To say that the Dallas Stars are no strangers to trading since Jim Nill took over general manager duties would be a massive understatement.
Not only did Nill swing one of the biggest, most talked-about trades in recent NHL history, stealing a first line center in Tyler Seguin away from the Boston Bruins during a time when first line centers never get moved, but he did it twice, also grabbing Jason Spezza from the Ottawa Senators.
While Stars fans know well and clear how these new players are doing in Dallas (something that the wonderful people of Twitter make no hesitation to remind Bruins fans about regarding Seguin), trades are always a two-way street. What happens to those former Stars after they’ve left the team?
Let’s now take a look at some former Stars players that left the team within the past two seasons not just through trades, but also free agency and waivers, and see how they’re doing with their new teams:
Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser and Joe Morrow: Boston Bruins
This is the big one, a move that completely changed the fates of both franchises. Seguin has been an absolute revelation for the Stars, but the players that the Bruins received in return haven’t had the same kind of impact.
You can’t help but bad feel for Eriksson. A longtime fan-favorite in Dallas, he suffered two concussions last season in Boston and hasn’t been the same player ever since. He only scored 37 points in 61 games last year and is on an even worse pace this year, with only 15 points in 30 games. He’s still a valuable player, but it looks like the excellent 60-70 point seasons that he used to put up in Dallas might be a thing of the past.
Even though Eriksson was initially the main piece that the Bruins received for Seguin, Smith might end up being the best player for them. He put up an impressive 51 points for the B’s last year playing with Patrice Bergeron on the second line. He’s only at 15 points in 30 games so far this year, but the 23 year-old still has a very bright future ahead of him.
Morrow, a former first round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, is having a respectable rookie season. He’s averaging 16:41 TOI throughout 15 games. Fraser was an AHL goal-scoring machine for the Texas Stars, but looks like he may never translate that success to the NHL level. He has 5 goals and 0 assists in 34 games since heading to Boston.
Alex Chiasson, Nick Paul, and Alex Guptill: Ottawa Senators
Chiasson has continued almost exactly where he left off in Dallas: he`s producing some good point totals on the second line, but still has issues with his defensive play. He might never become a superstar, but he still has a long NHL career ahead of him.
The Senators saw some real potential in Paul for him to be included as part of the Spezza package, and they weren’t wrong. Paul has been awesome in the OHL this season and seems very likely to make Team Canada for the upcoming World Juniors tournament.
Guptill has 6 points in 16 games in the AHL.
Brenden Morrow: Tampa Bay Lightning
Oh captain, my captain. It was heartbreaking to see Morrow’s game deteriorate over the years, but it was an inevitability due to years of his physical style of play.
He’s not the offensive force that he used to be, but he’s now playing the veteran depth leader role perfectly for the Lighting. He has 4 points in 29 games this season. If a team from the East wins the Stanley Cup this year I can’t think of a better candidate to root for than the Bolts, just to see Morrow go out on top.
Jaromir Jagr and Michael Ryder: New Jersey Devils
Can we start a Kickstarter campaign to get Jagr some bionic legs so that he can play in the NHL forever? Pretty please? The ageless wonder led the Devils in scoring last year with 67 points…as a 41 year-old. And guess what? He’s doing it again so far this year, with 20 points in 31 games. I know the Devils are bad, but still, that’s amazing. Never change, Jagr.
Ryder was traded alongside a 3rd round pick to the Montreal Canadiens back in 2013 in a deal that was seen as pretty lopsided in the Habs’ favor, but it has evened out since then. Ryder quickly left Montreal and signed with the Devils, and that 3rd round pick turned into prospect Connor Crisp (1 assist in 14 AHL games this year). Ryder has 14 points in 31 games for the Devils in 2014, while Cole has 10 in 28 games for the Stars.
Derek Roy and Eric Nystrom: Nashville Predators.
Hey, remember when Roy was brought in the be the Stars’ second line center? Hahahaha….yeah. After only 30 games he was jettisoned to the Vancouver Canucks for Kevin Connauton and a 2nd round pick (Philippe Desrosiers). Roy didn’t do much in Vancouver, and then flopped again in St. Louis last year, before signing a cheap one-year with the the Nashville Predators this summer. With only 1 goal and 10 points in 24 games for the Preds it seems like he wont be sticking there, either. How many NHL lives does this cat have left?
Nystrom is bringing the same things to the Preds that he did to the Stars: penalty killing, hits, secondary goal-scoring…and, you know, #CompeteLevel and #Truculence and all that stuff. I always liked Nystrom as a person, but for $2.5 million per season and with truly horrible possession numbers? Sorry, no thanks.
Sergei Gonchar: Montreal Canadiens
Gonchar’s first foray into the NHL’s Wild Western Conference didn’t go well for him at all, but he seems to be having a nice little bounce back in the comforts of the East. He has 4 points in 15 games for the Canadiens and is a positive possession player.
Aaron Rome: ???
Rome played two games this season for the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals and hasn’t been seen since. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts please contact the Defending Big D staff immediately, otherwise we’ll be putting his face on a milk carton soon.
Kevin Connauton: Columbus Blue Jackets
In a way, this one almost stings the most. The Stars placed Connauton on waivers to have him get sent down to the AHL, but he was snatched in the process by the Blue Jackets. Essentially, the Stars lost him for absolutely nothing.
He then went and did this for #Lumbus a couple weeks later: