Mike Heika, Stars beat writer for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answers your questions about the team in a live chat recently. Here are some highlights:

Do you think the Stars are going to keep both goalies, get rid of one, or get rid of both?

Heika: I think they will buy out Antti Niemi and keep Kari Lehtonen.

Then, they will add someone like Ben Bishop, Steve Mason or Scott Darling. I think Mason becomes an interesting name now because Ken Hitchcock had him in Columbus and goalie coach Jeff Reese had him in Philadelphia. I think they both like him and he's only 28 and has played in almost 500 NHL games.

He really could be a great project who fits in well here.

I'm still beating the drum for Dallas to try to get Joonas Korpisalo from Columbus before the June 17 expansion draft, but I think my pleas will not be heard because getting Korpisalo means you probably need to buy out both goalies. I just don't think they want to do that.

Mike, do you think Hitch is going to keep up this two-goalie system? I'm pretty sure he did the same thing with Jake Allen and Brian Elliott in St. Louis.

Heika: Yeah, he said as much. The way it looks now is they will keep Kari Lehtonen and add a UFA goalie, and that will lend itself to using both goalies. That said, I think it will be closer to a 65-35 split than 50-50. I think Lehtonen will likely become the back-up goalie next season unless he gets on a tremendous hot streak at some point and knocks the other guy out.

How shocked would you be if the Stars took an offensive player with their first pick?

Heika: Not at all. First of all, the draft lottery gives every team a chance to get the first, second or third pick in the draft. Likewise, the Stars could fall from 8 to 11 if other teams step ahead of them.

So there are a lot of moving parts here.

Jim Nill is an old scout, so he's going to take the best player available. He also knows these are 18-year-olds and they probably are not going to fulfill any immediate needs.

I think in the 8-10 range, the chances are good they will take an offensive player. And my guess is their second pick might very well be a goalie. It should be fun to watch.

Hitch is a defensive coach. Which player do you think is our best defensive defenseman?

Heika: Hamhuis was solid last year when he settled in. He reads plays well, and he makes smart little plays.

However, Esa Lindell has ability to be a top shutdown defenseman, and the guess is the Stars will use him in that manner. There could be some growing pains, but he has the ability to go against the other team's best players all game and still end up a plus-player at the end of the night.

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