Karlis Skrastins will not get you a lot of points.
His career high is 18 (four goals, 14 assists) set last season in 80 games with the Florida Panthers.
But what he will get you is a decent amount of blocked shots (9th in the league at 171 last season) and a very durable, veteran presence in front of the net.
At 6-1 and 210 pounds, Skrastins offers some of the same physical attributes that Mattias Nortsrom offered two seasons ago for the Stars. At 35, he offers some of the same leadership skills.
That said, Skrastins is not as good a player as Norstrom was on the ice, and he is probably not as good of a leader as Norstrom was off the ice.
So that has to be taken into consideration when evaluating what Skrastins will bring to the Stars. That said, there's a reason Norstrom was a former captain of the Kings who was making $4 million a year when the Stars acquired him.
What Skrastins can be for Dallas (which signed him to a two-year free agent contract for $2.75 million total) is a very stable presence that eats up minutes and calms a young defenseman who will probably be his partner.
Skrastins has played 679 NHL games and is minus-40 in that span. However, he is coming off a season in which he was plus-8 in Florida and averaged 20:33 in ice time. He also was second on Florida in average penalty kill time at 3:14, so he should be able to help the Stars reduce the amount of ice time Stephane Robidas (2:32) or Trevor Daley (2:47) has to spend on the ice. That could open either up to be used more on the power play.
Now, one of the problems with Skrastins is he has played in the playoffs only twice in his career (both with Colorado). His success against Dallas in those two runs (along with his success in Florida) is probably one of the reasons the Stars targeted him. But he has played a ton in the playoffs in Europe, and he has the demeanor the Stars are looking for.
Plus, if he makes it through the season and the Stars make the playoffs, he should be plenty prepared to succeed there.
Skrastins gives this team depth and experience, and the chance to at least force the kids to earn any extra minutes they might receive _ and that has to be seen as a good thing.
_Mike Heika
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