Dallas Stars' Best Trade Of The Past Year

The Dallas Stars weren't very active over the past year, but they did make a few trades before the deadline in anticipation of a hopeful deep playoff run. In terms of value they got for this season, a one-for-one swap has turned out to be great for them thus far.

The Stars traded Denis Gurianov, who was regularly playing on the fourth line and bottom-six, to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Evgenii Dadonov. Both players have done very well for their new teams, but just because Gurianov has popped off with the Canadiens doesn't mean it wasn't a great trade for the Stars.

Gurianov took a huge step back this season after consecutive seasons with 10+ goals and 30+ points. In the first 43 games he had two goals and nine points while his minutes continued to decline from his career average. In 18 games since he got traded to Montreal, he has scored five goals and eight points while logging over three extra minutes per night.

In terms of the value Dallas got, Dadonov's minutes are up since the trade and he has three goals and 12 points in 17 games. As a Canadien, the 34-year-old had four goals and 18 points in 50 games and was a healthy scratch at times. It may not have looked like much of an upgrade, but Dadonov coming to a new home with the excitement of playing with better players and making a playoff run has awoken him.

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