Last year’s NHL Trade Deadline saw a bunch of big names being swapped and traded and it brought Mats Zuccarello and Ben Lovejoy to the Stars, both players contributing to this year’s playoff run. This year, there is a lot of need for some scoring depth and not a lot of a need for defensive depth. Especially with the return of Stephen Johns and the emergence of Taylor Fedun as a very capable sixth/seventh defensemen.
Do keep in mind these trades are not overlapping, so assets can be traded multiple times in this article.
A lottery protected 2021 first, 2021 second, Julius Honka for Kyle Palmeiri half retained. Palmieri has 41 points in 54 games this season and would provide a huge scoring touch to the Stars top nine with 22 of his points being goals. His 22 goals would immediately be first on the Stars team with Jamie Benn being second with 18.
Palmieri also has another year on his cointract after this season and having him at half retained would still leave a fair amount of money for free agency. New Jersey also gets a near-guaranteed first for next year as well as an unconditional second and Julius Honka to assist with their rebuild. Honka who doesn’t want to remain with the Stars, still has a ton of upside in the NHL and would be solid to help protect the value of MacKenzie Blackwood.
Another trade I was thinking of which probably is less likely than the first one is Julius Honka and a sixth to Montreal for Ilya Kovalchuk. Honka is a good top-four defensemen prospect who wants out of Dallas because in the six years since he’s been drafted, he’s only played 87 games and all of them had him on the bottom pair. Kovalchuk, who has seen a resurgence in his career on a one-year, league minimum deal for the Canadiens, has 12 points in 19 games for the Habs. He could be a very valuable asset for the Stars as they make their push for the Stanley Cup and even if he doesn’t work in Dallas, his $700,000 cap hit wouldn’t punish the Stars if they decided to scratch him.
The last potential trade I will discuss in this piece is Chris Kreider (half retained) to Dallas for Julius Honka, a 2021 second and Adam Mascherin. Chris Kreider brings a massive net front presence to Dallas and he has no problem charging the net with or without the puck. Adam Mascherin has the potential to into a high-tier third line player and with the right development crew, he can.
Whether the Stars make moves or not, this year is going to be the year the Stars win.