Dallas Stars sign a forward, creating a huge traffic jam up front

With Nathan Bastian added to the roster, the Dallas Stars may have too many fourth-line forwards and not enough defined roles.

The Dallas Stars' signing of Nathan Bastian earlier this week gave the team size, grit, and penalty-killing experience, but it also created a problem.

The bottom six is now overflowing with players who profile best as fourth-liners, leaving the coaching staff with tough decisions heading into training camp.

Radek Faksa is back after a season in St. Louis, almost certainly to reclaim his spot centering the fourth line.

The expectation was that Sam Steel, Oskar Bäck, and Colin Blackwell would rotate through the other two spots, depending on performance. Dallas re-signed all three at various points last year, rewarding their contributions.

Now Bastian's arrival means five players are competing for three spots.

"Nathan will add forward depth and a physical presence to our lineup,"

Dallas Stars face difficult decisions in bottom-six forward group

If the logjam pushes someone to the third line, the likeliest candidate is Sam Steel - but he scored just six goals last season.

That's a steep drop from Evgenii Dadonov, who notched 20 before leaving for the New Jersey Devils.

The Stars will already be relying heavily on their top six, which includes aging veterans Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin, plus captain Jamie Benn, who struggled late last season and in the playoffs. As The Hockey News pointed out, any scoring drop from the core will leave the team vulnerable.

"It's not just about depth, it's about the right kind of depth," one Western Conference scout noted.

I think this situation will test Dallas' ability to balance physicality and scoring depth more than any other roster challenge they've faced in recent years.