GM: No plans to trade Mike Ribeiro

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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk ended months of speculation, telling center Mike Ribeiro that the plan is for him to stay with the team.

Ribeiro, whose production dropped last season after having led the Stars in scoring in both 2007-08 and 2008-09, had been a fixture of the NHL trade rumor mill this offseason.

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"I reassured him that I have no intentions of moving him," Nieuwendyk said. "I think he was worried about it. There was speculation out there that he was going to be moved any day.

"I talked him to a couple of weeks ago and said, 'Mike, you need to do some things for me and I need to do some things for you, but I fully expect you are going to have a big year.' I assured him I had no intentions of moving him at this time. I think he and Brenden Morrow are going to have big years."

Ribeiro struggled with coach Marc Crawford's up-tempo style last season, registering just 53 points (19 goals, 34 assists) in 66 games. He also missed time because of injuries.

Morrow, who played on the same line as Ribeiro, also had a down season in 2009-10 after returning from ACL surgery.

Mark Stepneski covers the Stars for ESPNDallas.com. You can follow him on Twitter or leave a question for his mailbag.

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Mark Stepneski

ESPNDallas.com

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Mark Stepneski joined ESPNDallas.com in July 2010. A former news/special projects producer for KXAS-TV, he has run the Andrew's Dallas Stars Page website since 1997.