Devils, Stars Quietly Circling Offseason Splash

The rumor mill has two front offices doing the kind of offseason due diligence that usually means somebody is already picking out salary retention language. New Jersey and Dallas both have the sort of assets and urgency that make a blockbuster more than idle board talk, and that is exactly why this one has legs. The hard part is always the fit, because the league’s biggest trades usually die in the weeds long before they ever hit the podium.