A Few Notes from Around the NHL

Alexei Yashin, who spent the season in Russia after his inflated contract was bought out by the Islanders, appears to be heading back to the NHL. He was league MVP in Russia putting up 43 points in 56 games so it could be interesting to see if he returns. He was quite productive at times during his career, but his attitude and level of commitment were always questioned and who would be willing to give the 35 year old another shot….and how much does he want? Apparently the Canadiens and the Wild, each looking to upgrade their offense, are both interested. However, if someone wants him they’ll have to go after him pretty quickly as by the time July 1^st rolls around he’ll already be committed to his team in Russia.

Sounds like the Penguins will not make a serious attempt to re-sign Marian Hossa for fear that it would eventually cost them Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal or Marc-Andre Fleury. Bruins and Canadiens, both of which made a big push at the deadline to get him, are the most likely of suitors. However, if Scott Niedermeyer retires perhaps the Ducks will have the cash to get Corey Perry locked up to a long-term deal and bolster their offense…they certainly have the need.

Wade Redden hasn’t received a contract offer from the Senators and will almost certainly be a free agent come July 1^st.

According to a Toronto newspaper it appears that the interim Toronto GM may not be so interim as they are reporting that he will stick around for one more year in that role. “One more year” makes me feel like they already have a target in mind but need to hold out for a year……HMMMMM wonder who that would be *cough* Burke* *cough*.

Dan Ellis stands to get a hefty raise after his performance in the first round where he almost singlehandedly beat the Red Wings. He is in discussion with the Preds who also have Chris Mason under contract and are paying him top goaltender money. Signing Ellis makes me feel as though they'd want to deal Mason.

Ottawa newspaper claims that while the Sens would love to unload Ray Emery in a trade, no one has shown any real interest. This leaves the team with one option: buy out the remainder of his contract for 1/3 of the total amount, which would make him an unrestricted free agent. If that happens, someone has to sign him and take a chance that the young, erratic goaltender could return to the form that had him lead the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals last season.

Rumors about Brian Gionta being on the tradeblock as the Devils hope to get tougher overall and improve their offense. This is not the first time his name has come up and they desperately need a center as Patrick Elias is more comfortable on the left wing.

Olaf Kolzig packed up his stuff, removed his name tag and missed all the following team meetings after the Caps lost in game seven to the Flyers and appears to be heading into free agency and into a season with only the second team in his career. This means that the Caps need a goalie and after Cristobal Huet’s performance down the stretch he seems to be a no-brainer. Apparently, he’d like to stay in Washington as well. Also, Sergei Fedorov will get a contract offer from the Caps if he still wants to play.

Third Verse Same as the First in Buffalo

Buffalo Sabres fans have taken a beating over the last 12 months. They watched the Sabres stumble in the playoffs and then waived good to their top pivot Daniel Briere before watching their heart and soul leader Chris Drury follow suit. Now, it appears that fans will be on the verge of a mutiny as they will have to suffer through another loss. It appears to be almost certain that Brian Campbell, an extremely talented smooth skating defenseman who has been the leader of the defensive corps for the last few seasons, will be finding a new home after failing to reach a new deal with the Sabres. Campbell stands to become an unrestricted free agent in the off-season and at 28 he's in the prime of his career and exactly the kind of defenseman that teams cherish in the "new NHL." Campbell is on pace for a career year as he has 43 points through 62 games and Buffalo didn't appear to want to pay him his due. Now, I have no access to the inner-workings of a deal like this but I can't imagine how any of the leaders in Buffalo could allow this to happen yet again. They've truly struggled without Briere and Drury, Thomas Vanek has been a shadow of himself without them, and now they're willing to lose the kind of defenseman that every team wants. Campbell was reportedly willing to accept a hometown discount to stay in Buffalo, but they could not come to terms and if there's one thing that powers-that-be have learned in Buffalo, it's that allowing a top player to walk for nothing in return is equally as foolish as failing to retain them in the first place.

UPDATE: Sabres trade Brian Campbell to the San Jose Sharks for a 1st round draft pick and Steve Bernier. Buffalo fans, my apologies and your GM deserves to be fired. San Jose Sharks AGAIN benefit from an incredibly timed trade.

