Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars worked all weekend to get ready for Wednesday. Now, with the Seattle Kraken expansion draft bearing down on us like a...really big thing that, you know, bears down...it’s nearly time to find out where the rubber will meet the road. Wes, Tyler and Mark read the maps and sat down for a long discussion about where all this is headed. In this episode, we contemplate questions like these: Is the Miro Heiskanen extension great, or the greatest? Was the Jason Dickinson trade the best move possible, or did it open up an entire can of unintended consequences? Shall we talk about the fallacy inherent in the notion of “losing a player for nothing”? ...And, while we’re at it, about the tendency of many front offices to galaxy-brain themselves into worse positions than they might have been in if they’d done nothing? Did Ben Bishop just become the player most likely to end up in a Kraken sweater? How badly could that end up for Dallas – or, conversely, for Seattle? Can the Kraken close the loop that will allow them to take, and keep, Jamie Oleksiak? And how much better would Seth Jones have to be to consider ditching John Klingberg for him? What would you give up to get more size and grit? Think before you answer. This is Stargazing. Be part of the next podcast: Post your puck questions in the comments, or find us @WesALawrence and @KETibbetts. 

Stargazing: A Big D Puckcast | Defending Big D

Episode 139: Expansion Draft 2021 Edition

There’s been a rich combo of excitement and apprehension concerning the 2021-22 season in the Dallas Stars fanbase. But how much have you thought about how full seasons in the feeder leagues can change the team’s destiny? We love our prospect talk here at DBD, so we made sure to get two of the best at it for this edition of Armchair GM. Guest host Mark Zimmerman spent more than an hour with DBD and FC Hockey prospect guru Derek Neumeier, as well as Stephen Meserve, the mind behind the go-to Texas Stars source 100 Degree Hockey. You can hear the results now. Note: We recorded this podcast before yesterday’s big news about Ben Bishop. However, some of the Stars’ most pressing goaltending issues will still be there – indeed, they may be exacerbated – if the Seattle Kraken scarf up Big Ben. With that said, here’s what you can expect from this episode: No matter what happens in the NHL expansion draft, the Stars have supply issues in net – how do they solve them? Could the organization benefit from a Mike McKenna type, if not Mike McKenna himself? How do you feel about veteran depth – and are the Texas Stars suffering from not enough of it? Is Thomas Harley everything fans have built him up to be – and what will he need to succeed with the big team? How will Maxime Fortunus’ new role in Cedar Park affect the blueline pipeline? Who’s the best defender you aren’t talking about – and who gets the first call-up in 2021-22? What are the odds Riley Damiani gets 20 NHL games next season? Can Adam Mascherin force his way into the big squad’s forward corps? How close is Ty Dellandrea to becoming an everyday NHL’er? Can you really have too many bottom-six players – and how do they carve out a role? Which of the Stars’ European players should you be watching more closely? How many of the team’s issues are really leaguewide issues? How will the return of full seasons in the AHL help solve them? And what do you have to do in Jim Nill’s organization not to get a qualifying offer? No one likes plus-minus as a stat, but sometimes it’s all you have. Let’s get into that. This is Stargazing. Hey you! Want to be part of the next podcast? Post your puck questions in the comments, or find us @WesALawrence and @KETibbetts.

Episode 138: Armchair GM - The Prospect Podcast

The postseason is officially here! Are you ready for the rollercoaster that lies ahead? We can only hope the Dallas Stars are, too – and therein lies the discourse. In our second installment of Armchair GM, David and Mark center on centers, and wingers, and scoring lines. In this episode: Key injuries probably kept the Stars out of the playoffs in 2021 – but will their system keep them out in 2022? How do they get better at overtime? Which Cedar Park prospects might be ready for their Jason Robertson moment? He’s AHL rookie of the year – but will reigning Garrett Memorial Award winner Riley Damiani turn out more like Mikko Rantanen or Curtis McKenzie? Is the UFA everyone wants the UFA who can have the biggest impact? Can the hefty supply of left wingers in the 2021 UFA class give the Stars some key options in case Jamie Benn is set to become a full-time center? Can the team finally solve the puzzle of putting complementary players together? Will Denis Gurianov get his groove back if they do? Can they at least put together a fourth line that makes sense? And what of Joel “The Junk Man” Kiviranta? Has “I like where we’re at” become Jim Nill’s version of “Mission Accomplished”? Tell us what you really think. You’re at Stargazing. Want to be part of the next podcast? Post your puck questions in the comments or at Defending Big D, or find us @WesALawrence and @KETibbetts. 

