Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk speaks with media at the first intermission of Wednesday night's Stars/Red Wings game. (Photo Credit: Dallas Stars)
Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk took time to address the media during the 1st intermission of the Dallas Stars/Detroit Red Wings game at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night. He talked a little bit about the new six-year deal the Stars have given defenseman Trevor Daley, as well as contract negotiations with center Brad Richards, who will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2011. Here are some of the things he had to say:
“I’ve said all along that I want to sign Brad Richards and we’re going to do what we can to make that happen, and that’s all I can tell you.”
Regarding the upcoming negotiations with Richards and how he feels it will go:
“I’m sure it will be a difficult one. Brad Richards has put himself in a position to be the number one free agent in July, that’s not a secret. I certainly feel he enjoys playing here. In fact I know he does. We’ve had good communication over the last two years. I know he likes playing with those young kids, and we want him to be a part of our core. We’re identifying people that we think can be a core for a long period of time here in Dallas and we feel like Brad is one of those guys.”
When asked about the lender situation and whether or not the Stars have the ability/financial freedom to go out and sign a big free agent like Brad Richards, Nieuwendyk mentioned Tony Tavares’ role in things. Although no formal announcement has been made, it seems like the Stars do indeed have Tavares helping them out with financial proceedings. No word was given whether or not this will be made formal any time soon.
Here is what he had to say about Tavares and the negotiations:
“I think that’s part of having Tony Tavares on board, is that we’ve been given the authority to talk to both of those players we have (Daley and Richards). It went rather smoothly with Trevor, who I think is an important part of the defense crew, and now we’ll switch our attention to Brad.”
Regarding the lender’s stance on things:
“They like what we’re doing. They like what they see here with us in Dallas. They’ve given us the green light to go ahead and negotiate with these guys.”
“We simply ask the question – ‘can we do this?’ And we get the blessing, so we do this.”
Finally, he also talked about Daley’s new deal and how he felt it made sense to lock him up long-term:
“I think we’ve all known Trevor a long time and I think his game is suited for the way the league is going with puck moving, mobile defenseman. And he’s probably our best one at doing those sort of things. I think it’s an important piece for us. If we look at the potential UFA defensemen coming up this summer, I think Trevor stacks up very favorable against them. When you compare that to some of the recent signings like (Calgary defenseman Mark) Giordano and some of these other contracts, I think we’re pleased that we got him at the dollar that we got him at.”
“I think I’ve seen growth in his game, certainly in the last month and a half, but over the year and a half I’ve been here now. And he’s going to make strides. He’s at an age – 27 – where a lot of things are falling into place in his life. You always know what you have. The scary thing is not knowing what you could potentially bring in. We could have waited until July 1st and went out into the UFA market. But, like I said before, Trevor stacks up very favorably against those guys and I think the dollar makes sense.”
