Mike Heika

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There once was a time when the Stars used free agency to build their team.

And they might one day again.

But right now, the Stars will be searching for bargains when free agency opens at 11 a.m. (Dallas time) today.

After spending to the salary cap limit every season, the Stars this year will have to be a lot more patient. Owner Tom Hicks is trying to restructure his finances and sell the Rangers, and the Stars will have to wait to see how much money there is to spend.

After signing Jere Lehtinen on Tuesday to a one-year deal, the team has 19 players for about $44 million in cap space (and about $41 million in actual cash). With the NHL's roster limit at 23 players and young fill-ins readily and inexpensively available, the Stars could easily come in under $45 million (actual money spent) when the season starts in October.

And while the NHL salary cap is $56.8 million for next season, $45 million could be the Stars' internal ceiling.

"I think our approach right now is that you generally overpay for players at the start of free agency, so we're going to wait," said new general manager Joe Nieuwendyk. "We're studying all of the available players, and we'll be looking to see where the market goes. That will have a lot to do with how we move forward."

The Stars have several needs, and they hope to fill at least one of them with free agent goalie Jonas Gustavsson. The 24-year-old who led Farjestad to the Swedish Elite League championship in the spring has narrowed his choices to four teams – Dallas, Toronto, Colorado and San Jose – and is expected to make his choice soon.

If he chooses the Stars, Dallas would have a solid 1-2 combination in net with Marty Turco in the final year of his contract. If not, the Stars will go after a free-agent goalie, with players such as Craig Anderson, Scott Clemmensen and Ty Conklin as possible targets. So what if all three are gone by the time, Gustavsson decides? That's the fun of being a rookie GM.

"We're prepared to wait," said Nieuwendyk. "We think it will happen in a fairly timely manner."

He waited with Lehtinen and was rewarded. The right wing could have gotten more in free agency, but he decided to take the hometown discount and play with the Stars. And right now, he looks like a bargain. Sergei Zubov could do the same thing, as the Stars very much want him back, but he wants to test the market. That's business, and it's fine by the Stars.

And who knows what Hicks might approve? He hired Nieuwendyk and new coach Marc Crawford when he could have allowed the status quo to continue at no extra cost. He said in a recent e-mail that spending will depend on which free agent might be a good fit.

Nieuwendyk said when he took the job he wants to build the Stars for the long term and avoid big free agent contracts. He reiterated that Tuesday.

"I think we also have to look at next year and the year after," he said. "We don't know where the cap is going to go, and we have a lot of guys who are up for contract next year. We want to be good for years."

Now, whether or not Stars fans will be as patient is yet to be seen.