Should the Dallas Stars Quit Defense?

Nov 28, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) faces the Minnesota Wild attack during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Wild defeated the Stars 5-4 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Stars defense has been just plain awful this season. They gave up five goals to the Avalanche on Saturday and now are 30th is goals allowed. The question that no one has been asking is “should the Dallas Stars quit defense?”

The Dallas Stars defense is bad. Really bad. So bad, in fact, that they have allowed more goals than the Buffalo Sabers have allowed and it’s not that close. The Sabers have “only” allowed 75 goals to the Stars 83 (after Saturday night’s games). In fact, the Stars are now one goal ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for most goals allowed (DAL 83. CBJ 82) The Sabers and Blue Jackets are not good company to have if you want to be a playoff team.

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The Stars, however, are only 5 points away from the 8th seed right now and they have mainly been able to stay that close due to offense. While the defense is at the bottom of the league, the offense is in the top ten in goals scored and they might be where they should focus. So, here is what I propose:

The Dallas Stars Defense Proposal

Trade all of the defense except for John Klingberg and Trevor Daley. Klingberg has proven (at least so far) to be an offensive threat and Daley is decent on the power play. So, just trade the rest of the Blue Liners for any half way decent offensive players and then play 18 wingers and centers a game. Call six of them “defensemen” and there you go.

But why stop there? Go ahead and play without the goalie, too.  They could trade Kari Lehtonen and Anders Lindback for more offensive help. That would give the Stars an extra attacker s, which means they wouldn’t even need to think about defense if they are always on the attack. Sure, the opponents may stumble into an empty netter every now and again, but if the Stars are scoring 7, 8, or 9  (or more) goals a game, I think they can deal with that.

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I suppose, though, that the Stars should probably dress a goalie for the games and they can do that cheaply by calling up Jack Campbell from the AHL for very specific situations such as the opponent going on a power play. But as soon as the penalty is over, pull the goalie again and go back on the attack.

The Fallout

Every decision has repercussions. If the Stars decide to take my advice, and they should, what would happen would be this: they allow more goals than any team ever has in the history of the NHL, but they score more goals than any team ever and make the playoffs. In the playoffs they make it to the Stanley Cup Championship game and win it all having swept through the playoffs. It could only end that way, right?