Episode 137: Armchair GM - Forward Edition

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Episode 136: Armchair GM Edition

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Episode 135: What Is And What Should Never Be

The NHL silly season is rolling up on us like a big, slow, heavy rolling thing. And while nothing particularly interesting is happening for at Defending Big D - or find us @WesALawrence and @KETibbetts. And hear Stargazing before anyone else by subscribing for free at our Podbean site, iTunes, Google, Amazon, or wherever you find your favorite casts.

Episode 134: Defense And Big D

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Episode 133: Process And Product

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Episode 132: Postseason Inventory

It’s not really saying the quiet part out loud to observe that the Dallas Stars’ season is all but over. Their fortunes and struggles have sealed their fate, and its final dispensation is now to be decided largely by other teams. The battle has been fierce, but at this point it’s futile. Wes and Taylor took a heaping dose of humanity and sat down to review the past and look to the future. Here’s their #Disco playlist for this episode: a timely review of the obstacles strewn through the Stars’ season, how the absence of a high-end chaos agent like Alexander Radulov has affected their play, the Stanley Cup playoffs window, and where it opens and closes, the struggle to integrate new pieces into the core, how load management can help keep Jamie Benn productive, how the front office can keep the band together in the offseason, and how the expansion draft can still upend their plans. So what have you spoken into existence today? No judgment here – this is Stargazing. Just don’t come to us for pronunciation help. But hey, it’s never too late to be part of the next cast. Post your puck questions in the comments, or find us @WesALawrence and @KETibbetts.

Episode 131: Young Hearts Run Free

The Dallas Stars have three games and only two points in the bag so far this week. But Saturday’s road war with the Nashville Predators gives them a shot at that ever-so-precious four-point swing against their closest #Disco rivals. Will they get the bounce, or will the bounce get them? The only way to find out is to keep on dancing. Wes and Mark sat down for a heart-to-heart after the latest Tampa Bay Lightning shutout, and the result is the Stargazing in front of you. In this edition: How much of their destiny can the Stars control? Is the schedule their biggest opponent right now? Will Tyler Seguin, and a possible return to high-event hockey, arrive in time to make a difference? Can Joel Kiviranta help goose the scoring in the meantime? Can Jamie Benn keep up the pace – and can the team see a future for him at center? What will the forward lines look like for the rest of this race? And what does the future hold for the Stars’ pending free agents? (Jamie Oleksiak, looking at you.) It’s time to get aggressive. It’s time for a meeting with the latest episode of Stargazing. (Yowzah, yowzah, yowzah.) Want to be part of our next sit-down? Post your puck questions in the comments or at Defending Big D, or find us @WesALawrence and @KETibbetts. 

Episode 130: Keep On Dancing

The Dallas Stars have made it through yet another impossible COVID-compressed string of games, and they came out the other side with...hope? Is that what we’re experiencing?... But the Victory Green Gang has to keep moving through the #Disco if they want to make the biggest dance of all. Wes and Logan take a moment to measure how far they’ve come – and that crucial distance that remains. In this episode: How did the Victory Green Gang fare during this particular stretch of four games in six nights? How can they stay the course in a tough schedule that includes division leaders like the Carolina Hurricanes and the Tampa Bay Lightning...as well as their closest rivals, the Nashville Predators? Can even a portion of Tyler Seguin be fuel enough to propel them successfully through the obstacle course ahead? Will Segs’ skill set help change the Stars’ overtime fortunes in particular? With John Klingberg missing minutes and Miro Heiskanen on the game-time decision list, can the defense hold up against attrition? How well do the Stars manage a training room that often looks more like a M*A*S*H unit? How can Jason Robertson’s case for the Calder Trophy become even more emphatic? And who will be the real hero of Helm’s Deep? All this, and a surprise ending, are yours in this edition of Stargazing. Buckle up. Be part of the next Stargazing! Post your puck questions in the comments or at Defending Big D – or find us @WesALawrence and @KETibbetts.

