It’s Already Been a Busy Off-Season For the Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars, last season, were a disappointing 12^th in the Western Conference. Inconsistency plagued the team as, late in the year, their playoff dreams faded fast.

When a team misses the playoffs, the main job for the GM is to bring in players or coaches that will help the team have a better shot at making the playoffs next season. What makes it worse for Dallas is they have very limited cap room, and were expected to be fairly silent during free agency.

Surprisingly, the Stars signed ex-Blackahawk Adam Burish to a $1.15 million contract as well as Andrew Raycroft to a $700,000 contract. The signings brought the Stars closer to the magic numer of $45 million, leaving people to wonder if there is anymore wiggle room for restricted free agents Nicklas Grossman, Matt Niskanen, and James Neal.

The signing of Raycroft is a very smart one. His contract is structured so he could either be sent to the AHL and be paid only $105,000 instead of the $750,000 if he’s in the NHL. That’s only in the first year though.

With Marty Turco testing free agency, the Stars’ number one goaltender is Kari Lehtonen. Raycroft has the chance to beat out Brent Hrahn for the back job behind Lehtonen, but if he doesn’t he’ll be a fine fit in the minors.

Already the Stars are making some moves that, their GM, Joe Nieuwendyk, makes them “tough to play against.” Signing Burish is a great step in achieving that.

Burish doesn’t get you a lot of points, but he brings a lot of energy and toughness to the ice. He’s not afraid to come up with a huge check, or even drop the gloves.

Many questions still linger over what will be the outcome of the restricted free agents, Grossman, Niskanen, and Neal .

Neal has a very good chance of receiving an offer sheet. Nieuwendyk said he and his team are prepared if it comes to that. The Stars would be able to match any offer sheet, but who’s to say the offer becomes too expensive for the Stars to match?

“We’re not afraid of an offer sheet,” Nieuwendyk said. “I think that threat has been there. We can’t conduct how we want to put the team together in the fear of an offer sheet being thrown at us. James Neal we fully anticipate will be on our team and that’s what we’re looking at.”

Those restricted free agents will remain the main component of the Stars’ off-season signings. They’ve managed to surprise a lot of people by singing a few free agents, but I am almost positive it stops with them. The cap room has to be tightening.

By trying to build a “tougher” team, the Stars and their staff are attempting to bring some hope into the franchise and its fans. It’ll be interesting to see if it works out as planned next season.

This post is sponsored by Markland-Hanley
Founded by Dale Markland and Tara Hanley, Markland Hanley is a Texas based law firm with a national practice.

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Dallas Cowboys Offseason & Draft Needs

Cowboys Offseason

Sportsbook Super Bowl Odds (for XLV): Cowboys +1215

NFC Odds (5Dimes Reviews): Cowboys +685

Where do the Cowboys Need Help?

Let’s face it, the Dallas Cowboys are pretty stacked. When you have the monetary resources that the Cowboys have you can put together a pretty solid team. But there are holes in that armor, and Jerry Jones is looking to address those holes in free agency while building for the future in the draft. So after you place your bet on March madness you can spend some time evaluating where the Cowboys need some help.

Tony Romo took a lot of flack last season for the team’s offensive performance. The team ejected Terrell Owens so that Romo could run his offense without any interference. As the season wore on the glaring holes in the offensive line started to show. On the left side of the line, tackle Flozell Adams was less than reliable and tackle Marc Colombo on the right side is still recovering from injury. Romo has no reliable protection on the interior of the offensive line, and that is what caused the offensive problems for the Cowboys last season. With weapons such as Miles Austin and Roy Williams to throw to and Felix Jones on the ground, the Dallas offense is two tackles away from being potent.

Believe it or not the Cowboys actually need a place kicker. The Cowboys went for it on fourth down in the regular season and the playoffs when they should have been able to rely on their kicking. But Wade Phillips opted to go for the first down rather than the sure points and it cost the Cowboys games. There are plenty of kickers to choose from in free agency this year including Neil Rackers and Dan Carpenter if their respective teams do not re-sign them.

