The Dallas Stars are the most dangerous -- and exciting -- team in the NHL when it comes to offense. They are a force with the puck and can score with any other team in the league.
The problem, just as it was a year ago when they missed the playoffs with one of the top offenses in the league, is defense and goal prevention. Entering play on Monday they are a bottom-10 team in terms of goals against and penalty killing, something that is not a recipe for Stanley Cup success.
Because of that, it was pretty clear what their biggest need was approaching the trade deadline: Defense.
They added to their blue line on Monday when they picked up Kris Russell from the Calgary Flames, reportedly in exchange for defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka, Brettt Pollock and a conditional second-round draft pick according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
The condition on the pick is that if Dallas makes the Western Conference Final it becomes a first-round pick.
That is a steep price for Dallas to pay and a fantastic return for the Flames on a player they were almost certainly going to lose as a free agent after the season. Jokipakka is probably ready for NHL action right now.
Russell is kind of a polarizing player in the NHL right now.
Old school hockey types love him because he is a fearless shot blocker and plays bigger than his size. But when he's not dropping down to block a shot, there really isn't much else that he does to improve his team. It's the type of defenseman that is starting to become an endangered species in the NHL as teams are starting to covet puck-moving ability in their defensemen. Shot-blocking is a great skill when you need to do it. But if you find yourself in a position where you have to keep doing it over and over it is probably not a good sign for your team because it means you're spending way too much time in your own end of the ice. That is why the teams that lead the NHL in blocked shots are typically near the bottom of the standings.
That is the problem with Russell. Because he's not great moving the puck out of danger his team ends up spending more time defending than playing on the attack, which is not something this Stars team as currently constructed wants to be doing.
Add in the fact they paid a pretty steep price to get him and it's a potentially costly move for the Stars.
