Lehtonen Heads to Dallas

			2009/2010 NHL Statistics
To Dallas	Position	Age	GP/MIN	Goals/Wins	Points	2010 Cap Hit	2011 Cap Hit
Kari Lehtonen	Goaltender	26	0	0	0	$3 million	RFA
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To Atlanta	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	2010 Cap Hit	2011 Cap Hit
Ivan Vishnevsky	Defenseman	22	2	0	0	$821,666	$821,666
2010 4th Round Pick

The Dallas Stars look to be taking on a new direction with their goaltending and they are willing to part with a top end defensive prospect and a pick to do so.

On Tuesday night, the Stars acquired former franchise goalie, Kari Lehtonen, from the Atlanta Thrashers for a former 1st round pick in 2006, Ivan Vishnevsky, and a 4th round pick this summer. It's an interesting deal, because both players in the deal have been waited upon by their former clubs and both teams can now feel comfortable with moving on.

The Stars acquire a goalie who should be coming into his prime, much like Rick DiPietro on Long Island, but has also found the same injury troubles. The potential is still there and the Stars have now gambled away some futures for that potential to be realized.

The Thrashers are getting younger & cheaper with every deal and Vishnevsky, who is on the smallish side, will look to help move the puck from the blueline, providing some more power play support. The 4th round pick is still out there as a gamble, but obviously important for re-stocking the youthful corps of the team.

The Salary Cap talk is a bit of a wash. The Stars have all sorts of injury discounts on their overall cap number, which was low to begin with and the Thrashers are dumping, so there is no concern there.

In July, the Stars will get to negotiate their own price with Lehtonen, due to restricted free agency, while Vishnevsky will be finishing his entry-level deal. There really is nothing to mention here.

Lehtonen was the only one of the two that had much for fantasy value before the season started, so he was actually included on the Sheet for the Thrashers in Box 31. His injuries soon made him fairly useless, but he had to sit there all season, so here is the implications of his participation in the pool... none. No one took him and it's very unlikely that he will be taken. Fairly straight-forward, really...

There were plenty of hints abound that Lehtonen was going to be dealt once he was healthy again and there it is. The Stars jumped on him like a medium-rare steak. He definitely has the potential to be a number one goalie again and at a reasonable price, with free agency pending.

I do, however, think the Thrashers have better odds of winning this deal, already having Ondrej Pavelec on the books, the team adds another potential top-4 defenseman to their blueline, which could only help the team going forward and has years to develop still.

Advantage: Thrashers

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