The Cowboys secondary may need some patching up as well. Ken Hamlin is not performing up to his contract at safety, and backup Alan Ball has not shown that he has what it takes to be an NFL starter. Look for the Cowboys to let Hamlin go and replace him with someone like Brodney Pool in Cleveland. The problem is that Pool, like most of the desirable safeties in free agency this year, is a restricted free agent. The Cowboys want nothing to do with a restricted free agent in the year before an uncapped season, so look for the Cowboys to be aggressive with trades during the draft. The Cowboys are not known for starting drafted rookies in their first season, so it would be unusual for them to pick a safety in the draft with the intention of making that draft pick a starter.

It was a smart move for the Cowboys to pick up Jon Kitna last season because there were questions as to what the team would do if Romo got hurt. The team has confidence in Kitna and they have no hesitation in handing the ball to the former starting quarterback if Romo should get seriously injured.

There are only a few places where the Dallas Cowboys need to improve to make themselves a playoff contender. One would be getting a little bit svelte and quick on the offensive line, which could means that the Cowboys will need to quickly get some tips to lose body fat fast. It will be interesting to see if Jerry Jones has the patience to address some of his issues in the draft, of if the Cowboys become active in free agency and through trading.

Cowboy Corner – Cowboys Offseason Report

Cowboys Offseason

Super Bowl Odds (for XLV): Cowboys +1215

NFC Odds (5Dimes Reviews): Cowboys +685

Early Mock Drafts Have Cowboys Addressing Lines Of Scrimmage

While some casual fans may think it is a little early to start speculating about the 2010 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys have already begun their scouting and they are filling out some early reports on who can help their team.

The Cowboys will first hit the podium when the 27^th pick overall is called and a lot of early mock drafts are speculating that the Cowboys end up with someone helping them along the line of scrimmage.

Some NFL predictions believe that the Cowboys will address the defensive line by adding a proven commodity like Alabama Crimson Tide nose tackle Terrence Cody. It would definitely make Jerry Jones happy to see another Crimson Tide member on his team.

There are some Cowboys fans who might be wondering: why draft a defensive tackle when the defensive line is already a position of strength?

One possible option is to move Pro Bowl tackle Jay Ratliff to an end spot, where he might be more effective. Another theory is that you always want to draft for depth and (preferably) never for need.

While some people are expecting the Cowboys to draft for the defense, another option is for the offense. Considering how the offensive line was manhandled in the Cowboys playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings, a lineman might make sense.

A guard like Mike Iupati from Idaho would make a lot of sense but it’s unlikely that he falls that far considering how well he performed at the senior bowl. Another option might be guard Joe Asamoah from Illinois.

There is also some depth with talent at safety, which may appeal to the Cowboys as well.

When you look at the Cowboys overall picture as far as the upcoming draft, the Cowboys don’t have a lot of holes.

With the emergence of Miles Austin, there isn’t a great need at wide receiver. The backfield is set and even the offensive line is pretty good, but could be addressed.

On defense, the story is pretty much the same. The cornerback crop is fine, the linebacking corps is very good and the line is set. A safety would help but it’s not the most pressing need.

The Cowboys strategy will change as the offseason progresses but if the draft were in a week, they would probably be taking an offensive lineman given how they performed in the playoffs. In April, it could be a different story.

Cowboy Corner: Dallas Cowboys Offseason

Cowboys Offseason

Super Bowl Odds (for XLV): Cowboys +1215

NFC Odds (5Dimes Reviews): Cowboys +685

Heading Into The Offseason

The general NFL betting crowd may not see the difference between how the Dallas Cowboys head into the 2010 offseason versus the 2009 offseason, but the true fans of America’s team have a completely different mood.

In 2009, the Cowboys were blown out in the final week of the regular season and were kept from the playoffs. They headed into the offseason wondering whether Tony Romo was a franchise quarterback, whether Wade Phillips is a reliable head coach and whether the psyche of the team was strong enough to win in December and January.

Heading into the 2010 offseason, the feeling is completely different.

Read more

So are the Rangers better?

(For the sake of this post, we’re going to assume that Mike Lowell is now a Texas Ranger with Boston picking up $9 million of the tab)

A fair inquiry for any Texas Rangers fan. Do the acquisitions of Chris Ray, Ben Snyder, Mike Lowell and Rich Harden make this team better than it was three days ago?

I believe the answer is yes. Are there drawbacks to these acquisitions? Absolutely. There are drawbacks to just about all trades.

But these moves, if they all go through, make the Rangers a better team.

Find out why after the jump. Read more