NHL Free Agency 2012: 3 Moves the Dallas Stars Need to Consider

NHL free agency kicks off July 1^st and like always, it will be a feeding frenzy. A majority of the deals will get done in the first week, so keep your smartphones handy.

The flurry of action will fill the league’s transaction list, but the biggest lists are being made prior to the draft; these lists contain potential targets and salary figures.

This list is considerably shorter, but here are a few free-agency moves the Dallas Stars should consider.

Sign Ryan Suter and Zach Parise

This pair would be on every team’s wish list, but most teams can afford only one.

The Stars have a ton of cap space, so they are in the lucky few that could sign both (they freed up even more cap space after the Mike Ribeiro trade).

At 12:01 am, Tom Gaglardi needs to be at Parise’s house and Joe Nieuwendyk needs to be at Suter’s house. Both should be driving dump trucks filled with money.

The Stars have an opportunity to make signings that would end their playoff drought and make a splash in the headlines.

Target Alexander Semin

With everybody chasing Parise, there is a large chance he will sign with a different team. Alexander Semin would not be a bad fallback. Semin has the chance to slip under the radar while teams throw all of their eggs into the Parise basket.

Semin has put up only 54 points the past two seasons, but he has shown he can put up totals in the 70 to 80-point range. 

Semin is only 28, so giving him a four or five-year deal wouldn’t be the worst move the Stars could make.

Bid Up the Competition

There are quite a few restricted free agents out there. If the Stars start submitting offers on certain free agents, it could make other teams tie up their money so they won’t lose a future star. For those who watch Storage Wars, this is known as the “Dave Hester” tactic.

The biggest gamble the Stars could take would be submitting an offer sheet on a restricted free agent.

For example, if the Stars front office submits an offer to Shea Weber, it would force the hand of the Nashville Predators. This would make the Predators spend more than they intended to keep their star defenseman.  

The worst case scenario is they give up a hefty amount of draft picks, but in return they get a young star. As long as they play their cards right, they can spend a lot of the other team’s money.

Contact Mitch Klemp at [e-mail] and follow him on twitter @MeestaMitch