This is a continuation of a on-going “what if” series I am doing about the Stars upcoming season.  If you haven’t already read An Introduction: Stars Fantasy Season 2009-10, please do before reading on.  And, please, tell me what you think!

As July 1st dawned, and with nearly 14 million dollars of cap space burning a hole in my pocket, I went right out and made my first move as the new General Manager of the Dallas Stars.  I signed….a backup netminder (Something the Stars might have been well-off to do today in real life, but I digress…).  Yes, it lacked the splash of a big-name signing, but it was an important move, nonetheless.  I brought Manny Fernandez back to the Dallas Stars with a 3-year, $6.45M contract.  A bit pricey, yes, but it also protects the Stars should they need someone to step up into the main role if the younger players aren’t ready next season and Turco decides to move on.  I was thinking big picture, for sure.

The Fernandez signing was the only signing on the first day of free agency.  A far cry from how things went down today, isn’t it?  Over the next few days, a few “smaller fish” made signings, but no big names.  It appeared that agents wanted to see what was available from all the clubs.  On July 4th, the Stars made it known that they were serious about competing in the Western Conference:  they signed Jay Bouwmeester to a 6-year, 40.2M contract ($6.7M annually).  This filled a major need on defense, and as the GM had permission to spend to the cap…why not get the best guy at the spot?  But, the Stars weren’t done.

As you may remember, Modano had retired, and so there was a need at center.  The top two lines were well taken care of, but the third line still needed someone to produce.  I wanted to field a team that had three solid lines on the ice every night, and we needed another strong center to do that.  On July 6th, the Stars announced they had signed Joe Sakic to a 2-year, $9.5M contract ($4.5M annually).  After rounding out the signings by getting Kyle Calder (2 years, $2.55M total), who is a solid journeyman/grinder, I had a roster I was happy with.  This was a team I *knew* could compete with anyone in the NHL, as long as the chemistry stuck.  That would remain to be seen, obviously.  So, I give to you the 2009-10 SFS Dallas Stars:

• 1st Line:  Loui Eriksson – Joe Sakic – Fabian Brunnström
• 2nd Line:  Brenden Morrow – Mike Ribeiro – James Neal
• 3rd Line:  Kyle Calder – Brad Richards – Jere Lehtinen
• 4th Line:  Brian Sutherby – Toby Petersen – Krys Barch

• 1st D Pairing:  Trevor Daley – Jay Bouwmeester
• 2nd D Pairing:  Stéphane Robidas – Mark Fistric
• 3rd D Pairing:  Darryl Sydor – Matt Niskanen

• Goaltenders:  Marty Turco – Manny Fernandez

Here’s the deal.  I’m a very big fan of EA Sports NHL franchise.  Last season’s offering, NHL 09, was by certainly their best so far, and I dug in deep with a big spoon!  Let’s just say that Ben Ellis is doing very well in his third pro season with the Dallas Stars, after capturing the Calder Trophy and back-to-back Stanley Cup (it’s the second one that is sweetest, so far).  Why not live out fantasies, right?

But, as I was playing, it made me wonder:  With things as they are and players where they are (the last week’s trades aside), how would I handle things as the GM of the Stars, and not as a player at all?  What moves would I make at the draft, and what free agency moves would I make?  Would the team I put on the ice be capable of winning the cup this season?

I decided to make use of the Franchise function on the game, and play through the entire 2009-10 season, using the “sim” function of all the games, so my play does not affect the outcome of the games.  To keep rosters as true to their original as possible, I brought all rosters to their current state (as of a week ago) and then ruled out all CPU trades.  I simulated the 2008-09 season as such, trying to keep the rosters as accurate as possible.  Aside from a few moves the computer made by waiving players and picking up players off of waivers, it was relatively accurate.  I was now at the end of this past season, and ready to start the experiment I’m calling Stars Fantasy Season 2009-10 (or, SFS0910 for short).

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We’ll start off with the basics.  The Salary Cap numbers for the 2009-10 Season (something that is out of my hand to control in this game, btw) were as follows:

• Maximum Salary Cap:      $57.35 million
• Minimum Salary Cap:       $41.35 million
• Max. Player Salary Cap:   $11.45 million
• Min. Player Salary Cap:   $0.475 million
• Min. Rookie Salary Cap:  $0.875 million

I’ll list the players who retired this season as well, as it obviously might impact signings/trades/etc.  But, I’ll tell you up front of the biggest news in this league:  Mike Modano does not play the 2009-10 season, instead deciding to retire after 20 years with the Stars.  While sad for the Stars franchise, it does free up some room under the cap, and that can be helpful come free agency time.  Here is the complete list of all the players to retire, along with their final team – feel free to skip it if you’d like:

Skaters:

