Article by Pierre Labrun
The 27-year-old Montreal native hit the Christmas holiday with 39 points (19-20) in 34 games on pace for a career-high 94 points this season. He's a bargain at US$2.8 million for sure. But a raise is coming.
Ribeiro is slated for unrestricted free agency July 1, but before fans of other NHL teams can start licking their lips, sources tell Sportsnet.ca that contract talks are already under way between the Stars and the Ribeiro camp. Word is a deal should be done well before the end of the season.
Why not stay in Dallas if you're Ribeiro? The Stars gave him a chance to become a No. 1 centre and the go-to offensive guy. He never got that chance in Montreal with captain Saku Koivu standing the way.
Might be worth remembering who is responsible for stealing him from the Habs. That would be Doug Armstrong, fired as Stars GM earlier this season. Armstrong got Ribeiro from Montreal on Sept. 30, 2006, as well as the Habs' sixth-round draft choice in 2008 in exchange for defenceman Janne Niinimaa and a fifth-round pick in 2007. Niinimaa is now playing in Davos, Switzerland, after a mediocre stint with the Habs last season.
In defence of Habs' GM Bob Gainey, I highly doubt Ribeiro would have ever blossomed this way in Montreal. There were off-ice distractions in Ribeiro's hometown and the move to Dallas allowed him to focus more on his craft.
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"Maturity comes into play," Ribeiro told me in a November interview. "When I was younger I was thinking less about training then I'm doing now. I'm in better shape than I was before. I also know the game better, too, and playing with confidence
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Ribeiro is on fire and so is his team. The Stars are second in the Western Conference with 46 points (21-12-4). It's the same team the fired Armstrong put together. In fact, only Detroit and Ottawa have gathered more regular-season points in the standings since the beginning of the 2002-03 than the Stars during that period.