Stars player who must be traded soon

On a team as good as the Stars are, and have been over the last few years, there aren’t many players who need to be traded. The front office is going to be buying at the deadline to again try to help transform this into a Stanley Cup contender. But Dallas boasts seven capable defensemen on the roster right now — and Dumba is probably providing less value than any other blue liner.

Drafted 7th overall by the Minnesota Wild in 2012, Dumba was excellent in the first few seasons of his career. His best campaign came in 2016-17; the Regina, Saskatchewan native managed 14 goals and 50 points over a full 82-game slate. But the veteran has declined, and he’s bounced around a couple of teams over the last two seasons.

Dumba signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Coyotes in the summer of 2023. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning ahead of the deadline in 2023-24 before joining the Stars as an unrestricted free agent last offseason. It’s a two-year pact, which pays Dumba $7.5 million over two seasons.

But the former Red Deer Rebel has had a tough time in Texas. Dumba has managed just two assists in 23 games, while skating to a minus-one rating. Add the lack of production to the fact that the Stars already have six capable NHL defensemen without him: Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Thomas Harley, Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith and Nils Lundqvist.

There’s no guarantee that Dumba will be in the lineup come playoff time, and considering the situation, it’s probably time the Dumba experiment ends in Dallas.

Stars should trade Matt Dumba ahead of deadline

Even if Dallas isn’t able to get a significant return for Dumba — he has just not been good this year — getting his $3.75 million off the books would be a wise move ahead of the March 7 deadline. Huge decisions need to be made on the futures of Johnston, Benn and Duchene specifically, and getting some of that cap space back would be helpful.

Dumba is still a serviceable NHL blue liner, and could help either a rebuilding team, or a contender that is not as deep on the blue line as Dallas is. Even without Chris Tanev, the Stars boast one of the league’s best defensive units. While it is obviously nice to have him around, especially if someone gets hurt down the stretch, right now he’s not worth the $3.75 million he’s being paid.

On a team as good as the Stars — and one with Stanley Cup aspirations — it wouldn’t be surprising if the roster stayed mostly intact at the deadline, with draft capital potentially being sacrificed to bring in another effective player or two. That’s especially true with Tyler Seguin a candidate to be placed on LTIR after undergoing hip surgery. That would give the front office even more relief — the veteran forward is making $9.85 million this season.

Whatever direction the Stars’ brass decides to go at the deadline, tough decisions are going to have to be made, regardless of how the team performs in the postseason. But, as currently constructed, this is a roster that has a realistic shot to win a championship later this year — with or without Dumba.