Tanguay to Stay

After weeks of speculation and even public acknowledgment of said speculation, the Flames have announced that they do not intend to trade the suddenly surging Alex Tanguay. The Flames need to free up some cap space to re-sign key free agents so most assumed that they would do that by sending Tanguay and his $5 million + salary out the door but it appears that is not the case which is smart on Darryl Sutter's part. Tanguay has a year left on his three year deal which includes a no-trade clause so any deal would have had to have 28 year old winger's stamp of approval. The question now is, will they trade Kristian Huselius, who's mired in a lengthy goal scoring slump, instead?

Foppa Returns

So I write this relatively lengthy entry about how great Forsberg is and how sad I am that we'll most likely never see him play again and today it was announced that not only is he back, he's gone back to play for his original team the Colorado Avalanche. No details on the length of the contract, but he is officially back. While I'm quite excited to see the man known as Foppa back on the ice and hopefully embarrassing people like Ryan Whitney (read my previous post), I'm surprised to see him go back to a team that is struggling to even make the playoffs much less compete for the Cup. While I know Colorado is his home team, they currently sit in 10th place, suffer through inconsistent goaltending and have a number of quality teams ahead of them in the race. I'm not sure what to make of the fact that he signed a one-year deal with a team that has, at best, a 50-50 shot at making the playoffs. If I had to make a guess it's that Peter doesn't want injuries to determine when he retires, something he's always stated publicly, and by coming back and playing the rest of the year he'll be proving to himself that injuries didn't "force" him to retire. I would assume that he figures going back to the place where he had most of his success was the best way to close his career. It'll be interesting to see, but at least we get to watch him one more time.

Sundin Trades a Cup Run for Class

Mats Sundin, a Canadian golden boy and perennial hockey leader, has informed Leafs GM, Cliff Fletcher, that he will not waive his no trade clause. Sundin, who's spent 13 of his roughly 17 years in the league with the Leafs, will be an unrestricted free agent in the off-season and Fletcher was hoping to rent him out to a cup favorite in order to aid in the rebuilding process in Toronto and give Mats a chance at his first Cup. At age 37, Sundin has few years left to win his first cup but despite having his pick of nearly every playoff-bound team, Mats declined saying,

"I cannot leave my teammates and join another NHL Club at this time. I have never believed in the concept of a rental player. It is my belief that winning the Stanley Cup is the greatest thing you can achieve in hockey but for me, in order to appreciate it you have to have been part of the entire journey and that means October through June. I hope everyone will understand and respect my decision."

Many players have come before him and have left their home team in order to chase the dream temporarily with a cup favorite but Mats decided it was not the way he wanted to win. To me, this speaks volumes about his class and leadership and illustrates exactly why so many teams were lined up for a shot at his services. Sundin deserves a cup, but with Toronto clearly embarking on an intensive, and much needed, re-build he may never get it. Many will accuse Mats of hurting that rebuilding effort and claim that he should have allowed Fletcher to get some value for him and then just re-signed with Toronto in the off-season. Regardless of one's perspective on that, Mats decision is actually a refreshing one as he will be a leaf until the end and that's something to be celebrated.

The Drama Comes to an End and Foppa Says Goodbye

With nearly every playoff bound team vying for the services of one Peter "the Great" Forsberg it appeared very likely that we would most certainly see him once again this year in the NHL. Now it appears that we're stuck with only imagining a wonderful swan song for a player who dominated for much of his career, won 2 Stanley Cups and, at his peak, was one of the best players in the world. His individual successes and awards are numerous, including being depicted on a stamp in his native homeland of Sweden in honor of his remarkable shootout game winning goal in the final round of the 94 Olympics securing the Gold for Sweden.

Peter has dealt with a lot of injuries since then and has been plagued by them for the later portion of his career. While he's always remained effective, it's been difficult for him to remain in the lineup consistently and he chose to take most of this year off to have surgery on his problematic foot. It was expected that he would come back just before the trade deadline but his agent has informed all interested parties that Peter's confidence in his surgically repaired foot is not high enough for him to feel comfortable committing to playing in the NHL this season. While this doesn't guarantee he won't return this season, barring some kind of miracle in the next 10 days it appears that this season is over for him before it ever began. He has originally intended to not only finish out this season, but play next season as well since he was searching for a multi-year deal.

