More D in Dallas

The Dallas Stars lured one of their bluechip prospects over from Russia on Wednesday and made a little bit more of a logjam at the blueline for training camp. 25 year-old, Vadim Khomitski signed on the dotted line to a 1-year, 1-way deal worth $525,000 and will join the team in a couple weeks for camp. Khomitski apparently wasn't going to come over unless he had a full-time contract, because the money is just as good over in Russia and would have stayed if there was any chance of reporting to the minors. Now Khomitski's contract will definitely count against the cap, but that really isn't the biggest concern for the Stars.

The group of defensemen who are going into camp look strong, something I'm sure Marty Turco is quite happy to see. With Zubov and Boucher able to work the puck in the offensive zone, the Stars have guys like Robidas and Norstrom who are more compelled to look after their own end. This should all be a good fit for this team. You'll probably take a good long look at some of the defensemen in your pool draft.

In my mock draft, which is unpublished (in case you were wondering), only three Stars d-men were selected... Zubov, Boucher and Robidas. Khomitski did get to play in 9 games for Iowa in the AHL, registering 7 points, so he could possibly be a bit of a sleeper pick in the later rounds, if you're looking for someone a little different in rounds 13 & 14.

Jere Lehtinen	Mike Ribeiro	Jussi Jokinen *
Brendan Morrow	Mike Modano	Niklas Hagman
Antti Miettinen	Stu Barnes	Loui Eriksson
Todd Fedoruk	Jeff Halpern	Joel Lundqvist

Sergei Zubov	Phillipe Boucher
Stephane Robidas	Trevor Daley
Mattias Norstrom	Nolan Baumgartner
Vadim Khomitski

Marty Turco

Mike Smith

Jussi Jokinen still remains the lone Restricted Free Agent on the Stars' list as he had rejected the Stars' qualifying offer that they gave him before the market opened. Jokinen, 24, will probably be looking for the range of $2 million per season, but will end up with a little less with some good negotiating.

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NHL, Hockey, Hockey Pool, Free Agents, Signing, Dallas Stars, Vadim Khomitski