2022 is when most of the Dallas Stars players who have a huge chunk of the salary cap are free agents. The Dallas Stars will probably look at the Texas Stars to fill some of those roster spots. Here are the prospects who I think should be in a Stars uniform in 2022.

Riley Tufte

Tufte is one of the best prospects the Stars have down in Cedar Park. don’t let his stats fool you since he joined the farm system right before the pandemic hit. He has the passing ability needed at the NHL level, but needs to work on scoring a bit more if he wants to make it to Dallas.

Another thing holding him back from making it is probably the Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is where the pancreas can’t produce the enzymes to break down sugar and the person needs to be on Insulin 24/7. This is not a career killer for him and he’s played with it since the age of 11 so he knows when he has low blood sugar.

The Stars need to get a trainer who understands what Type 1 Diabetes is so they can help the coaching staff determine how much playing time he will get.

Thomas Harley

He is the top defenseman that the Stars have down in Cedar Park right now. The only thing right now that’s holding him back from making it to Dallas is a roster spot. Right now the Stars are waiting for a couple of contracts to expire so they can bring him up and fans would be shocked if Harley didn’t make the 2022 roster.

Mavrik Bourque

Bourque was recently drafted in the first round by the Stars in 2020. In his teenage years playing, he showed that he has the potential to be a lethal scorer which drew attention to NHL Scouts. He will probably be in Cedar Park to start off the 2021 NHL season, but if he can’t stop scoring goals he will most likely be promoted to Dallas.

Conclusion

There are more talented prospects that are in the Stars Organization, but these are the three that I think have the best odds to be starting in the 2022 season.

The Dallas Stars have one of the weirdest contract situations in the NHL right now. They have at least five players that have massive contracts that eat up a lot of the cap space right now. Freeing up that cap space now could help Dallas in the future if they wanted to bring in a well-known player in free agency.

Some of the players mentioned below are fan favorites in Dallas and could be tough for Stars fans to let go. Here is who I think the Dallas Stars need to trade in order to be successful and help eliminate that cap space. 

Ben Bishop

While he is one of the top goaltenders in the NHL when healthy, it’s time to move on from him. We have Jake Oettinger who will be the starting goaltender for the Dallas Stars next season and Anton Khudobin who will the backup. One of the veteran goaltenders has to go and If we were to trade Ben Bishop, we would free up 10 million dollars in cap space for next two seasons. 

Joe Pavalski 

While I do appreciate Pavalski’s contributions to the Stars Stanley Cup run a couple years ago, he needs to be traded to a contender. The Stars would save another seven million in cap space and the money could go towards another forward or towards Klingberg’s new contract. 

Alexander Radulov 

He is another forward that needs to be traded to a contender. The Stars would save six million dollars in cap space and could trade him for young prospect or a cheaper forward. Even though he is a fan favorite in Dallas, the NHL is a business.

Conclusion

I think the Stars will wait till there contracts to finish up before moving on from these players since they have at least one to two years left on them. But you never know if the Stars have other plans this offseason.

The Dallas Mavericks have around 66 million dollars of cap space to spend on free agency in 2021. Here are some of the top free agents that I think Mark Cuban will look at to build around Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.

Kelly Olynyk 

Olynyk is a perfect player that Mark Cuban should definitely contact when free agency opens up. While he’s not a prolific scorer only averaging 13 points a game, he can rebound and it would free up Porzingis from getting banged around in the post and messing up his knee. 

Lonzo Ball

Doncic needs another scorer and ball-handler to take away the double team that coaches usually put on him. Ball is a very good Shooting Guard scoring 14 points a game and averaging 6 assists a game. Rick can team him up with Luka in the frontcourt or Ball can give Doncic a breather on the bench once in a while.  

Frank Kaminsky 

Not the flashiest free agent name on the market but coming in at 7 ft tall, Kaminsky would be a perfect 4 or 5 off the bench. Averaging only 7 points and 3 rebounds a game, he could give Dallas an additional rebounder while the starters take a break on the bench. I don’t see many teams making a move on him so this is someone Cuban could easily get on a two-year contract.

J.J. Redick 

Reddick would be another great guard that would take some of the scoring load off of Doncic. While Redick doesn’t score much only averaging 8 points a game, he has the veteran leadership that could help Doncic keep his cool on the court. The only thing the Mavericks need for him to do is lower his asking price so we can get more talent around Luka.

Andre Drummond

Drummond would be the perfect starting Center for the Dallas Mavericks. Porzingis would be moved to Power Forward in order to get him playing time. Right now, Drummond is averaging a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds a game. Like Reddick, he would also need to come down on his asking price as well. 

Luka Doncic is the face of the Dallas Mavericks at a very young age like Dirk was when he entered the league. What’s different between Luka and Dirk is Luka seems to have a hot temper in some games. Here are some reasons why Luka needs to mature as a player and fast.

Luka might end up on the NBA refs “naughty list”

Luka is certainly heading towards being on the NBA refs “naughty list” with all the arguing that he does with the refs. How players get on that imaginary list is when they constantly argue over their foul calls. I can certainly understand the players frustration towards refs calling bad fouls since I’ve seen some pretty bad calls myself in my three years as a college basketball manager.

Luka needs to learn that there will always be bad calls during the games and the best thing he can do for the Dallas Mavericks is to move on to the next play like most veteran players do. If he continues down this path, the referees will just keep call technical fouls on him during the season.

Big name free agents might not want to play in Dallas

The 2021 free agency is just right around the corner and the Mavericks have around 66 million in cap space which is a lot to sign some big-name players over the summer. The Mavericks have a really good pitch for free agents as they can team up with Luka Doncic for multiple seasons. 

With all the whining that Luka is doing towards the refs, why would you want to team up with him. He’s already at 15 technical fouls and starting with the next one he can start being suspended a game for each one he receives.

I don’t think players would want to play with a guy who has a temper on the court and constantly gets ejected for his outbursts. Luka’s temper could be a potential deal breaker for some players who want to play in Dallas next season.

What kind of a legacy would you want to leave

When Luka eventually retires from the game of basketball after having a stellar career, what does he want people to remember him by. Does he want people to remember him by all the titles, awards and triple doubles he got during his career or all the complaining he does to the officials? 

I know if I were a retired basketball player I would want my fans to remember me by all of my accolades on the court instead of my outbursts. I know the last thing Luka would want to see is all of the Dallas middle and high school basketball players complaining after every foul and wonder if that was because of him. 

Conclusion 

I know Luka has a fiery passion for basketball, you see it on the court every Mavs game. Now all he needs to do is contain that passion on the court and he will go down as one of the best European basketball players to play in the NBA. If he continues down this path arguing with the refs, he won’t be remembered for his stats but for his constant arguing with the referees.