• C. Chelios – Detroit
• M. Recchi – Boston
• J. Roenick – San Jose
• M. Modano – Dallas
• B. Holik – New Jersey
• M. Gelinas – F/A
• K. Draper – Detroit
• B. May – Toronto
• K. Carney – F/A
• D. Brashear – Washington
• D. Tucker – Colorado
• S. Hill – F/A
• Y. Perreault – F/A
• M. Knuble – Philadelphia
• R. Matvichuck – F/A
• A. Eriksson – Calgary
• J. Klemm – F/A
• K. Timonen – Philadelphia
• A. Miller – F/A
• A. Zyuzin – F/A
• I. Moran – F/A
• S. Bates – F/A
• D. Tarnstrom – F/A
• M. Keane – F/A
• B. Muir – F/A
• M. Mowers – F/A
• J. Perreault – F/A
• D. Winnik – F/A
• B. Helmer – Washington
• M. Johansson – F/A
• M. Popovic – F/A
• S. Barney – F/A
• D. Smith – F/A
• J. Ryznar – F/A
• M. Pandolfo – F/A
• E. Healey – F/A
• T. Maki – F/A
• J. Engel – F/A
• B. McGuirk – F/A
• M. Gabinet – F/A
• R. Klinkhammer – F/A
• J. Tremblay – F/A
• B. Robins – F/A
• P. Zingoni
• T. Ramsey – F/A
• O. Labelle – F/A
• P. Crosty – F/A
• P. Rheaume – F/A
• M. McCutcheon – F/A
• T. Trevelyan – F/A
• T. Hrkac – F/A
• M. Love – F/A
• B. Sugden – F/A
• E. Graham – F/A
• D. Cullen – F/A
• B. Elliott – F/A
• C. Keith – F/A
• V. Uchevatov – F/A
• M. Sgroi – F/A
• C. Ferraro – F/A
• S. Hynes – F/A
• D. Laliberte – F/A

Goalies:

• C. Joseph – Ottawa
• M. Legace – St. Louis
• W. Flaherty – Buffalo
• M. Mole – F/A

Some big names hung up their skate, in SFS0910, but none bigger (in my opinion) than Mike Modano.  Obviously, he will most likely call it quits after this upcoming season anyway, but in this free agency market, that extra money can come in handy to a GM.  Especially when, in this world, I can happily spend to the cap, as the Dallas franchise has been strong and gets good attendance and market presence.  But first, the Draft.

Going into the draft, I was in the same position Joe Nieuwendyk was in when he went to Montreal.  Plenty of depth on the team, plenty of depth in the minors.  There was no “screaming” need that I had to address in the draft.  So, I could focus on the best player.  One difference, though, was that the Stars held the 17th overall pick after their fantasy finish from the previous season.  Quite a difference, but not much I could do in that regard.  I still could take the best player available at that time.  Also, I wanted to go out and get a defenseman.  I knew that I would probably address that in the second or third round.

Obviously, the names are quite different than any “actual” player that was draft-eligible in real life.  But, I’ve included a description of the player from his stats.  Here is how the draft shook out for the Stars in SFS0910:

• Pick #17 – Jeff Tarnasky, Center, Canada.  20 y.o., 5’11″, 175lbs, left-handed.  Highly-athletic center with very good offensive ability.  Strong passer and shooter, and not a defensive liability.
• Pick #47 – Neil Nichol, Defenseman, USA.  18 y.o., 6’2″, 213lbs, right-handed.  Tough, physical defenseman with above-average speed and endurance.  Aggressive style of play.  Has a booming slap-shot.
• Pick #77 – Ryan Linden, Right Wing, Switzerland.  20 y.o., 5’10″, 205lbs, right-handed.  Good endurance, strong in the face-off circle.  Good defensive awareness.  Lots of potential.
• Pick #107 – Trevor Evans, Goaltender, Canada.  18 y.o., 6’2″, 180lbs, left-handed.  Great speed and puck-handling.  Needs some work on fundamentals, but could be very solid.  Scouted potential rating was A-.
• Pick #137 – Doug Kilger, Center, Austria.  19 y.o., 5’9″, 177lbs, left-handed.  Strong, tough kid.  A little slow, but steady on his skates.  Decent wrist-shot.

I was pretty happy with that draft.  Getting Tarnasky allowed the Stars to develop another center for the following season (probably not ready for this year), without putting out big money in Free Agency at that spot.  The same with the defenseman, Nichol.  Bright future, but no need to rush the kid along.  Trevor Evans was also a good signing in the net, but he’ll probably need a year or two to come along.  So, that would require the Stars seek a backup goalie through FA.

In the days leading up to Free Agency, we went through the process of talking with potential free agents, and I was able to sign all 5 draftees to 3-year rookie contracts.  I signed all potential Stars free agents with the exception of Brendan Morrison, who felt he wasn’t getting enough minutes in Dallas (you have to love the realism the game gives you with these reasoned decisions) and Sergei Zubov, who wanted more money than I was willing to offer him (1 year at $4M).  Here are the signings before July 1st:

• Trevor Evans, goaltender – 3 years, $0.65M/year
• Jere Lehtinen, right wing – 2 years, $3.2M/year
• Mark Fistric, defenseman – 3 years, $2.1M/year
• Jeff Tarnasky, center – 3 years, 0.875M/year
• Chris Conner, right wing – 2 years, $0.475M/year
• Ryan Linden, right wing – 3 years, $0.7M/year
• Neil Nichol, defenseman – 3 years, $0.6M/year
• Doug Kilger, center, 3 years, $0.6M/year
• Darryl Sydor, defenseman, 1 year, $2M/year

And with that, the signings were complete until July 1st, and free agency truly began.  Now, with the way the salary cap sat in the game, after these signings, the Stars were still under $43M for the year.  Which means, going into the open market, we had over $14M available for players this year.  Who would you focus on with that kind of money?  What decisions would YOU make?  Leave a comment and let me know!  I’ll tell you who I went with tomorrow!