The raid on the Chicago Blackhawks’ depth players continues as the Dallas Stars snagged fringe forward Adam Burish with a two-year, $2.3 million deal according to Nick Kypreos.
While the Dallas Stars feature a nice collection of productive forwards, they could use a little more elbow grease. Adam Burish could flourish if he’s the “dirty work” guy on a talented Stars line, much like he often did in Chicago (when he wasn’t in the doghouse).
It does, however, show the interesting effect a championship can have on the reputations of its support players. Teams must wrestle with logical tug-of-wars, particularly this debate: would Player X thrive with bigger minutes or does he just seem more promising because he was part of a great organization?
The Stars are making a relatively low-risk move, although Burish won’t heal all wounds. He’s not going to light the scoreboard on fire (two points in 14 regular season games with Chicago), but he’s the kind of high-energy, versatile guy that Dallas could use.
Too bad he didn’t sign with an Eastern Conference team, though, because he’ll rarely have to confront Chris Pronger, the man he infamously called “an idiot.”