Couple of big items to touch on. First off here's a recap of the morning skate....

http://starsinsideedge.com/2013/01/2...gr-in-roy-out/

First off the Stars are still waiting on Jamie's work visa. Given how slowly the US government works, they should have that by, oh, November. They have until 5 pm eastern to get it done so he can play tonight. Keep ya posted on any news there.

Second Derek Roy and his wonky groin did not make the trip to Columbus and is officially out for tonight. Not looking good for his availability tomorrow night in Detroit either.

Lastly Jagr will be back tonight after his bout with back problems. So with Roy out, and Jagr back, if Benn's paperwork gets sorted out in time will get to see the top line together for the first time this season.

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Well good news wasn't long in coming. It's being reported by the Stars and Mark Stepneski that Benn's paperwork is done. He will be making his season debut tonight in Columbus.

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Sorry guys there won't be a recap of last night's game due to a massive brain cramp. Forgot to double check that I set the DVR before I left for work. Got home this morning all set to unwind and watch the game over breakfast, and bam, no game on the DVR.

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You're fired.

No worries man - you've been doing a great job.

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As a peace offering I give you guys this excellent article on Brenden Morrow by Mike Heika.....

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/2013...s-lineup.html/

Done in Big D or done period? Discuss.....



(I'll join the discussion later, off to Drs appointment then back to bed)

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Couple of quick notes and then I'll offer my thoughts on that Morrow article.

First is Lehtonen will be getting the start tonight and not Bachman. Bit of a surprise there, but then again Kari got the start and the win against the Wings last Tuesday, also in Detroit.

Second is there was no morning skate as weather issues forced the team to stay in Columbus overnight and then fly into Detroit today. It's shaping up as a theme for the Stars when they're in that neck of the woods. Got stuck in Detroit last Tuesday night, wound up leaving a day late and missing a day of practice. The got back to Dallas late on Wednesday then came out flat against Chicago the following night. Doesn't bode well when they're on the road in the dreaded second half of a back-to-back against the Wings.

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Let's look at that article on two fronts here, the fantasy front, and the real NHL.

Fantasy-

I've been fairly vocal on here in support of Brenden as a great sleeper pick late in drafts. I expected him to bounce back strong this year and show he's still got plenty left to offer fantasy GM's. I backed those words with action, taking him late in every one of my three one-year leagues. So far that faith and belief hasn't translated to results.

At this point he's not really an option in most leagues. If your in a deep league (16+ teams) with a four or five man bench, that tracks Hits and PIM, he may be worth stashing to see if things turn around or if he gets dealt elsewhere, though I think a trade isn't likely as I'll lay out in the next segment. In most leagues though I think he's safe to drop at the moment until he shows signs of picking it up again if your needing help elsewhere.

Line combos have been fluid so far in Dallas, so it's possible that he could work himself back up or get a chance to do that through others struggles or injuries. With those things in mind if you do drop him, I'd watch things closely and if he starts getting more ice time and better opportunities be ready to snatch him back up. I really believe he still has something to offer fantasy GM's but he's not going to show it with the current arrangement in Big D.

Real world NHL-

Nieuwy has said in the not too distant past that he has no interest in moving Brenden. This is also the same guy who has not hesitated to move long time fixtures, icons, fan favorites. If he'll move Mr. Dallas Stars himself, plus Otter, Ribs, etc, is Morrow really safe?

He would seem a likely trade piece. What Cup contender wouldn't mind a gritty net front presence, who can dish out the pain, isn't afraid of the rough stuff, and has leadership. The thing is with him buried on the fourth line, not getting a chance to prove everything he can still do and that there is gas in the tank his trade value isn't nearly what it could or should be.

But what if he did get that opportunity, say through injury or ineffectiveness, and he did start posting good numbers? Should they move him if they are out of contention? Who steps up into his role as Captain, leader, and mentor?

