Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - This Has To Be THE YEAR For Dallas Stars… Right?? | BB Clips

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

Boomer, Pinder and Rhett dive into a conversation around the Dallas Stars and whether this season is truly Cup or bust, breaking down a roster that feels ready to win now after coming close in recent years, while also looking at the reality of a brutal path through their division that could mean going through the Wild and then the league-leading Avalanche just to reach the Western Conference Final, raising the question of whether anything short of a Stanley Cup would be considered a failure.Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/HwJKlNg_ppg#nhl #nhlshorts #nhlplayoffs #nhlpredictions #nhlhockey #nhlpicks #stanleycup #stanleycupfinal #dallasstars #dallas CHECK OUT OUR STUFF ⬇️BARN BURNER MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/shirts/FlamesnationBARN BURNER SHORTS https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cW2DHEDZ6dEO5ePDmlhZc9&si=jo8iNGxT4ImhS2Y8📲 Follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fnbarnburner/X (Twitter): https://x.com/barnburnerfn?lang=en🎧 Listen on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/barn-burner-boomer-pinder-with-rhett-warrener/id1648562889Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Mc6Qd5U22R2zbMlQ7RxIiProducer: Jack Haverstock Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I was looking, so what's the Jason Robertson contract situation with Dallas? He's got one more year. He's a, RFA this summer. RFA this summer. So you could say, oh, he's an R. We got all this control. Well, he's a year away from UFA. And so if things get dicey, he'll just go to ARB, take a one-year deal, and walk to free agency.

So they basically have to figure out, I think they like him. He's not a perfect player. He's left off Team USA. The foot speeds, never anything that's been special. But he just finishes and scores a ton of goals. And you got rantin and making 12. I believe. Are you going to just,

does Robo get more? Does Robo want to stay in Dallas for less? Because he'd get more on the open market with the way the cap's grown. He just scores goals. Only 40 so far this year. Hey, Zeus. Yeah.

Quiet. Just 40 every year when he's healthy, not every year, but three times already. Holy, pretty durable. I was going through the notes this morning and looking at it. You just look at the points that he puts up. It's, it's, it's, it's, four consecutive 80 point seasons.

Like only Madano has done that in team. There's a lot of things that now he is accomplishing. That's among the best to have done it in the North Star's slash slash stars, uh, franchise. And he's a pop. He's 26 years old. Yeah, you got to lock him in long term. This is the big max term deal.

Um, if, if he's a guy you keep, I think why they kind of were so cautious and careful around the deadline. is they didn't want to make a move that would limit their ability to sign him in this off season, because it is going to be a huge number. And he isn't a perfect player, but he's the hardest thing to do is what he's best at, and that's scoring goals. Got to be opportunistic, Rhett.

What about, Rhett? I said that's been there today, Cooper Williams. Yeah. It was like Red on the third man in on that goal, he scored on, what's his name there? We saw that Cliff. Flah Hurti. Wade, well, waiter. Cover the puck way.

Rattan's making 12. He's in for a, I mean, he's in until 2033. Do you get the sense that, sorry, Dino, kind of walk any of there, but do you get the sense the guys that are in Dallas

want to stay in Dallas? Seems. I would want to, I think. They've got a good team. I mean, they've locked up everyone of Sub-Robertson to this point. I believe they've already paid Harley. They've got Johnston.

Yeah, I was good. Group A Hince is in. Wyatt Johnston, 8.4. That's a deal already, and he's 22. So he's in. And on the back end, Haskinen. Steel, that's theft.

8.4 for three more seasons. Lindel is signed. Harley is signed. Harley's deal kicks in next year. That really has. 4 right now. 10.5. Yeah, and if you're going to be a guy that goes to the Olympics,

That's probably the going rate. Like he, I don't think he's having a great year, but when we watched him step into four nations last year, you'd heard a lot of the numbers nerds saying this guy's really good. And then team Canada brings me like, whoa, he can do everything and he's big. And then he took off. Yes. When he got back after the four nations. This year hasn't been the same, uh, after the Olympics, he's been.

