Here are my top Dallas Stars deadline trades. I'm giving myself a little wiggle room as far as actual deadline day, but these are the deals that were in trying to make the team ready for a playoff run.
BEST
March, 1998 _ Mike Keane and Brian Skrudland from the New York Rangers for Todd harvey and Bob Errey. (Keane and Skrudland eventually helped pick up the slack for injured Joe Nieuwendyk and helped the Stars to the conference finals).
March 2003 _ Stu Barnes from Buffalo for Michale Ryan and a second round draft pick. The Stars made it to the second round, and Barnes did everything he could to give them a chance to beat Anaheim.
March, 1999 _ Benoit Hogue from Tampa Bay for Sergey Gusev. Had Hogue not bowed out of Game 6 with an injury, Brett Hull never would have come into the game. (Oh, and Hogue also had several big moments during the run to the Stanley Cup).
Feb, 1996 _ OK, they missed the playoffs and were simply trying to reclaim a project assistant coach Rick Wilson was familiar with, but Darryl Sydor from LA for Shane Churla and Doug Zmolek worked out pretty good.
March, 2006 _ It didn't work out, as they exited in five games, but Willie Mitchell and a second round pick from Minnesota for Martin Skoula and Shawn Belle was a great deal. It cost little and gave them a solid defender.
WORST
March 2002 _ GM Doug Armstrong tried to solve the problem of too many centers (Modano, Nieuwendyk, Turgeon) by getting another center. He sent Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner to New Jersey for Jason Arnott and Randy McKay.The Devils won the Stanley Cup the next year. This one haunts Stars fans.
Feb., 2007 _ Ladislav Nagy from Phoenix for a first round pick and Mathias Tjarnqvist. Nagy added nothing.
March, 1994 _ Stars get Doug Zmolek and Mike Lalor from San Jose for Ulf Dahlen. Bob Gainey made this move to save the blueline when Mark Tinordi broke his leg, but sending away Mike Modano's sidekick pretty much took all of the chemistry out of this surprisingly good team.
So, what are your favorites (or non-favorite) trades (P.S., the jury still is out on for me Brad Richards for Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern). _Mike Heika
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