Unnumbered Thoughts: Chris Tanev makes the Stars a contender, and potentially set a trade market

Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill has long held a “you can never have too many defenceman” philosophy. 

It’s a viewpoint based on depth, at some point, no matter how an NHL team will have to go eight or even nine defencemen deep on the depth chart. It’s just the reality of a physical sport. 

And when the Stars had to do that themselves a couple weeks back, the results with Alexander Petrovic and Derrick Pouliot in the lineup left something to be desired. 

From the start of the season, it seemed likely the Stars would be a trade deadline player when it came to the blue line. That lineup, on Feb. 19 against the Boston Bruins which also featured Miro Heiskanen missing the game due to the birth of his first child, effectively locked in the Stars to make a move. 

Everyone knew the Stars needed