Trade Deadline Edition

I'm starting a series called The Good, The Bad and The Ugly where I will be reviewing some of the bigger trades during the trade deadline. I'm going to start the series with a look at the most recent trade which is the deal between the Dallas Stars and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Dallas sent forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen to Pittsburgh for defenseman Alex Goligoski.

The Good

Pittsburgh gets some scoring depth. With both Sidney Crosby and Evengi Malkin out with injuries the Pens have been hurting for some offense up front. This definitely something James Neal can provide, over the past 3 seasons Neal has managed to average 20+ goals a season for Dallas. This season Neal has already scored 21 and was third in scoring on the Stars behind Morrow and Richards. The former 2nd round pick also adds a nice bit of size up front for the Pittsburgh as he comes in at 6-2 and 208 pounds. He will fit in well alongside either Crosby or Malkin. Another solid deal by Shero

The Bad

Fairly steep price for Dallas to acquire a puck moving defenseman for their backend. Giving up a young goal scorer like Neal can hurt most teams but Dallas has some strong depth on the wings so moving him isn't the end of the world. What seems odd is the Goligoski was the best they could get with an offer like this though after the Kaberle deal the price may have already been set pretty steep for puck-moving defensemen. I would think Neal straight up would have gotten the deal done so it most have been Dallas who came a-calling. You could point to the fact that Niskanen hasn't been playing his best hockey the past season and a half but he is still a fairly young defensemen at 25 years old and former first round pick so Dallas should be hoping that he doesn't turn things around. I think Pittsburgh walked away from this laughing as they filled a need and potentially backfilled what they gave up in Goligoski.

The Ugly

Joe Nieuwendyk managing of the Dallas Stars. I don't want to knock on Niewendyk too much as he is fairly new to the general managing role and really only has been in Dallas for a season and a half but I think experience is the problem. It seems more and more former players are thrown in to the managing roles in NHL with very little experience. Don't get me wrong I think Niewendyk will eventually become a good GM maybe even a great GM but couldn't they let this guy apprentice as the assistant for few years before giving him a team right away. Hey Joe is a smart guy, he did graduate from Cornell after all but there is big difference between playing the game and managing an organization like a hockey team. I think Niewendyk is going to get burnt a few more times like any newbie will so maybe its time to bring in a special advisor for Niewendyk. How about former Dallas GM Bob Gainey in a "Bowman"-esque type role to help Joe along?