As games go by, and the Dallas Stars find themselves looking up at a tall(er) hill to climb into the playoff picture in a wild card spot, the trade deadline strategy for general manager Jim Nill continues to get fuzzier.
On the one hand, they aren’t officially eliminated yet, being just 7 points out of the last playoff position with 2-3 games in hand over almost every team they have to leapfrog (except Winnipeg).
On the other, if the season ended today, they’d be drafting somewhere in the top 5 in the draft this summer, depending on the draft lottery and any potential deals the Stars could make with their 1st round pick.