NHL Trade Deadline Grades: Stars hit home run; Maple Leafs strike out
Grading the most recent trades in the NHL.
The 2023-24 NHL Trade Deadline is a week away and trades are starting to get made. So let’s hand out some report cards on some of the bigger deals as they happen. We have two big ones to look at today as the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs add defense to their rosters.
Dallas and Chris Tanev: A perfect fit
The Trade
Dallas receives: Chris Tanev, Cole Brady (prospect)
Calgary receives: Artem Grushnikov (prospect), 2024 second-round pick, 2026 conditional third-round pick (Calgary only receives if Dallas reaches Stanley Cup Final).
New Jersey receives: 2026 fourth-round pick
The Grades
I have been high on the Stars since the preseason and I love everything about their roster and the way they play. They are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, have a dominant offense, a potential franchise goalie and now they added one of the best defensive players available on the trade market.
This was a masterful trade by general manager Jim Nill to get one of the best defensive players available without having to pay a premium price. I figured Tanev would require at least a first-round pick when the Flames eventually traded him, but the Stars were able to get him without giving up even that. They did give up three lower picks, but that should not be of any real concern for the Stars or their fans.
For one, they have a chance to win it all right now. When a team is in that position it can not allow a couple mid-round picks to stand in the way.
Second, those picks are almost meaningless to the Stars at this point. A second-round pick is typically only a 50-50 bet to even make it to the NHL, let alone become a regular contributor. When you start getting down into the third-and fourth-rounds those odds get even longer.
Even if one of those picks does produce something it is going to be years down the line when the Stars roster looks totally different and their window for contention is not as wide open as it is right now. Go for it now while you can.
And Tanev is a perfect fit for what they needed.
They have two outstanding players in Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley at the top of their defense, but were lacking an upgrade on the right side for their second-pairing. Tanev should slide right into that role and give them an outstanding shutdown presence behind the Heiskanen-Harley duo. He will not provide much in the way of offense (and with Heiskanen and Harley they will not need him to), but of the 188 defenders to log at least 500 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey this season Tanev is among the top-45 in terms of expected goals against, while also coming out on the positive side of expected goals share. He has done that while playing on a bad team, and in a mostly defensive role with heavy defensive zone starts.
Great fit. Great trade. And they even managed to get him at a reduced salary. Even better, they still have their first-round pick (and some salary cap space) to play with over the next week.
Stars Grade: A
As for the Flames side of this… it just seems underwhelming when you take all of the trade variables into account.
Let’s talk about that.
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