Texas Stars Seeking Forward Depth at AHL Deadline

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

In case you hadn't noticed, the Texas Stars are hurting for depth at forward.

With the Dallas Stars injury woes, Texas is losing players at the top of their roster like L'Esperance and Gurianov. Even though Gurianov is back, it doesn't seem like you can count on him to be here for very long at any point. Texas's own injuries and illnesses are also putting holes in the lineup. Sam Laberge is still out with an upper body injury. Travis Morin missed last night's game with illness, and defenseman Shane Hanna popped in at forward for the second time this week.

Tomorrow is the AHL trade and transfer deadline. Exactly one week after the NHL deadline, all moves must be completed by 2 PM Central time on Monday. Players on AHL contracts can be traded between member clubs. Players on NHL contracts, of course, cannot be traded at the NHL level, but they can be reassigned to a new AHL team. Texas has made quite a few of these trades in the past ten years. Examples include Francis Wathier for Kevin Henderson in 2014, Raymond Sawada to St. John's in 2012 and Mathieu Tousignant to St. John's again in 2013. Usually the player is at the end of their contract and their NHL club is doing them a favor by giving them playoff experience that they wouldn't get by staying on their current AHL team.

Well, here's the problem. There's quite a bit of information asymmetry in this setup. Texas is definitely on the search for a forward, but the market is not as well-defined as it is in the NHL.

Just watch this space to learn more. If Texas doesn't get a forward, they will have to wait until the ATOs start coming in two weeks from now with Dellandrea being the first one.