The silly season is under way as NHL front offices are all present in Pittsburgh for this weekend's 2012 NHL Entry Draft and we have our first chatter from a reputable source about the Dallas Stars. ESPN's Pierre LeBrun mentioned in a blog entry today that the Stars are "getting calls" from other teams on Steve Ott and Mike Ribeiro.

He didn't say they were shopping Mike Ribeiro and Steve Ott. He didn't say they were "taking calls". He said they were getting calls, which sounds like pretty passive verbiage at this point. From his blog...

The Dallas Stars are getting calls from other teams on two players that garnered attention before the trade deadline: Steve Ott and Mike Ribeiro. If the Stars move one or either of these two players, it's with the big picture in mind, which is to get their core a bit younger and build the team around Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson. [ESPN - LeBrun]

The second part I've quoted there sounds like it came from Joe Nieuwendyk's mouth directly, as we've heard countless times over the last 12 months or so.

We all have to remember that two years almost to the day EJ Hradek said he expected Mike Ribeiro to be moved on draft weekend. Two years later we're having almost the same conversation, though nothing appears as imminent as it did that off-season.

So there's nothing concrete here and nothing we haven't heard repeatedly before. Dallas will not move significant pieces like that unless it's in exchange for young assets that make the club better for a lengthy period of time, and GM's are loathe to part with those unless it's for the very best available pieces.

Meanwhile it looks like the Ducks are just trolling for an outrageous deal on Bobby Ryan - They don't necessarily want to move him. Jordan Staal reportedly turned down a massive 10-year deal and his agent says he is not ready to sign an extension at this time. Sounds like he wants to test the market next season. How much would anyone pay for a one year rental who won't sign an extension? And Roberto Luongo could be on the move if you believe what's out there. There's little to fear there as a competitor in the West, really, so you'd almost like to see a Western team gut their resources to get him.