Episode 129: Don't Stop The Music

We we started recording last night’s Stargazing, the Chicago Blackhawks were down 4-1 to the Nashville Predators in the third period. Life moves pretty fast, as the philosopher once observed, and the Preds’ reversal of fortune is now a matter of fairly brutal public record. It only takes a minute – well, a few great games – for a season to change. And now that everything’s a playoff series, the Dallas Stars have been living the upside of that. Can it last? Wes, Rob and Mark got together to examine the case. In this edition: Can the Stars’ current goals-for/goals-against recipe keep cooking up victories? With Denis Gurianov finding a couple of new gears, can the team keep rolling at least two dangerous scoring lines? Do they play better when they’re playing desperate? Is it even possible to overestimate the impact of Jason Robertson? What can the Victory Green Gang expect when Tyler Seguin returns from his long hiatus? Does the Jamie Oleksiak-Miro Heiskanen pair mean the Stars have a legitimate top four? And will they get any help at all from the schedule – or their direct competitors? What’s your position on coaching?... You might pay big money to know what you really think – but Stargazing is always free. Be part of the next Stargazing! Post your puck questions in the comments, or find us @WesALawrence, @LoganStarkChel and @KETibbetts. 

Episode 128: It Only Takes A Minute

The Dallas Stars can’t win a Stanley Cup playoffs spot in the next six games. However, they can lose one. It will all come down to whether they can shake off whatever bad mojo they’re dealing with and make that move to shut down the suffering Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings. But honest-to-Pete elites Ben Bishop and Alexander Radulov are done for the season, and depth defender Sami Vatanen was the Stars’ only NHL trade deadline acquisition. Do they have enough left in the tank to scoop up at least nine of the next 12 available points? It’s a honest question. Wes Lawrence and Rob McClay put their heads together and searched for clues as to how much #Disco the Victory Green Gang can muster. In this episode: How will the confirmed losses of Bish and Rads affect the Stars’ home-stretch hopes? Under the circumstances, should they have shut down Tyler Seguin while they were at it? Leaving out the disappointment of not getting a top-six scorer at the TDL, is Vatanen...actually a pretty good get? Is it wrong to be glad they didn’t trade Jamie Oleksiak for that scoring help? How soon will Jake Oettinger go from being the Stars’ future in net to just being the star, in net? And how much better or worse off could the team be if Rick Bowness took the leash off Denis Gurianov and let him run amok? All this, and the return of The Predictions Game, are here for you in the latest edition of Stargazing. (That’s right. Settle down.) You, too, can be part of the next Stargazing! Post your puck questions in the comments, at Defending Big D, or @WesALawrence, @LoganStarkChel and @KETibbetts.

Episode 127: Make That Move

The Texas Stars head coach Neil Graham the big team’s next breakout homegrown prospect? And what the heck is wrong with a league that can’t find space for pure offensive players? Do you ever think you just need to talk more crap about your favorite players to get them going? You’re among friends here. And you can also be part of the next Stargazing. Post your puck questions in the comments, at Defending Big D, or with @WesALawrence, @LoganStarkChel and @KETibbetts. 

Episode 126: The Big Trade Deadline Cast

If you look too hard at the standings, you might miss one of the truly hopeful facets of the Dallas Stars’ season to date. That’s the bumper crop of defensive depth blossoming everywhere in the organization, from Thomas Harley to Ben Gleason. Mark Z sits in as Wes’ special guest to discuss what’s going on all over the Stars organization. On the menu: Are Miro Heiskanen and Jamie Oleksiak too similar to be complementary? Is Joel Hanley a secret weapon hiding in plain sight? Is the Stars’ best life happening right now – only it’s in Cedar Park, and the Texas Stars are the ones living it? And what if the Stars do trade John Klingberg? (After all, Klingberg is Klingberg, but a trade could be anything. Maybe even a Klingberg!) All this, and the return of Obi-Honka-Nobi – can you really afford to miss this edition of Stargazing? We think not. Don’t forget to be part of the next Stargazing! Post your puck questions in the comments, or find us @WesALawrence, @LoganStarkChel and @KETibbetts.

Episode 125: Turn The Beat Around

From Defending Big D at SB Nation: Dallas Stars news, opinion, and everything you love about the South's most popular NHL franchise.

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Stargazing: A Big D Puckcast | Defending Big D

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