Loui and Robi are the current alternates, but would either one make sense as the captain? Robidas is getting on in years so it doesn't make sense to give him the role. Is Loui the man, maybe, maybe not. Really the one would be Benn. He's the new face of the franchise, has his shiny new contract, and should move into that job eventually. But is he ready to be that leader yet?

The mentor role. For now they Stars have plenty there with Jagr, Whitney, and Morrow which is good considering the pack of talent warming up in Austin and elsewhere. But Jagr and Whitney aren't going to be around that much longer. A couple of more years each tops. A lot of that talent won't be there in time to benefit from those two, but Morrow could be.

So what do we glean from that train of thought? Should Morrow continue to be untouchable in the near term? Or is it time to be bold and move him out for a veteran piece of two, namely defensemen and elevate guys like Benn and Eriksson to those roles Morrow has filled?

This short season makes waiting to deal a bit trickier as you don't have as long to showcase a player for potential suitors. If a player is struggling or, in this case buried where he can't shine, your not going to get the best value if you did decide to move. In Brenden's case, with the what-have-you-done-lately mentality of pro sports, his value isn't the best.

In this case I think the wise thing is holding onto Morrow for this season and trying to make a play for a free agent defenseman in the offseason. If Joe changes his mind about trading him, wait until next season before shopping him around, unless as I mentioned before injuries or struggling players open up a top six spot for him to strut. Give him a chance to up his value first.

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Very important addendum to that previous post. This shoots holes in the real world portion of my previous post.

I was mistaken in thinking Morrow was signed through next season. He's UFA after this season. Missed that the first time through the article. So now it's down to whether or not Nieuwy believes Brenden can regain his game as much Brenden himself believes he can.

If not, Joe has to move now and gain something, though I do think it would be a good idea to sign him and give him an opportunity to do his thing and up his value, then move him out to a contender if they aren't going to have him finish as a Dallas Star.

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I'm going to switch up the format for these recaps. Doing away with those novel-length writeups and use more of a bullet point type of presentation. So, onward and upward....

-The same recurring issues struck again. Turnovers, bad passes, too many penalties, and defense that looks lost at times. All these things spelled loss once again. The first three can be worked out relatively easily and quickly. The other, well that's going to be a work in progress.

-At one point the defense looked like spectators. Zetts brings the puck into the Dallas zone and four, count 'em four, Stars converged on him. The same thing happened last Tuesday as well. I believe it was Ralph Strangis that opined then that they looked like they wanted front row seats to watch Zetts play. As he also correctly pointed out, great as Zetterberg is, guys there are four other Red Wings on the ice with him, you might want to pay attention to them also. They didn't learn, they did it again last night.

-Tonight's 4-1 loss was the first game all season that wasn't decided by one goal, one way or the other.

-Though they did surrender a goal, the penalty kill continues to look good. On the season they rank 11th in the league at 82.9%. And frankly they should be better than that, they've looked better then that, but they just keep getting put in such bad spots with huge clusters of penalties.

-Speaking of the penalty kill, if your reading this Angus, is it me, or do the Stars seem to be creating better scoring chances shorthanded than when they're on the power play?

-And now that we've broached the subject of the power play. It's early in the going but they currently rank 21st at 16%, versus last season's 30th and 13.5%.

-Loui Eriksson continues his Motown magic with his eighth career goal in 14 games at the Joe. All told #21 has 13 points in those games. Simple plan, when in Detroit just give Loui the damn puck! Well they did tonight, unfortunately he wasn't enough, so maybe something more sophisticated is called for.

That's it for now. I may toss up some more thoughts later, as I'm sure they'll come to me after a couple of beers.

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Was so upset watching this game...really thought this was a great opportunity for the Stars to break out and score a bunch of goals considering the insane advantage they were given in the first period where they spent most of it on the PP.

Felt bad for Lehtonen too. The guy made some truly incredible saves in this game. He was hung out to dry pretty badly by his team IMO.