Injury to top defender may have silver lining for Dallas Stars

On the surface, that is very bad news for a Stanley Cup contender.

Heiskanen is not only one of the Stars' best players, but he is one of the best all-around defensemen in hockey and a bonafide Norris Trophy candidate every season. 

But there is a rather significant silver lining to this that could benefit the Stars in the long run if they play their cards right.

The Stars are already comfortably in a playoff position and should have zero issue qualifying even without Heiskanen for an extended period of time. He should also be back in time for the playoffs. 

The real bonus for the Stars here is that the injury to Heiskanen — as well as the injury to Tyler Seguin — could help them open up a significant amount of salary-cap space to use before the trade deadline. 

With Seguin already sidelined and on the long-term injured list, the Stars could do the same with Heiskanen, keep both out for the remainder of the regular season, and position themselves to add as much as $14 million in new salary at the trade deadline. It would take advantage of the LTIR loophole that allows teams to replace salary under the cap. Because the salary cap goes away in the playoffs, they could then bring back Heiskanen to go with whatever players they want to add at the deadline. 

Vegas and Tampa Bay have both utilized LTIR in that regard in recent years and produced Stanley Cup-winning teams as a result.

The Stars already made one huge trade this month, sending their first-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci. Given that they have been in the Western Conference Finals two years in a row and have their championship window wide open in front of them they should not be afraid to swing for another home run. Banners hang forever, and there should not be a draft pick or prospect in their system who gets in the way of them trying to give themselves their best chance to win. 

Heiskanen's injury might be a short-term issue. But the salary-cap ramifications could be significant. Sometimes you have to find the silver lining.