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Stars add good veteran defenseman at a reasonable price

The Stars have acquired veteran defenseman Marc Methot - potentially giving John Klingberg the help he needed on the top line.

<p>Feb 18, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Marc Methot (3) battles for the puck with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman (11) in the first period at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports</p>

During the past week, rumors swirled around the Dallas Stars and Ottawa Senators' interest in Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Marc Methot. Reportedly the Golden Knights wanted to use Methot as leverage to move up from the 6th spot to the 3rd spot in the draft, but the Stars weren’t interested. Today they got their guy for a much more reasonable price.

Methot has been traded to the Stars in exchange for a 2020 2nd round pick and goaltender Dylan Ferguson. You may not be completely familiar with Ferguson because the Stars drafted him last week in the 7th round. His short-lived Stars career has come to an end after three days.

Methot is a 6'3, 224-pound lefty known for his defensive ability. He’s similar to free agent Karl Alzner, but he won’t cost a 30 million dollar commitment. He has two years remaining on his contract at a cap hit just a nose under five million per year. With 16 players under contract the Stars still have over 18 million dollars in cap space to improve the roster.

Methot will be expected to come in and presumably play alongside John Klingberg. With the Senators Methot caddied for otherworldly Norris Trophy winning Erik Karlsson. As a pair they were a 47% Corsi duo, and apart they were even. You’d like to see better results, but Methot shouldn’t be expected to come in here and “fix” Klingberg’s issues. The Stars' young defenseman will have to grow himself. Methot should at least give him peace of mind to know he can focus on his game and not on watching a steady stream of goals against.

Defensively Methot hasn’t had the results that suggest he’s great defensively, but under the system Ken Hitchcock will run in Dallas the hope is he’ll be fine. Ottawa, despite making the Eastern Conference Finals wasn’t particularly good.

As you can see above opposing teams took shots from all over the left side with Methot on the ice. Under a structured Stars system hopefully some of that red dies down a bit. The veteran should also soak up significant minutes on the penalty kill.

The acquisition also gives the Stars some more roster issues, but what else is new? Last season they carried eight defensemen all year. They’re back up to eight again with Patrik Nemeth and Jamie Oleksiak waiting for new deals as restricted free agents. The Stars could still easily acquire another defenseman if they want to, but fortunately it looks like they won’t be pursuing Alzner.

A second round pick and a seventh round goalie is more than a fair price to keep the Stars from paying all that Alzner money.

This is not the top pairing savior the Stars need, but Methot is a potentially solid depth piece coming at a reasonable price. He keeps the Stars from having to spend a ton of money over a long term deal for a relatively similar player, and sets them up to focus on finding some scoring well before July 1st even gets here.

Josh Lile says you pronounce Methot 'meh-THOUGHT,' but don't let that dampen your enthusiasm about the trade. You can follow Josh on Twitter at @JoshL1220.

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