However, I can't help but feel like we will never see Peter back on the ice and it's a real shame. If Peter has played his last game, he'll finish his career as the second highest scoring Swede in the history of the NHL with 871 points, including 248 goals in 697 NHL games. Those numbers on top of his 189 points in 185 games in the Swedish leagues make him an iron lock Hall of Famer worldwide and one of the best to ever lace up a pair of skates.

Let the Sweepstakes Begin

According to TSN, Forsberg has narrowed down the number of teams for which he'll consider playing to what is sounding like a pretty small number. Nashville, Dallas, Detroit and Calgary have all let it be known that Forsberg turned them down which essentially leaves Vancouver, Ottawa, Anaheim, Philadelphia, New York and maybe one or two others. My guess is he'll be a Flyer in the next week which boosts an already hot team. I'm not certain it's the best fit since they already have so many talented centers, but if Forsberg is healthy and effective he'll be a good addition. Apparently his lack of interest in cup-favorite Detroit stems from the classic battles that raged between the Avalanche and the Red Wings pre-lockout. You have to love a player that remembers those games and still refuses to play for the rival even if that rival is easily the best team in hockey.

TSN link: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=229000&hubname=nhl

UPDATE: Apparently Pittsburgh and San Jose have also been informed that they will not be considered.

One Less RFA ... Next Year!

Ron Wilson secured Milan Michalek for $26 Million over 6 years ... starting NEXT year! After making $471,000 last season - Milan has done quite nicely almost doubling his salary for this season bringing in $942,000. After that though, look out ... he will be averaging $4.3 Million a year! Michalek was the 6th overall draft pick in 2003, and according to Ron Wilson, is on track to becoming one of the elite forwards in the NHL, which will solidify his spot on the Thornton / Cheechoo line.

According to TSN

''I think we knew this was an element of the new CBA the day it was signed,'' said Wilson. ''When you drop down the age of eligibility of UFA and the accrued seasons, you have to make decisions on players obviously much younger. For us, Milan falls into that age group. He's certainly a multi-situational player who is very mature in his game with certainly a great upside. We think he's going to be a dominant player for many years. You have to understand how this CBA works on a daily basis, you have to make decisions much earlier and much quicker than you did in the past. It's also one of the reasons why we feel that the players we know the best are the ones we've drafted, developed and had a lot of time with.''

Keep in mind that another factor is players hit unrestricted free agency sooner under the current CBA, at age 28 this summer or after seven years of NHL service. With the salary cap to consider as well, teams seem inclined to lock-in their young players earlier to gain cost-certainty.

''I think it gives me more security and I don't have to worry about anything else than just hockey, that's good for me,'' said Michalek. ''I think nothing is going to change in my play, I'm still going to play the same game like I played. It was great to play with those two great players (Thornton and Cheechoo), they're (among) the best players in the NHL and I'm sure it helped me a lot in my career. I'm very happy to stay in San Jose, I think we have a great team for many years to come and I think we can win many Stanley Cups.''

That would be fine with the Sharks, who watched Michalek record 66 points (26-40) with a plus-17 rating in 78 games in 2006-07, his second full NHL campaign. He tied for fourth in the NHL with nine game-winning goals. The Czech native picked up 35 points (17-18) in 81 games as a rookie. Michalek finished the year skating alongside Thornton and Cheechoo, forming a talented and physically imposing first line. Not surprisingly, that helped the six-foot-two, 225-pound winger step his game up.

How Do You Say Goaltender In Swedish?

Ed Belfour is about to find out - The 17 year NHL veteran appears to be heading across the pond to Sweden. Word on the street has him close to signing with Leksand of the Swedish League. Evidently Ed has not been able to land a job with an NHL team since becomeing an Unrestricted Free Agent, however, the veteran goaltender is looking to continue his career overseas.

From Yahoo Sports - "According to a report in Swedish sports publication Expressen, Belfour is "very close" to signing a contract with second-division Leksand of the Swedish League. Belfour became an unrestricted free agent in July after spending last season with the Florida Panthers.

Belfour, 42, went 27-17-10 with a 2.77 goals-against average for the Panthers last season. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner has 484 career wins in 17 seasons with Chicago, San Jose, Dallas, Toronto and Florida."

