Shocking Team Named as a Frontrunner to Land Aaron Ekblad in Free Agency

The Dallas Stars stand at a fork in the road once more. With yet another deep playoff run being spoiled in heartbreaking fashion, the atmosphere around the club appears obvious: close is just not acceptable.

With consecutive Western Conference Final flameouts, the Stars look to be busy this summer, and Sportsnet's Jeff Marek wonders if that could result in a serious pursuit of pending free agent defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

Marek believes that the Stars could pursue Ekblad in a big way, given that they've been coveting a blue-collar right-shot defenseman to help complete their core for years.

With Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley, and Esa Lindell already in place, adding Ekblad would give Dallas the best top-four group of defensemen in the NHL.

Stars GM Jim Nill has demonstrated that he's not afraid to push chips in. He gave up a number of first-round picks and blue-chip prospect Logan Stankoven in a series of trades for Mikko Rantanen, Mikael Granlund, and Cody Ceci this offseason.

Nill also attempted to trade for Seth Jones and Brad Marchand, which speaks to the Stars' absolute "win-now" mindset. If Dallas is to keep on swinging big, a bold move could be in the cards, maybe revolving around franchise winger Jason Robertson.

With a year left at a meager $7.75 million, Robertson's contract is one of the league's biggest bargains. The trade would free up cap room and replenish draft assets.

If he's dealt away, expect Ottawa and Anaheim to be in the mix too, and don't count out Mitch Marner's name as a potential plug-in. Bigger things are coming to Dallas. Ekblad could be one of them.