He's a pop too, though. Maybe it's down. Either way. Um, but yeah, Hayeskinen is a, he's a stud. Remember last year, they missed him for a good chunk. He broke his leg or whatever midway point of the season. He's got 62 points, 25 minutes a night, does it all. He might be the most complete defenseman in the league in terms of like you might not get the points that the Makar Werenski, Bouchard,

crew get. Yeah, Dahlene, I'd put in that group. I mean, I don't know where to put Quinn Hughes because I think he is pretty good in his own zone, but like he does everything big minutes. It's not running a power play that makes. some special. Yeah. This is if you're Robertson, are you the guy going to the GM and saying, I want it all?

Because I don't know that anyone did that, even Rantan. Yeah, Rantanin was asking for 14 in Dallas and a couple months later he signs for from Colorado and then a couple months later he signs for 12 in Dallas. And, you know, there's there's tax advantages there. I would expect that if this will get done and it won't be what he would get on the open market, especially considering it's in a year. So your term limits drop after September 15. The longest you can sign a guy,

seven years for your own team, six for a UFA. Like, you can still do well on total dollars signing a big one this summer and it being under market. Just looking like obviously Maverick Bork is a guy. He's 24. He's starting to come on a little bit for them. Is there any strategy to selling him just as a strategy play? I mean, we looked at those numbers.

Yes, please. I'd take that all day. every day. But if you're the stars, is there a strategy to move on them because of what you can get back? I feel like it's a tough spot because they're kind of in their window to win right now. You look at it and it's like Wyatt is absolutely entered his prime. You've got ropey in his prime. You've still got Jamie Ben there contributing. This is the time to win. And so if you're moving out a guy scoring 40, I don't know that you're going to get that back and which team's going to make that deal with you. It feels like a lateral move for both teams in a way, right?

to be easier if it was like, okay, windows closed, we'll trade this guy. But no, they're right in it here. Unless you think if we've now got Wyatt Johnston, who's a 40 goal guy, Jason Robertson was our 40 goal guy. Can we spin this guy into a defenseman? Right shot D. Yeah. And a supplementary piece up front.

Because, yeah, you got Rupa, you've got, you got enough weapons you would think up front. But. Yeah. And I think that's what they mold over. I don't want to say mold over, but if they were going to do that, you could have done that at the deadline and said, look, we're going to lose a little scoring, but we're going to add a legit right shot D. Because as it stands right now, it's Lundkvist-Libuschkin Myers on the right side behind

Aiskin. You can do better than that. They could use one more top four right-shot guy. They have made the West Conference final in each of the last three years. In the last 40, only Colorado from 99 to 2002, like those elite, Hall of Fame, Wausat, like those teams. And Detroit from 95. to 98.

It made it four straight, four straight years to the conference five. Yeah, we looked at Florida. They just did three in a row, and it's like the miles they put on, they're cooked. Everyone's like, oh, those teams have played in the final.

They're banged up. Yeah, well, they only played sort of five to seven more games of the teams of the conference file. Dallas, you know, they played a lot of games. They had a lot of Olympians. Segan, gone for the year. They can use that money, but it feels like,

do it now. When you hear those. two teams and retro week kind of reminisce about those not to say you can put a hall of famers and you start going through those lists like Colorado and Detroit Lidstrom, Iserman, Shannon. Do we the stars are one run to the final four away from being in that class. Yeah. Colorado had some wins.

Detroit had some wins. Dallas is not one. Is that the only thing that keeps us from seeing them in that say? Because I don't know that I see them in that same lens. Those two like those Colorado Detroit teams were almost all time. Wow, I don't know if they had the list of... It was pre-cap, right? So you could load up teams more than you can now.

You couldn't have afforded to squeeze all those guys on the abs and wings under a cap in the way the league works now. But, I mean, like, what's, are we going to look back at why Johnson's crew at the end and be like, wow, Hall of Famer? Like, maybe he's done a lot real quick. So are we close to treading towards the San Jose sharks with the Marlowe Thornton? these guys can't win. They get to the playoffs, win a round, win two rounds. Not yet, but... Because I would think if you're in Dallas, sorry, right?

If you're in Dallas, if you're in Dallas, if you... You have to win now. Yeah. If you, you've made it through three straight final conference finals. I, yes, and I think that probably the people in Dallas or the fans of Dallas are going, we have one hell of a team. What is Otting? Yeah, it's funny because we saw him at his best.