On the list of All Time Wins - Ed holds the third spot behind Brodeur and Roy. He is also a 5 time All Star. Belfour and Auld were allowed to hit the UFA market after the Panthers acquired Vokoun from Nashville.

Just to help Ed out a bit ... Goalkeeper is spelled - mål|vakt in swedish. Just please dont ask me to pronounce that!

The Islanders Add Another One

Big six-foot-six 245 lb defenseman Andy Sutton was signed by the Islanders to a three year contract late last week as the Islanders continue to add talent from the second-rung of the free agent pool. Sutton, 32, spent last season in Atlanta where he put up 16 points with a +6 rating in 55 games. These numbers don't give you the full picture of Sutton's contributions though as he is a big, stay at home defenseman with a strong point shot who is flat out nasty to play against. Last year, also in Atlanta, he scored 25 points with a +13 rating and added an impressive 144 penalty minutes. Sutton adds grit and size to a developing team that was looking to replace the minutes previously occupied by the recently departed, and suspended, Sean Hill.

What a Steal

So the ruling on Mike Cammalleri finally came down and it's actually a bit shocking. After all of the bloated contracts handed out this year a young player who leads his team with 80 points gets a two year deal worth only $3.1 the first season and $3.6 the second. To put that into perspective Cammalleri was reportedly looking for around $6 million PER YEAR. TSN reports that the team was only looking to pay him $2.6 million, only a $900,000 increase over his contract from last season, which is completely asinine. This is going to be a situation to watch, Mike can not be happy about this.

Are We There Yet?

The award for the longest delay in the history of arbitration goes to Mike Cammalleri. Mike, the Kings and the NHL all wait patiently for the ruling on his case and the longer it goes, the more it looks like the ruling will be significant. Apparently the Kings requested a two-year ruling, which seems rare but well within their rights, so we'll have to see how it all plays out. In doing so, the Kings removed their ability to "walk away" from Mike after the ruling. They can walk away from the second year of the contract, something they will need to decide within 48 hours of the announcement, but he is guaranteed to be a King at least for a little longer. The ruling should come down tomorrow, it should have come down days ago in fact, but who knows at this point. Regardless, I still think that Cammalleri won't be King next year.

Mike Cammalleri and Arbitration

Mike Cammalleri and the Los Angeles Kings had their arbitration hearing yesterday. Cammalleri is an excellent skater and playmaker. He scored 34 goals and 46 assists last season with a +5 rating on an otherwise lackluster team. At 5'9 180 lbs he's not the biggest forward but he is fast, agile and has great vision, all valuable attributes in today's NHL. Cammalleri also scored 55 points, including 26 goals, last season, his first as a full-time NHL player. The Kings apparently have made him a few offers but they were nowhere near what he was wanting. Considering his performance over the last two seasons, I expect the ruling to be high with a possible salary somewhere in the $4.5-5 million range. That kind of ruling could have him leaving the town I like to call HeLL-A and even at that price there will be no shortage of interested parties willing to take him.

The Oilers Get Their Man

While they certainly overpaid for him at $21.25 million for 5 years, the Oilers have taken Dustin Penner from the Anaheim Ducks today as Brian Burke, Anaheim's GM, decided not to match the inflated offer sheet. I'm sure Burke isn't happy about it, but he had little choice in the matter considering the players he needs to resign next year.

Rangers are Now On the Clock (UPDATED 3:03 PM EST)

The arbitrator has made his ruling on the Sean Avery case and has awarded him a one-year deal worth $1.9 million. It's not quite the $2.6 million that he wanted, but it's more than the $1.3 million that the Rangers were offering. The Rangers have 48 hours to decide whether or not to accept the deal and will most likely have to move around some salary in the near future if they choose to keep him. Teams can be 10% over the salary cap up until the first game of the season. At that point, if they are above the cap they forfeit the game.

UPDATE

The Rangers have accepted the ruling and signed Avery to the one-year deal. However, they will now most likely need to move some salary around to be under the cap. Could this be a sign and trade situation? I certainly hope so.

Follow-up on Sean Avery

According to the New York Post, the arbitration hearing for Sean Avery was a little more brutal than Avery had anticipated. Prior to the hearing it was reported that the team intended to say that he was a "reasonably effective player as well as a detriment to the team." However, the hits didn't stop there as the team apparently dropped this bomb on him as well:

"Avery is not a mature player. He plays, at times, like an individual rather than a member of a team. This is sometimes referred to as an inability to see the ice, and in Avery's case this seems to fit with his overall approach to the game."

