The Dallas Stars will have to carefully consider their options after defenseman Nils Lundkvist suffered an injury against the Nashville Predators.

It was almost all fun and games as the Dallas Stars headed to Nashville and picked up a 9-2 win against the Predators, but the one sour note was that defenseman Nils Lundkvist left the game after only playing two shifts in the first period.

This was a bit puzzling, as there was nothing obvious initially shown on the broadcast and the Stars had been dominating since the opening minutes, so it didn't seem to be performance based either. Finally, going into the second period, a Stars reporter reported that his absence was due to a hit by Jeremy Lauzon, who leads the NHL in hits thus far this season. Shortly after, the ESPN+ exclusive broadcast showed the hit, and Lundkvist could do nothing to get himself out of the way,

In the post-game press conference, head coach Pete DeBoer stated there was no update on Lundkvist's condition. DeBoer said that he didn't really understand why the hit even happened, as the puck had already left the area. Now that the Stars are back in Dallas, the team is reporting that he is feeling some concussion symptoms and more testing is underway. With injuries like this, there is never a clear timetable for how long a player could be out.

What this means for the Stars

It is no secret that the Stars have already been looking to improve the blue line by the trade deadline. When Miro Heiskanen was out with his injury and missed a few weeks, Lundkvist really stepped up his game and finally found himself in a trusted role, paired with Ryan Suter. But even with the pairings at the best they've been all season, the team could still be better with the right move.

If Lundkvist is going to be out for an extended period of time, this could force the front office to make a move sooner than they wanted to. Sure, Joel Hanley could slot in for now, but after that, the defensive depth within the Stars organization gets extremely thin. Their top D prospect, Lian Bichsel, chose to leave the AHL to play in Sweden earlier this season. If his team, Rogle BK, doesn't make the playoffs, the earliest he could rejoin the Texas Stars is March 12th, which does not help the Stars for the time being.

General Manager Jim Nill has been very open about not wanting to pay too much for what will likely end up being a rental for the end of the season, but defensemen this year seem to be the hot commodity. Nill has a tendency to wait until the trade deadline is nearing the end, meaning the selling teams are usually more desperate to get the deal done and minimizing the loss of assets on the Stars end, but if there is a hole that needs to be filled sooner rather than later, Nill may have to go against his own tendencies.

The Stars have been linked to quite a few players already, but with the hot market comes a hefty price tag. Lundkvist's prognosis and recovery will determine how this all unfolds, but it could be the push the Stars needed to make a move. 

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