We refer to him as a superstar golden. Because we saw him play that way. 970. 970 in a seven game series. That's almost unbeatable. It's incredible what he did against Calgary in 22. And then every year since they've gone to the conference final. And they still lost that series.

Exactly. And so when they look at Ottinger, they probably look at a lot of those other series. Fans of Calgary are like, oh, man, Ottinger. What a style. Yeah. But we saw the best he ever looked. the best seven games of his life, I bet. It's interesting. It was Noodles, who was kind of one of the first ones to bring it up.

Maybe last year, a while ago talking about Ottinger. How's their goaltending? It's like, well, they got Ottinger. It's like, oh, maybe. Odinger was in net the last time they played, 22 saves, shut out against Winnipeg. Prior to that, allowed four to Boston. He allowed three on 12. I think he made nine saves and one against Pittsburgh in the game before that.

four on eight shots against the devils was good against the islanders but lost it's I don't know you know what he's missing a signature series because the one we talked about they lost in game seven overtime when Johnny scored and he's been outduled by Pickard and Skinner the last two springs that's not a vibe he needs to

have a heroic performance whether it be Colorado or even Minnesota in round one or if they get to a conference final that's where he's going to start moving into the, oh, look at this guy's resume. Like he's just missing that. The whole team is. They're just missing that trip to the dance.

They've been so close. Yeah, just looking at his, at his, he was, but that's the one spot. That's the one soft spot on the, on the, isn't it? I mean,

right side D, but I would agree. Like, I think Audra has it in him, but he hasn't done it yet, right? Yeah, like last year, I mean, you go back to R, he was great against, that's a long time ago now. Well, it feels like you're here.

Yeah. You're right. Pickard and Skinner. Twice. Twice. Like, and the coach sold them down the river. Like, you're the shits, basically. Yeah.

So we should maybe read more into Dabors and how that all unfolded. Not that it's right or wrong, but there's something there. Yeah. Handle it differently for sure. You just don't air it publicly. That was the issue of that one. wasn't wrong. Like, Scully wasn't good enough. You got beat by Pickard and Skinner.

Last year, a 905 saved percentage in the, in the postseason the year before that 915 was a good numbers, but you still have to win. Do the Calgary. Yeah. It's crazy. 954. In snub in games.

Yeah. Jeez. But again, didn't win. No, no. Hey, that that team was not what they are now. That was pre-Wyatt. A lot of these, Harley was hadn't arrived yet. You're now, like, that was a what, a wild card against a one seed?

This is a team now that is expected to get at least to the conference final. And fans will be disappointed they don't get to a final. They're in the window of like, don't just be, to your point, a shark's team that was really good for a long time. Go get a banner. Yeah. Like, that's what I mean. Is in that market within those walls, Jim Nill's been there forever now after being in Detroit for forever. but it's kind of kind of patient although the I mean you can go get rantin and you go get

ranton and he's yeah I guess if you if you do that you can't be considered patient but um patience runs out in some markets for seeing it teams are firing their GMs and coaches with two weeks left in the season uh the wild will be no fun in round one no that's the scary part that they're going to get, if they, they could very easily lose that series. Yeah. And you'll need to be level-headed about it. But if you go from three conference finals and then a round one bounce. Put it through this filter.

Like, let's say Jason Robertson, for whatever reason, the puck's not going in. He's hitting posts. He has an okay series, not great. They lose to Minnesota. Does that change how you approach, how you built your team? Like, does all of a sudden, Robertson hit the market? I wonder if he's, I mean, what a great chip for Jim Nill to have, just have, right? You can move you whenever I want for a massive return.

I've got a star or breaking case of emergency. I don't know what the right move is in that circumstance. But. Plus might tell us this year. They lose in the first round and they want to make a change. Yeah. Easy enough to do. Totally.

You're not going to drop back the same team. If you've got Robertson on the table, you're going to be able to get some very interesting pieces. They moved out. Stancoven and two firsts for Rantan. So they were a team with one of the top pipelines in the NHL, but Stancovin goes out, Bork has graduated onto the roster, Harley's no longer a prospect.

