Staal's Unite in Dallas
The Dallas Stars have aquired Staal. No, you're not suffering from Deja Vu, this time it's not the prospect Jordan, but his slightly older and already proven to be franchise center, Eric Staal. The deal with the Panthers involved 7 players changing teams with both teams picking up franchise calibre players.
The Stars had to let go of young, future superstar goaltender Kari Lehtonen, young stud defenseman Rostislav Klesla and super defender Peter Schaefer as well as a great young prospect in Jarkko Immonen.
In return, the Stars recieved the best and youngest player in the deal, Eric Staal, as well as a great proven goaltender in Patrick Lalime and a solid defender, Jassen Cullimore. The Stars also recieved an undisclosed amount of cash in the deal.
When told of the news, young Jordan responded, "Mark's coming here? Cool. What?...Eric? Holy $@%&, that's awesome. I can't wait to line up with him, I just hope we both remain members of the Stars long enough to get that chance!"
Stars GM, Ryan, had this to say about the deal, "We realize we gave up 3 great players to make this deal and wish them all the best in Florida, but the reason we drafted Jordan is because we so greatly admire Eric's talent and drive, and wanted that kind of player in our organization. So, when the opportunity came about to land Eric, a guy we feel can carry this team for many years to come, we did what we had to to put him in a Stars uniform. As for Lalime, he's a great goalie, and given a fresh start in a new environment we feel he's going to regain his top form and remind everyone why he was considered a #1. He has consistently put up impressive numbers in the CPHL and we fully expect that to continue."
With that, the Stars have added a big boost to their scoring ability while taking a bit of a bite on defense. Their goaltending has improved slightly for the time being, but as for how long that will last is yet to be seen.
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