This is how the team justifies their desire to only give him a $200,000 raise over the $1.1 million he made last year despite the fact that he had the best season of his career. It's clearly a strategy to tear him down in order to remain under the salary cap but I think it's going to have disastrous results. Avery is exactly the kind of player that the Rangers needed to bolster an otherwise somewhat whiny and soft crew, led by the erratic and weak-hearted Jaromir Jagr. As the Post points out, this is counter to what the team was claiming last spring when they consistently and repeatedly praised him for what he brought to the team both on and off the ice. In fact, his teammates Brendan Shanahan and Jaromir Jagr used to echoe the team's commending sentiments. Avery had "no idea what to say" other that to say he was "shocked."

The ruling should come down today or tomorrow morning but, regardless of the ruling, I would be surprised to see Avery even want to play for the Rangers again. I would also expect him to play with a massive chip on his shoulder this season which could lead him to his best performance yet, making whichever team is lucky enough to benefit from the Rangers' idiocy all the more grateful for Rangers' GM Glen Sather's ill-advised strategy.

Habs, Ducks and the Quintessential Pest

Montreal

The Habs were able to narrowly avoid arbitration with Michael Ryder by signing him to a one-year deal worth $2.95 million just one day before his hearing was scheduled. The 27 year-old winger scored 30 goals and added 28 assists in 82 games last season with an abysmal -25 plus/minus rating. It was his second season in a row scoring 30 goals.

The Ducks

Just a quick update on the offer sheet that the Edmonton Oilers signed Dustin Penner to last week. Burke and the Ducks will have until Thursday, one week from when the offer was given, to decide whether or not they will match the inflated deal. Either way, no one will be happy.

A Pest's Arbitration Day

I actually use the word "pest" in a complimentary way. Every hockey team has to have a pest. In many ways, they are the spark plug of the NHL team. However, very few of these players have the skills to benefit their team in ways outside of irritating opposing players, which is why the salary cap has killed off a lot of these role players. When a player can function as a pest but also help the team in other ways, you have a rare combination that should be valued in the new NHL. The Rangers experienced this firsthand when they acquired Sean Avery at the deadline from the LA Kings. Avery, known for his big hits and even bigger mouth, played a huge role in the Rangers success throughout the playoffs. He often spent time on the top line with Jagr and showed the ability to play in any role or situation. In fact, being a Ranger ignited Avery as he scored 20 points, including 8 goals, in only 29 games with the blue shirts. In the 55 games prior to the trade, Avery only put up 28 points. Avery also ignited New York as they went 17-6-6 with him in the lineup.

His success prompted the 27 year-old restricted free agent to file for arbitration against the cap-stricken Rangers. With his hearing set for today, Avery should be in for a decent raise over his $1.1 million from last season. However, New York's GM is seeing it differently. The NY Post ran an article Sunday morning that included statements to be made in the arbitration hearing, including one that says Avery is "a reasonably effective player as well as a detriment to the team." A detriment to the team? He averages almost a point-per-game and the team only loses 6 games out of 29 with him in the lineup and he's a detriment? Avery responded with less emotion than would be expected of a player known for troublesome outbursts when he said "It's hard not to take something like that personally and not to be emotional about it. I know this is part of the business, I know this is part of the process, but it's extremely disappointing to read something like that coming from Slats [GM Glen Sather] and not to be offended by it. I certainly don't think I was a detriment to the team."

Personally, I hope this means that Avery won't be playing for the Rangers next season. If you listen closely you can hear saliva slapping the floor as a number of teams salivate over the prospect of the Rangers not agreeing to the arbitrators ruling. Teams like the Penguins and the Sabres showed a desperate need for someone with Avery's unique skill set in the playoffs and even in the regular season. He's exactly the kind of player that no one wants to play against and everyone wants a teammate. Avery is an emotional player and if he does end up playing elsewhere, his first game back in New York or against the Ranger will certainly be a good one. We'll know the outcome within 24 hours.

