Dallas Stars Reportedly Targeting Hard Hitter

The Dallas Stars don't have much cap space to work with, this season or beyond if they want to keep all of the top pieces and continue to be real Stanley Cup contenders. But the Stars wanted a certain type of player on their squad and still reportedly do.

Jeff Marek said that, "before Mathieu Olivier re-signed with the (Columbus) Blue Jackets, I'm firmly of the belief that was a target for the Stars. They wanted him or someone like him. I don't think that search is over."

Olivier signed a six-year, $3 million AAV deal, so the Stars weren't going to be able to match something like that with the lack of cap space, even after losing pieces in free agency and trading Mason Marchment away. Olivier is 28 years old and just had a breakout season. Not in the way many players break out, but elevating himself from a fourth line grinder/fighter who doesn't play every game to the league's heavyweight fighter who is a dual threat of toughness and some offensive ability. He will continue to be a bottom-6 player, but he scored 18 goals and 32 points while racking up 139 penalty minutes, 80 blocked shots, and 306 hits. He also plays on the penalty kill.

For the Stars, that isn't something that is easily found, and when it is, teams lock them down as quickly as possible. Dallas signed Nathan Bastian, but that is the closest thing they have to Olivier, and Bastian isn't particularly close. If the Vancouver Canucks go on a fire sale, Kiefer Sherwood would be a similar type of player without the heavyweight fighting. But a combination of physicality and offensive ability from the fourth line is there.

Sherwood could be a realistic target for the Stars at the deadline if the Canucks are out of it, but a player like Olivier isn't easy to come by and the Blue Jackets did a good job keeping him around.