All of a sudden, it's like, okay, a lot of kids coming now. This is the window. Yeah, but they're still so young that it's not, you know what I mean? There's a difference. Yeah, but it's like, this is the group is what I'm saying. Oh, for sure. There's no, no knight in shining armor that's just a year away from ride. Like, this is your crew.

And I wonder why, if that maybe is part of the equation with why Robertson hasn't been done yet. And if, and just a reminder, if, if they get past Minnesota, what's waiting for them round two potentially? The best team in the NHO, Colorado, outage. Is that how it goes? The top three teams in the West are all in the same division and we'll play each other in rounds one and two.

I thought it receded. No, you stay in division. This is the, the format Gary loves that a lot of people have an issue with. I like getting rivalry more, but it is weird when you see teams that would be out of the playoffs in the East winning the Pacific. Like, come on.

The rivalries are developed because of playoff. No, I know. I just mean, I understand why Gary does it. It's a revenue thing. The reason Gary does it because of the time changes. That's the reason he does it. You think it's not revenue?

I think everything the league does is a revenue. Like, you can charge more driven by the time change because then he can schedule out for the for the, for whoever's covering the series, you can stage it so that you're having different times. So you've got the East games in the West,

like they're all different. That's why the revenue matters. It's not that you're getting more revenue because Dallas is playing Minnesota. No, but there are instances like that. Like if the Leafs and Habs play in the playoffs, that's going to cost more than them playing any other teams. Edmonton, Calgary, same thing.

If you have Anaheim, L.A. But our games, they're going to be, course they're sold out. It's just the secondary market. When teams get to cut all that resale stuff off ticket master, whoever are their ticket providers, they make more money. But why can't they play each other in the other scenario?

They can. They're forced to play each other under this current format. And Gary says it. You get more rival on rival in the playoffs. Gary says it, but I don't buy everything that Gary fucking tells us. So the fact that you're saying, because Gary says it's true, it's true?

No, I just know that I'd spend more to watch an Euler's flames game than I would Calgary. Yeah, but you're just making something up. There's no reason. The format makes it more. It's not the wrong example. But like Calgary, Minnesota or Calgary, Edmonton, which, which games do the Flames are working out?

Why do you know for a fact that it works out better that way? Because they play 80, they play 41 home games a year. And it's the same four or five games that always are the toughest ticket, the highest price. You're missing the point completely. I don't understand how your math. And I'm open to, I would. like to understand why you think Calgary plays Edmonton more often in this format as opposed

to a 1-8 format. Because if they're both in the playoffs, they're more likely to collide being in the same division. If they're out of division, or sorry, if it's a 1-8, they might not meet at all, or they could maybe meet in a conference final if they both get there, there's a higher probability of rivals meeting under the current format that if you ceded 1 through 8. Comparative to what? I'm not even being a dick.

1-8 versus the divisional playoff. I understand how. I understand what you're saying, but it's not zero to 100. No, that's right. It's just more. It's a better chance. It isn't like zero versus. It's not on off.

Yeah, I agree with that. And I do think you have a point with the scheduling stuff. That makes sense too. It's frustrating when you get lopsided divisions. I just think, like we saw Toronto, that was the squeaky wheel the last years because they always ran into Boston, Tampa, Florida. And you're like, geez, like, why can't we play someone in the metro?

Like, we'd love to play Washington plays. And it's, it's, it's, it's. It doesn't feel fair. And I get that. But I just understand that the league always does what's best for making money in their mind. And they seem to think this is the best formula. This is the one, this would be one year where if you were dead set against it and you wanted to lobby a case that you could taking the central in the Pacific. Because one team is going to come out of the top three in the Pacific and one team's going to come out in the top three from the central.

Gross. And maybe we'll be wrong. But by the time round three hits, I feel like one team's going to have an easier path. No question. Yeah. It's to the point where I almost don't write off Utah to come out of the Pacific. They're going to be wild card one.

Look at the Pacific winner. If Utah plays Anaheim or Edmonton and Leon apparently might not be ready for the start of a series, like you could have, you know, three central teams and one Pacific left after round one. Yeah.