Stars, Flames in similar situations, place in standings

Professional sports teams rarely travel in a straight line.
Fans can barely stay calm for five minutes of a bad game, let alone the ups and downs of a five-year rebuilding plan. So it's Tuesday that two teams will meet, and both are in the middle of a stream. It's not that unusual, really, but the fact that both the Stars and Calgary Flames are facing similar issues makes for an interesting battle.

The Flames are 23-13-6, good for 48 points and a .600 points percentage. They're right on the cusp of making the playoffs, but they also have a leading scorer who can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer and very much might leave the franchise. So, do you hang onto Johnny Gaudreau, who currently has 52 points (17 goals, 35 assists) in 40 games because he can help you make the playoffs? Or do you put him on the market because you know a "contender" would give you a huge bundle of prospects and draft picks to take on a possible "rental" at the trade deadline?
Likewise, second-leading scorer Matthew Tkachuk can become an RFA in the summer, and you have to make him happy, and eight other players can become UFAs. That's a lot to juggle, right?
Sure, but just take a look at the lads in Victory Green. Dallas is 23-17-2 for 48 points and a points percentage of .571. They'd fall short of the Flames at this minute, but they definitely have the opportunity to climb the standings if they were to put together a nice run.
Their payroll also is in transition. Leading scorer Joe Pavelski, who has 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists) in 42 games, can become a UFA in the summer. Same goes for defenseman John Klingberg. Both can be huge draws at the trade deadline and could help the Stars get started on a rebuild of sorts.
If you want to get completely crazy, Dallas also could move Alexander Radulov, Braden Holtby or Michael Raffl if it was so inclined.
What might keep both teams from making any moves is the hope that the time to win is now. Dallas has been pushing for this season for some time. They finally have received the seasoning for younger players such as Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen, Jason Robertson and Jake Oettinger, and believe they could get better in the playoffs with the help of veterans such as Pavelski, Holtby, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. On paper, it makes complete sense.
Benn entered this campaign with a scoring average of .84 points per game, so it's easy to imagine he's going to come up from the 0.45 he had in the first half of the season. Seguin entered at a 0.85 points per game clip, and that must mean his current 0.52 is an injury-induced aberration, right? Same with Radulov being a 20-goal scorer most seasons and having just two right now or Klingberg being a career plus-20 but sitting a team-worst minus-16 this year.
There's a lot that can be improved in the second half.
For the Flames, forward Sean Monahan entered this year with a career scoring average of 0.74. He's at 0.48 this year, so he could come around.
Monahan has another year left at $6.37 million. Benn has three years left at $9.5 million. Seguin has five years left at $9.85 million. You can see why the fans are a tad bit frustrated, but you can also see that each of these teams believes it has superstars in the respective prime of their careers. It's why they keep clinging to hope.
For the Flames, another big wildcard is coach Darryl Sutter. The 63-year-old bench boss has a history of making miracles happen in the playoffs. He took the 2011-12 Kings from the eighth seed in the West to Stanley Cup champions. He took the 2013-14 Kings from the third seed in the Pacific to Stanley Cup champs. Heck, he took the 2003-04 Flames from the sixth seed to the Stanley Cup Final, so they have plenty of fond memories right there in Cowtown.
In Dallas, 67-year-old Rick Bowness was the driving force behind the Stars' trip to the 2020 Final. Yes, it was in a bubble, but Dallas accomplished the feat nonetheless, and not that long ago. Can you believe in that magic one more time before you start the dismantling?
It's a battle raging in both cities. Go for it? Or play it safe?
The month of February will play a huge role in the direction each franchise will make, and the first game of that decision-making process is Tuesday at American Airlines Center.
See, sometimes it's fun to swerve a little bit en route to you destination - well at least in terms of sports teams anyway.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.