*Yawn* Stars make a trade.....

[bogey]

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars acquired Jon Klemm from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, hoping he can improve a porous defense and help a team on a six-game winless streak.


The Stars gave up Stephane Robidas and a second-round pick in next year's draft for Klemm and a fourth-rounder.


Dallas' blue line was softened by the loss of longtime anchor Derian Hatcher to free agency and the trade of Darryl Sydor. The Stars (7-9-2-0) haven't had a losing record this late in a season since 1995-96. Their 50 goals allowed are among the worst in the conference.


The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Klemm provides a physical presence with veteran experience. Now in his ninth season, Klemm was on two Stanley Cup champion teams in Colorado and was an alternate captain in Chicago.


"Jon Klemm is a veteran player who we feel will help solidify our defensive corps," Dallas general manager Doug Armstrong said. "He has strong leadership qualities and adds size and determination to our team."


Although the Stars have been trying to trim one of the league's highest payrolls, they added salary in this move. Klemm makes $2.5 million this season, roughly triple what Robidas earns.


Klemm has an assist in 19 games this season. For his career, he has 35 goals, 87 assists and 318 penalty minutes in 579 games.


Robidas, a solid player last season after being acquired from Montreal, had one goal in 14 games this season.


Dallas also sent center Antti Miettinen to its AHL affiliate in Utah and recalled forwards Steve Gainey and Rob Valicevic.

[ames7]

Gonna miss "Timex" Robi, but this dude is a defensive d-man & we could use someone who could play defense. Sucks to give up one of the few players that was actually putting forth a lot of effort when he got to play, but I suspect Chicago wanted the youth & the cheap contract.

Klemm, Gainey, Valicevic, & LEHTINEN(!!!) are all expected to be in the lineup on Wednesday against the Quack Attack. That means someone big is going to sit. ::looking significantly at Turgeon::

[kingrex]

How do you think this will affect the Stars? Will it be significant?

[ames7]

Klemm has a good reputation. He's won 2 Cups w/the Avs & has a +7 on a very mediocre Hawks team (team high). Robi wasn't really playing that much. The idea is that Klemm, a stay-at-home D, is a good complement to a risk-taking offensive D such as Zubov.

Zubov played well w/a defensive D (Hatch) last year, but he's a -13 this year paired w/Numminen, who is playing on his off-side. The problem is, while Numminen is very solid & doesn't make mistakes, he does join in on the rush occassionally & Zubov hasn't adjusted well.

Pairings are going to juggle around a lot until everyone gets healthy again. Klemm is expected to start out paired w/Erskine while Mativichuk is out. Klemm's not going to solve all their problems, but it's something.

[MavsFanatik33]

Originally posted by: kingrex
How do you think this will affect the Stars? Will it be significant?

This trade is a very good trade, Klemm is a good player and is a lot better than Robidas; but I doubt that it will effect the Stars a whole lot. It really doesn't matter if the Stars play like they have been...

[u2sarajevo]

Originally posted by: MavsFanatik33

This trade is a very good trade, Klemm is a good player and is a lot better than Robidas; but I doubt that it will effect the Stars a whole lot. It really doesn't matter if the Stars play like they have been...

I disagree.... the Stars are reeling from the lack of defensive presence they had with Hatcher. Klemm is no Hatcher, but he is a good defender. Turco is a good goalie, but he can't be expected to do it all himself. I liked Robi also, but we had to do something to stop the bleeding. It didn't take long for teams to figure out that without Hatcher all it takes to beat us is to attack consistently and the goals will pile up. I expect that Zubov's game will improve alot with Klemm's presence as well as Turco's, and with Modano and the other Center's being able to feel more confident that if the puck is turned over we will now have a better chance of recovering... the return on investment with this trade could potentially be huge.

[ames7]

The fact is, if this team is going to improve, it's going to improve together. It can't just be one or two guys, it has to be everyone. Tipp has already said it, those who aren't getting it done will not play. It's already happening. Miettinen's been sent down, Tjarnqvist seems to have earned a spot. Valicevic & Gainey have been recalled for fresh blood. Malhotra's been placed on waivers. And LEHTS IS BACK!! ::cheering:: THANK GOD!!

I agree w/u2, I think Klemm will help. We simply have too many finesse defensemen & no one to knock guys down when they set up camp in front of Marty. Matty's hurt again & Boucher can't do it all. We could use a guy like this. I hope he'll eventually get paired w/Zubie. Brett Severyn is on FSN now. He called Klemm a "stablizing" factor. Hopefully help stop the TurnOver Fest.

edit: Even better, he just scored! Welcome to Dallas!

[ames7]

I actually got to watch the Anaheim game. Klemm looked real solid. Good defensive plays, including laying out Scott Niedermayer when he got too close to Marty. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Also, he scored a goal, so that's a plus.

Too bad Marty wrapped up three goals, gift-wrapped them, & forced the Ducks to rally for the tie. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img] Complete waste of a relatively good effort by the rest of the team. This one is all on Marty.