The San Jose Sharks have traded forward Mikael Granlund and defenceman Cody Ceci to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a 2025 1st round pick and a conditional 2025 3rd round pick.
If the Stars fail to advance to the Stanley Cup Final, then the 3rd rounder will revert to a 4th round selection.
The move comes as little surprise as San Jose currently boasts the worst record in the NHL at 15-33-6 (36 points). Granlund led San Jose in goals (15) and points (45), and is also in the final year of his 4 year, $20M contract. That, coupled with his age (32) meant that the writing was largely on the wall for the former Minnesota Wild draft pick this season.
Like Granlund, Ceci was also outside the age window for the Sharks current core, and is set to become a free agent at season’s end as well. In acquiring the pair, Dallas is gearing up for what they hope to be another deep playoff run, as they jockey for position in the ultra competitive Central Division.
As of Saturday, Dallas sat in 2nd place in the division behind Winnipeg, but only one point clear of Minnesota who are nipping at their heels. With a 33-17-1 record, the Stars look every bit the part of a team who can make some noise in the postseason.
However, after watching division rival Colorado orchestrate a blockbuster deal, and with Wildcard hopefuls in Calgary and Vancouver retooling their rosters as well, Stars GM Jim Nill wasn’t content to stand by as his competition added to their rosters ahead of deadline day.
In acquiring Granlund, Dallas adds a top-6 forward who can play in a variety of situations, and help replace some of the offence lost when Tyler Seguin went down with his hip injury. While Dallas hasn’t ruled out a late season come back for Seguin (possibly in April), the track record for athletes with hip-issues at the NHL level isn’t kind.
Ceci figures to slot into the Stars bottom 4 pairings on the blue line, with some speculating that he could open up his Dallas career alongside Esa Lindell.
With the deal now complete, San Jose adds to their stockpile of draft picks as they look to build around their young core of Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund, and Will Smith.
The Stars are next in action on Sunday in a 6pm ET matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets, while the Sharks are off until Tuesday when the Montreal Canadiens will come to town.
Photo: LHC88. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.