Anaheim GM Verbally Assaults the Edmonton Oilers

Per TSN: Article Quoted Below

The Anaheim Ducks GM didn't mince words in his first public comments on the US$21.25-million, five-year offer sheet the Edmonton Oilers tabled to the 24-year-old forward on Thursday.

Burke said he wasn't actually angry at the fact there was an offer sheet, but rather the amount of money offered - Penner will go from making $450,000 a season to $4.25 million a year.

"I have no problem with offer sheets, they are part of the CBA," Burke said on a conference call. "I think it's a tool certainly a team is entitled to use. My issue here is this is the second time this year in my opinion Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player, and it impacts on all 30 teams and I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job."

The way it all came down also bothered Burke.

"I was not notified of this until an agent faxed it into us," he said. "I thought Kevin would have called me and told me it was coming. I thought that was gutless."

Oilers spokesman J.J. Hebert said Friday night that Lowe was aware of Burke's comments but would not respond. Lowe will wait to comment after the Ducks decide whether or not to match.

Burke was also disappointed with the timing of it _ Burke was entering the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame in Penticton, B.C., on Friday night.

"Kevin Lowe has been in Penticton this week," Burke said. "Tonight is the induction ceremony for the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame and I certainly think this could have waited until Monday. I don't think it shows a lot of respect for the B.C Hockey Hall of Fame.

"I think it's a classless move timing-wise."

Quick Hits

The Phoenix Coyotes signed former Montreal and Colorado goaltender David Aebischer to a one year deal yesterday.

Aebischer was involved in one of the weirdest trades I can remember in which he was traded by Colorado to Montreal for the unstable Jose Theodore. It looked like Aebischer was on his way to being a solid number one in Colorado until the trade, which is why I thought the trade seem odd. It was more of a lateral move than anything else, a lateral move that added salary no less. Theodore did, however, eventually play pretty well but it looks like Peter Budaj is going to be the starter in Colorado very soon regardless.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Ty Conklin to back-up Marc-Andre Fleury.

The journeyman Conklin has proven to be a bit inconsistent in the past, which means he should fit in perfectly with the Pens.

Matthew Barnaby retires.

The fan favorite tough guy with the huge personality is finally calling it quits. He finished with 300 points and a whopping 2,562 penalty minutes in 834 games.

Eric Lindros pondering retirement.

Captain concussion is focusing on his work with the NHLPA and has yet to decide whether he'd like to come back and get knocked unconscious a few more times.

Rangers traded Matt Cullen back to his former team, the Carolina Hurricanes, for Andrew Hutchinson, Joe Barnes and a third round pick in 2008.

The Rangers had vehemently denied rumors that there were going to trade Cullen, only to turn around and do just that. However, it did open up cap space for them and if they demote Kasparaitis and his inflated salary to the minors they may create enough room to re-sign Sean Avery and Marcel Hossa. They should at least be able to retain one of them.

And now for the big one....

A few sites have reported that ESPN wants to get back into hockey

Eklund at HockeyBuzz even used the word "desperate" to describe ESPN's desire to re-enter the hockey game. While VERSUS is a moving disaster in many ways, they do have a deal for the coming season with an option for the following 3 seasons. It sounds like they may be willing to take a smaller number of games and allow ESPN and ESPN2 to carry the majority of the season. Not only would this give the NHL their largest potential audience in history, it would also help pull the sport out of network obscurity and put them back on the major sports map. You simply can't compete with ESPN's exposure and the NHL made a huge mistake going with VERSUS in the first place. Now, it looks like they may be in a position to make up for that mistake.

Edmonton Gets the Consolation Prize and RFA News

According to TSN, the Oilers have landed one of the last major free agents available by agreeing to a deal with former Montreal defenseman Sheldon Souray. The deal is apparently worth $27 million and is heavily front-loaded with Souray making over $6 million in the first couple of years. The Oilers were desperate to make a splash in free agency and despite this deal they've still only made a ripple.

Also, the Dallas Stars have avoided arbitration and re-signed both Mike Ribiero and Joel Lundqvist. Ribiero signed a one year deal worth $2.8 million while Lundqvist signed a two year deal for $1.45 million. Lundqvist isn't a huge signing though he did show some ability in his rookie season. Ribiero, however, is exactly the kind of playmaking forward that the offensively-handicapped Stars desperately need.