The Dallas Stars are prepared to include Thomas Harley in a deal for Zachary Werenski, according to David Pagnotta. That's a 24-year-old defenseman with real upside being dangled to land one of the best blue-liners in the league.
This is the second significant asset Dallas has put on the table this offseason. Jason Robertson's trade situation is already stuck. Now GM Jim Nill is moving pieces from the blue line to add to it.
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Harley posted 6 goals and 36 points in 70 games this season at a $4,000,000 cap hit. He was held scoreless through six playoff games. That performance gave Nill the opening to make him available.
Werenski is a completely different caliber. He put up 22 goals and 81 points in 75 games for Columbus this season. A defenseman scoring at that pace on the power play, 4 goals and 17 assists with the man advantage, changes what Dallas can do offensively from the blue line.
Right now, Miro Heiskanen handles most of that load for the Stars at $8,450,000. Adding Werenski at $9,583,333 would give Dallas two genuine offensive threats on the back end.
The cap math is the problem. Dallas is already committed to Heiskanen, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, and Mikko Rantanen at a combined cap hit that leaves very little room to absorb nearly $9.6 million.
Harley alone may not be enough to convince Columbus to move Werenski
Columbus GM Don Waddell finished the season 40-30-12, eighteenth overall. He's rebuilding around Adam Fantilli, young defenders like Denton Mateychuk, and Kirill Marchenko. Losing Werenski hurts the ceiling of this team badly.
Harley is a good piece. At 24 with a $4,000,000 cap hit, he fits the profile of what a rebuilding team wants. But Werenski is 28 and in the prime of a career that saw him produce 81 points.
Waddell will want more than one young defenseman to make that move. The question is how far Nill is willing to go, especially while still sitting on the Robertson situation with no resolution in sight.
Dallas is starting to look like a team dismantling itself to rebuild on the fly. That's a strange place for a 50-win franchise to be.
Should the Stars trade Thomas Harley to acquire Zachary Werenski?
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