I like the Kari Lehtonen to Dallas trade because it gives the Stars options at a position where they’re vulnerable.

The Stars will soon be parting ways with goalie Marty Turco. If he’s not traded, he won’t be re-signed next season.

Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk doesn’t want to wait until the off-season to get his goaltending future straightened out. He wants to have some contingency plans in place, so the Stars don’t find themselves without an NHL-quality goalie next season.

Lehtonen can fill that role.

Dallas gave up the prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy for Lehtonen, which seems like a steep price. In fact, for that kind of prospect, I would have thought they could have almost gotten Ilya Kovalchuk.

But even given Lehtonen’s price, assuming he can get in some solid games, it’ll make negotiating with other goaltenders a lot more relaxed. Instead of agents using Dallas’ lack of a goalie to force the Stars to overpay for free agents, at least now Nieuwendyk can walk away and say the team already has a goalie they’re comfortable using.