Ex-Penguins forward Stu Barnes excited about opportunity with Seattle

DALLAS — Christmas will be extra special for Stu Barnes this year.

It has been for 48 years.

After all, his birthday falls on Dec. 25.

When he celebrates his 49th birthday Wednesday — to say nothing of a far more notable birthday which coincides with that date — he will have the opportunity to savor the occasion where he has the previous 15 years.

Texas.

The longtime NHL forward, who spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins in the late 1990s, maintains his home in the Dallas suburbs even after being let go as an assistant coach by the Stars in June.

And why not? The weather is better than on most places on the continent. The taxes are low, and there’s tons of great barbecue.

Also, his new job is where his old job was, give or take a few hundred feet in elevation.

For most of the Stars’ games at American Airlines Center this season, Barnes has sat in the press box as a professional scout for the NHL’s still unnamed Seattle expansion franchise, which is slated to begin play in 2021.

“It’s very exciting,” said Barnes, whose contract with the Stars was not renewed. “It’s an exciting time. I know the city (Seattle) fairly well, the state fairly well. I have family from Washington state. We know what a great area it is, what a great part of the country it is. It’s going to be fantastic when we get started.”

Barnes’ connections with Washington go back three decades. During the late 1980s, the Spruce Grove, Alberta, native was a junior star for the Tri-City Americans, a Western Hockey League team in Kennewick, Wash. Today, he is one of the owners of that franchise.

But beyond those provincial ties, Barnes did a little networking to get his current gig. One of his former Penguins teammates is general manager of the expansion franchise: former Penguins captain Ron Francis.

“I played with Ronnie for a couple of years in Pittsburgh,” Barnes said, in an interview with the Tribune-Review during second intermission of a Penguins-Stars game in Dallas on Oct. 26. “Obviously, have a ton of respect for him back then. Got along with him. Over the years, just being around the league whether it’s as players and, of course, he was a (general manager with the Carolina Hurricanes) and me coaching, you just kind of stay in touch. When I saw he got the job, I thought what an unbelievable hire that is for Seattle. It just worked out that way.”

The fourth overall pick of the 1989 draft by the Winnipeg Jets, Barnes spent 16 seasons in the NHL as a player. His most productive years came with the Penguins, including in 1997-98 when he scored a career-best 30 goals.

”I was fortunate to be around some of the great players that were there,” Barnes said. “I was with Mario (Lemieux) and, of course, Ronnie Francis and (Jaromir) Jagr and all those guys. It was really fun to be a player on that team and watch those guys go about their business every day. We enjoyed our time there. I had a lot of fun playing hockey. It was a really good time.

“I got an opportunity to play on the top line, the top power play. That was a lot of fun.”

Barnes, who also played for the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres, finished his career in 2007-08 after four seasons with the Stars partly because of concussion woes.

“I was fortunate to retire at the right time I think,” Barnes said. “It was time. I was 37, so I hung around a long time. I was still fairly healthy. I did have a couple of concussions along the way. Since then, the health is good. I’ve been enjoying life, hanging out with my kids a little bit and it’s been really good.”

Barnes is pleased to see how far the diagnosis and treatment of head injuries has come since his playing career.

“Every year, you get more and more information on it,” Barnes said. “Everyone is more aware of what it is and how to treat it. That’s a good thing. That’s a positive thing. Not only at this level but at lower levels. It’s real important that we’re aware of it.”

What isn’t clear is how does he scout for a team that doesn’t exist outside of a few trademarks for potential names or memorandums of understanding?

“You just try to get as much information as possible on everybody,” Barnes said. “Ronnie Francis is the guy in charge of it. We all know what a great hockey mind he is and how smart he is. He’s tasked us with gathering information and going from there. We’ll see where it takes us.”

When the Seattle To-Be-Named-Laters are allowed to add players either through the expansion draft or the free agency signing period of the 2021 offseason, they likely will have nearly two years of reports from Barnes and other scouts to sift through.

“You just try to get as much information as possible,” Barnes said. “We’re obviously still a few years away from anything that’s real action. For now, it’s good to get ahead of it.”

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