor has he had one.